Sunday, August 30, 2020

Spouting nonsense: Another 16 books refer to a bogus statistic that 74% fear public speaking (suffer from speech anxiety)

















Back on October 9, 2017 I blogged about how It must be true, since I read it in a book. Unfortunately books sometimes are not always backed by careful research. In a another post on August 14, 2020 titled Toastmaster magazine is spreading nonsense from John Bowe about how common the fear of public speaking is I described how John Bowe’s 2020 book I Have Something to Say had incorrectly claimed (using baseless numbers originally posted by Statistic Brain) that:

“According to the National Institutes of Health, 74 percent of Americans suffer from speech anxiety.”

I wondered whether that nonsense also was in other books, so I looked at Amazon, on Google Books, and elsewhere. Sixteen other books had that baseless percentage, so they all get one of my Spoutly awards. In chronological order they are:

2013

Jared Bauman, Simple Steps to Master Public Speaking
“According to a recent fear of public speaking study performed by the National Institute of Mental Health, 74% of people suffer from some form of speech anxiety.”

Cindy Locher, Vanquish Your Fear of Public Speaking
“Fear of public speaking is the number one fear in America. If you're one of the 74% of Americans who fear public speaking, this five-step process can dramatically increase your comfort and confidence.”

2014

Cheryl R. Stinchcomb, Presentation Skills That Rock: captivating your audience in the digital era
“Can you believe that 74% of people suffer from speech anxiety?”

Jennifer Witter, The Little Book of Big PR
“According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 74 percent of people have fear of public speaking.”

Bill Hoogterp, Your Perfect Presentation
“According to the National Institutes of Health, 74 percent of Americans suffer from a fear of public speaking.”

2015

Anthony Fasano, Engineer Your Own Success
His Table 6.1 reproduced the numbers from a Statistic Brain web page. (74% of people, 75% of women, and 73% of men suffer from speech anxiety).

Eamonn O’Brien, How to Make Powerful Speeches 2ed 
“According to the National Institute of Mental Health, this fear is so pervasive that 74 per cent of American adults (and the figures are worse elsewhere) admit to some degree of speech anxiety.”


D.J.D. Carducci and Lisa Kaiser, Shyness: The Ultimate Teen Guide
“According to a 2013 report from the National Institute of Mental Health, 74 percent of Americans fear speaking in public, far more than the 40 percent of us who are shy.”

2016

Thomas Miller, Fear Busters: 14 ways to kick fear to the curb
“Studies indicate that 74% of the population is afraid of public speaking and 68% fear dying.”

Kenny Nguyen, Gus Murillo, Robert Killeen, Luke Jones, The Big Fish Experience
“According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the fear of public speaking, which is called glossophobia, is the number one fear in America (that’s right, over spiders, heights, and even death). A whopping 74 percent of Americans are said to suffer from this fear.”

2017

Deborah Shames, Out Front
“This may not sound like a surprising admission, since 74 percent of the US population surveyed in 2013 shares a fear of public speaking.”

2018

Rick Lewis, Confident Under Pressure
“The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 74 percent of people suffer from speech anxiety.”

2019

Sara Latta, Scared Stiff
“According to statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), fear of public speaking is the most common phobia, with nearly three out of every four people (74 percent) surveyed saying they have this fear.”

2020

Cody Smith, Public Speaking Panic: how to go from stage-fright to stage-ready in less than 24 hours
“Not to mention, a whopping total of 74% of people suffer from speech anxiety.”

Alex Crickets, Public Speaking
“Entrepreneur.com has published research from the National Institute of Mental Health, which claims that 74% of adults suffer from a fear of public speaking.”

Michael J. Gelb, Mastering the Art of Public Speaking: 8 secrets to transform fear and supercharge your career
“Seventy-four percent of Americans suffer from glossophobia, the fear of public speaking.”

Back on March 1, 2015 I had blogged about A high mound of manure from Bill Hoogterp about fear of public speaking.

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