Is public speaking the safest activity in the world?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I doubt it. But at Medium on January 27, 2020 there is an article titled What is the safest activity in the world? – Frances Cahill. She said the following:

 

“I have been researching the dangers of public speaking on your behalf, prompted by the usual reaction to someone being asked to speak.

 I’ll just die!

 After many years, I can confidently state that never in recorded history has ‘Public Speaking’ been registered as a cause of death!

 Never!

 I know you are thinking but when I start to panic – my heart rate goes up and my breathing starts to become labored!

 True! But if you die – it will be from a heart attack or high blood pressure, aneurysm blowing – all the other stark realities of terror.

 You won’t die because you are speaking in public!”

 

She never gave any evidence that public speaking was safer than any other activities though. I  instantly thought of four other activities which also may be relatively safe:

 

Birdwatching

Flower Gardening

Sleeping

Watercolor Painting

 

Except for sleeping they involve walking around, which like public speaking, possibly can lead to falling and being hurt (or killed). How common are falls? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a website called WISQARS, which is an acronym for the Web-based Injury Statistics Query And Reporting System. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a WISQARS page for Leading causes of nonfatal emergency room visits. As shown above for 2019, Falls (8,049,882) by far are number one in the Top 20 causes. Birdwatching, Flower Gardening, and Watercolor Painting all might involve walking around outside, and even more risk of falling than Public Speaking.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is another WISQARS page for Leading causes of deaths. As shown above, heart disease is the number one cause of death (659,041 people) followed by Malignant Neoplasms (cancers, 599,601). Hypertension (high blood pressure) is twelfth, and Aortic Aneurysm is twentieth. Although sleeping may be safer (since you won’t fall), people do die in their sleep. An article at Healthline titled Sleep apnea mortality statistics and the importance of treatment says:

 

“The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that 38,000 people in the United States die each year from heart disease with sleep apnea as a complicating factor.”

   

That’s only about 5.8% of the heart disease deaths.

 

Back on May 31, 2017 I blogged about Spouting Nonsense – Nobody ever died from public speaking. In that post I pointed out that a few people indeed had died of heart attacks and strokes while speaking in public. Some others were assassinated. It also goes the other way. On September 27, 2020 I blogged about how In 1912 a speech may have saved Teddy Roosevelt’s life.

 

I recently saw Cahill’s claim discussed on June 7, 2021 in a Public Speaking with Peter George podcast.

 

The 1908 image of prominent political orators came from the Library of Congress.