The role of signposts in public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a brief article by Diane Windingland on pages 28 and 29 in the November 2020 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled Ditch the Notecards. She says:

 

“….Transitions bridge the gap between concepts, helping your speech flow smoothly from one part to the next. A transition also can be a simple signpost such as ‘first…second…third.’ Better signposting echoes previous material in your speech. So, instead of just saying, ‘Second…” it is better to say, ‘The second reason is…’ “

 

Another article by John Zimmer at Manner of Speaking on April 16, 2025 titled Signpost Your Presentation adds:

 

“Immediately after hooking your audience’s attention with a strong opening – something about which I have written in the past – tell them where you are going with the speech or presentation.

 

It is not hard to do. In fact, your signpost need only be one or two sentences.”

 

A third 5-page pdf article from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas titled Outlining Your Speech further explains that:

 

“The transition from the body of the speech to the conclusion requires a signpost, or a signal, to indicate to the audience that the speech is ending. The signpost is important, and must be clear without being cliché, so try to avoid overused phrases such as ‘In conclusion’ to signal the end of your speech.”

 

A fourth article by Antoni Lacinai on July 5, 2023 titled Signposts in Speech | A Comprehensive Guide describes how there are three types of signposts: transition, enumeration, and summary.

 

A fifth detailed article at SlideModel.com on February 16, 2026 titled Presentation Techniques You Didn’t Know Existed (Until Now) describes how:

 

“….Signposting is the practice of guiding the audience’s attention by indicating where the presentation is headed and why each segment matters. Most presentations fail not because the content is weak but because listeners cannot map new information on what came before. Signposting solves this by creating orientation points throughout the session.   

 

Effective signposting uses short verbal cues rather than long explanations. Phrases like ‘Now that we’ve established the context’ or ‘This leads us to the next factor’ serve as transitions that mentally prepare the audience. These cues reduce uncertainty; they signal continuity and prevent listeners from wondering whether the topic has shifted or expanded without warning.

 

The strength of signposting lies in its subtlety. When overused, it becomes repetitive. When used sparingly, it reinforces logical order. Signposting is particularly important in technical presentations, financial reviews, and educational settings where concepts build upon one another. It also supports oral presentation techniques in practice: clear speech is not only about pronunciation but also about keeping listeners oriented.”

 

There is a 1-1/2 minute YouTube video at T. J. Walker Success on March 14, 2019 titled What is a signpost in public speaking? A second ten-minute video from Patricia Jenkinson on June 23, 2016 is titled Signposting: Making It Easy for your Audience to Follow Your Speech.

 

 

Be aware of speakers and audience members with mobility challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful post by Rich Hopkins at his Speak & Deliver blog on February 27, 2026 titled A Plea to Meeting Planners. He had his left leg amputated below the knee. Rich says to plan inclusively:

 

 “Ask speakers about mobility needs in advance - Ensure ramps are visible, safe, and easy to use - Provide seating options on stage - Reduce unnecessary distances when possible - Think about attendee navigation, not just speaker logistics.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above, on stage there preferably should be a chair with arms rather than a high stool.

 

Rich made it to the semi-finals (top eighty) of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking seven times and the finals (top ten) three times, as was discussed in an article by Joe Rubino in the Broomfield Enterprise on August 17, 2011 titled Broomfield man aiming to be the roast of Toastmasters.

 

You can watch an 8-minute YouTube video of his speech titled What We Knew Then at Rich Hopkins 2006 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking Third Place. (At 6 – 1 /2 minutes he sits down in a chair). And you can watch his Top Ten speech from 2008, Unthinkable.

 

Most of us don’t think much about mobility challenges either for speakers or the audience. I only did after I broke my fibula, which I blogged about on November 24, 2016 in a post titled What I’m thankful for today – recovering from a broken fibula.

 

There also is an article by Dane Cobain at speakerHUB on September 26, 2023 titled How to Make Your Public Speaking Events More Accessible.

 

Images of an amputee, a chair and a stool were adapted from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Public Speaking Pointers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One common type of advice for speakers is to give them pointers on what to do. The other type of advice to discuss mistakes, and how to avoid them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a long, excellent article by Paul N. Edwards from October 2014 titled How to Give an Academic Talk, v5.2. It is a 14-page pdf which descended from a 5-page pdf article from 2001 titled How to Give an Academic Talk: Changing the Culture of Public Speaking in the Humanities. He has a table with worse or better rules of thumb, as shown above. There also are six gray boxes with advice on:

 

Preparing Your Talk

About Vocal Technique

About Presentation Software

About Timing

Handling Questions

Murphy’s Law applies directly to you:

  plan for disaster

 

And there is a 7-page pdf article by Christine Blome, Hanno Sondermann, and Matthias Augustin in the GMS Journal for Medical Education on February 15, 2017 titled Accepted standards on how to give a Medical Research Presentation: a systematic review of expert opinion papers. They analyzed 91 articles! Their thirty recommendations and their percentages (shown in their Table 1 and greater than 20%) are to:

 

 1] Keep your slides simple - 62.6%

 2] Know your audience - 52.7%

 3] Make eye contact - 46.2%

 4] Do not read the talk from slides or a manuscript - 44.0%

 5] Rehearse the presentation - 44.0% [also see #11]

 6] Limit the number of lines per slide - 42.9%

 7] Slides should be readable - 42.9%

 8] Stick to the allotted time - 40.7%

 9] Time the presentation beforehand - 38.5%

10] Use simple tables and graphs - 34.1%

11] Rehearse in front of other persons - 33.0% [also see #5]

12] Know your topic ‘like the back of your hand’ - 31.9%

13] Vary your voice - 29.7%

14] Develop an objective when preparing the presentation - 28.6%

15] Limit the number of words per line - 28.6%

16] Choose a light background - 28.6% [also see #20]

17] Do not use too many slides - 27.5%

18] Test all equipment - 27.5%

19] Use animations carefully - 27.5%

20] Choose a dark background - 26.4% [also see #16]

21] Keep the presentation clear and simple (delivery) - 26.4%

22] Summarize at the end of the presentation - 26.4%

23] Do not speak too fast - 24.2%

24] Put phrases, not sentences, on slides - 24.2%

25] Be logical - 23.1%

26] Face the audience - 23.1%

27] Be enthusiastic - 20.9%

28] Be prepared for questions - 20.9%

29] Create visuals with a consistent design - 20.9%

30] Use contrasting colors - 20.9%

 

 

Please don’t snore when you fall asleep at a meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Savage Chickens cartoon by Doug Savage (shown above) on July 9, 2025 titled Make It Count. On June 16, 2011 I blogged about how you can Learn to ignore these audience behaviors:

 

“On Tuesday I spoke at the NACE Intermountain Section meeting in Salt Lake City. My topic was an introduction to stainless steels and corrosion. I’d given basically the same presentation at their Sun Valley Symposium in January 2010. Before I began I asked the audience to raise their hands if they had attended the other meeting. About 6 of 30 did, and I told them it was OK to go to sleep, but not to snore.”

 

An article by John Boitnott at Inc. on March 6, 2018 titled What to Do When Your Co-worker Is Snoring suggests how to avoid this worst moment:

 

Be loud

Move

Invest in headphones

Politely wake the person up

Notify a supervisor

 

 

Ignoring your audience is truly terrible advice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on February 1, 2018 at X entrepreneur Naval Ravikant claimed that:

 

“The secret of public speaking is to speak as if you were alone.”

 

And he repeated that at Naval Ravikant Quotes on December 27, 2021 and Naval Ravinkant bot on May 20, 2025. Ignoring your audience obviously is terrible advice!

 

An audience image was cropped from here at Wikimedia Commons.

 

6 Tips for better public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent brief article by Jim Mandelaro at the University of Rochester on November 21, 2024 titled Fear of public speaking? This Rochester professor has you covered. It presents these six tips:

 

Know your audience!

Be yourself.

Find your perfect pace.

Work up to eye contact.

Focus on getting started.

Practice, practice, practice.

 

And it links to a five-minute YouTube video by Amy Arbogast titled 6 Tips for better public speaking. Under Know Your Audience she says:

 

“Good speakers think about what they’re going to say. Great speakers think about who they’re saying it to. Ask yourself, ‘What do I want my audience to learn or take away from what I say? How do I want them to feel or respond?’ And think about who’s going to be there – what do they already know or not know? What kind of jargon is going to be familiar to them, or is going to make them feel a little left out? What’s important to them? And how can you make them care about what you are saying?  Thinking through these questions will make it much easier and more intuitive to convey your message.”

 

The cartoon was adapted from one with six thinking hats at Openclipart.

 

How to present to an audience who know more than you do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Harvard Business Review on May 8, 2024 there is an article by Deborah Grayson Riegel titled How to Present to an Audience That Knows More Than You. She says to:

 

Choose self-affirmation over self-doubt

Be intellectually humble without undermining your credibility

Acknowledge and invite their expertise and experience – without letting them take over

 

Another recent article by Minda Zetlin at Inc. on April 22, 2024 is titled With 1 Sentence, Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant Just Revealed a Quietly Powerful Truth About Communication.

 

For introducing himself to an audience of generals, Adam said:

 

“What could I possibly learn from a professor who’s 12 years old?”

 

In reply one of the generals piped up with:

 

“Ah, ridiculous. You gotta be at least 13.”

 

The stepladder image came from Openclipart.

 

Etiquette for a movie theater or a presentation audience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doug Savage has a humorous Savage Chickens cartoon on February 7, 2024 about etiquette in a movie theater (as shown above). It also applies to the audience for a presentation.

 

Five things you need to be a highly effective public speaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Authority Magazine (Medium) in February and March there is a series of 25 articles resulting from interviews with Fotis Georgiadis on the Five things you need to be a highly effective public speaker. Those five things are the main take-away. (The interviews also asked a long series of other questions). Here are the dates, interviewees, and their five things:

 

February 13, 2022

 

Julie Navickas [university communications instructor]:

Understand Your Audience

Engage Your Audience

Be Aware of Your Non-Verbal Communication

Use Humor Effectively

Practice

 

Natalie Sullivan of Vegas Improv Power:

Know what you know.

Know what you don’t know.

Care about what you are saying.

Comfort in discomfort

Connection.

 

February 16, 2022

 

Jennifer Best of AAE Speakers Bureau:

Your “why.”

Lots of practice.

A niche.

A compelling story.

A community.

 

Andrea Heuston of Artitudes:

Audience Research.

Location Research.

Practice. Practice. Practice

Hook them with an opening ‘heart’ story.

Pay attention to language and cadence.

 

Lynn Mason-Pattnosh of ConciergeQ Media:

Public speaking as performance.

Smile.

Breathe.

Audience.

Pressure is a privilege.

 

Dr. Angelia Registad [communication consultant and coach]:  

Be Authentic and Vulnerable

Tell a Story

Use Visuals

Be Organized and Prepared

Practice, Practice, Practice

 

February 20, 2022

 

Keenan Beavis of Longhouse Media:  

Understand that being nervous is completely normal.

Confidence in yourself.

Belief in what you’re saying.

Individuals, not a crowd.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

 

Kyle Bose of Kettering Fairmont High School:

Great body language.

Inflection of voice.

Pacing.

Knowledge.

Awareness.

 

LaQuita Cleare of Clear Communication Academy:

Ability to have a conversation

Storytelling skills

A powerful hook: first impressions matter

Dynamic delivery skills

A clear message

 

Maria Cormier of Emerging Leader Training:

Greet people at the door.

Get the audience involved.

Make it a conversation.

Know your topic.

Gain confidence through practicality.

 

Dan Faill of Faill Safe Solutions:

Your Mindset

Your Message

Your Story

Your Speaker Friends

Your Voice

 

Jonathan George of Unleash Your Rockstar Personal Branding Agency:

Clarity

Content.

Preparation.

Practice.

 

Tommy Hilcken [speaking coach]:  

You must be trained.

Be confident.

Be prepared.

Do the biz.

Love what you do.

 

Joseph McClendon III of the Neuroencoding Institute:

Identification.

Logic/Reason.

Attack and confess.

Solution.

Assume the action.

 

Simba Nyazika of Lenica Research Group:

Have a clear vision (why) for the presentation.

Clarify the one primary thing you want the audience to leave with or to do.

Use stories to engage and make your speech memorable.

Use your non-verbal behaviour to make your speech more impactful.

Make eye contact with sections of the audience, especially during key portions which you want them to remember.

 

February 23, 2022

 

Paul Krismer [keynote speaker]:

Genuinely have something to say.

Be in a business frame of mind.

Be a bit funny.

A good talk is filled with stories that leave an emotional impact.

Prioritize (individualize) your audience for every speech.

 

February 27, 2022

 

LeAnn Brazeal of Missouri State University:

Authenticity.

Conversational style.

Appropriate practice.

Passion for your topic.

Content you’re proud to share.

 

Kelly Charles-Collins [attorney and TEDx speaker]:

You must know what you are going to speak about, who you are going to speak to, what you are going to charge, who will pay you for what you are speaking about, what is the value you will provide.

Whatever your rate is, you must be able to say it and shut up.

Be authentically you.

You must have a depth of knowledge about your topic.

Who you say you are on social media, your website, marketing materials, etc. must be congruent with who shows up for a client.

 

Debra Jason of The Write Direction:

D is for dream.

A is for authenticity.

N is for nurture.

C is create connection.

E is for engagement.

 

March 1, 2022

 

Maria DiLorenzo of MFD Style:

Practice

Pay attention to your speech cadence

Get personal

Be emotive

Believe in yourself and your message

 

March 6

 

Jon Saunders [business leader]:

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Bring energy to the presentation.

Content. Balance between actual points you are trying to make and stories.

Deliver your presentation with a calm confidence.

If using a PowerPoint, remember that less is more.

 

Kyle Slaymaker of The Slaymaker Method:

Be your authentic self.

Be honest.

Be confident.

Place yourself behind others.

Learn from your audience.

 

March 8, 2022

 

Holly Dowling [keynote speaker]:

Lose your ego.

Find your “why.”

Throw out the script and stop memorizing!

Be relatable, be trustworthy, and be empathetic.

Start focusing on bringing your light to your message so you can shine a light on everyone else.

 

March 10, 2022

 

Matias Rodsevich of PR Lab:

Confidence brings credibility and authenticity.

Being yourself relates to your ability to keep it natural.

Relating to the audience also establishes a connection that helps convey what you are saying.

Keeping it short is vital.

Lastly, practicing your speech is a guarantee for having the natural flow needed.

 

March 13, 2022

 

Jackie Kallen of Bruce Merrin’s Celebrity Speakers Bureau:

Motivate.

Inspire.

Entertain.

Be creative.

Share your personality.

 

What words show up most in those lists of five things? They are: practice (10), confidence (6), story (6), audience (5), clarity (3), conversation (3), and why (3).

 

Dan Faill claimed that:

“In fact, nearly 77% of people have glossophobia, or fear of public speaking.”

 

But back on October 12, 2020 I blogged about Do 77% of Americans fear public speaking? No! That percentage described stage fright in Swedes who also had social anxiety disorder.

 

A Sunday Dilbert cartoon about having a resting bored face (RBF)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lack of nonverbal feedback, like a poker face (defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person’s thoughts or feelings”) can confuse others. At ZOOM meetings you may have seen some like the four shown above. Yesterday’s Dilbert cartoon mentioned a specific subtype – the resting bored face (RBF):

 

Tina (the technical writer): I’m sorry. Is my description of the problem boring you?

Dilbert: What? No I’m totally engaged.

Dilbert: I just have a bad case of ‘Resting Bored Face’ or RBF for short.

Tina: So…no matter what I say you always look like that?

Dilbert: You make it sound like a bad thing.

Tina: You’re sucking the life force right out of my body!

Tina: I’d rather be dead than spend another second with you.

Wally: Can you teach me the RBF?

Dilbert: I’d love to. But I probably look like I wouldn’t.

 

On the other hand, overly expressive faces also can be confusing. Back on June 16, 2011I blogged about why you should Learn to ignore these audience behaviors.

 

The four faces were adapted from page 9 of Charles Lederer’s 1923 book, Cartooning Made Easy, at the Internet Archive.

 

Were those audience figures inflated?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not just figuratively, as was described in an article by Matt Ford on January 21, 2017 at The Atlantic titled Trump’s press secretary falsely claims: ‘Largest audience ever to witness an Inauguration, period.’ I mean literally inflated, as has sometimes been done to provide ‘extras’ in films before Computer-generated imagery (CGI) recently became inexpensive.

 

For example, an article at insider media limited on January 11, 2011 is titled Inflatable Crowd Company helps bring The King’s Speech to life. A more recent article at Ripley’s on December 9, 2016 is titled Inflatable crowds – Hollywood’s secret extras, and is accompanied by a brief YouTube video titled The Inflatable Crowd Company – Hollywood’s secret extras. There also is another brief YouTube video from November 5, 2012 by their competitor, Crowd In A Box. Crowd in a Box even sued The Inflatable Crowd Company, as described by Leslie Simmons at the Hollywood Reporter on October 23, 2007 in an article titled Judge dismisses crowd dummy case.

 

On October 1, 2021 I blogged about Inexpensive inflatable props for speeches, but did not include inflatable audiences there.

 

A 2005 online survey of 16 problems that can affect presentations found the speaker being too nervous ranked last for both harmfulness and frequency

 

Back in 2006 there was a 100-page ebook by Andy Goodman titled Why Bad Presentations Happen To Good Causes, which you can download from the Goodman Center. I blogged about it on August 10, 2008 in a post titled Free e-book on presentations, with a great story.

 

An appendix in that ebook describes an online survey done beginning on January 5, 2005 which had 2,501 responses. It listed 16 problems that can affect presentations, and asked both how frequent and how harmful that was. Frequency was reported on a scale from 1 = Never to 5 = Always, and harmfulness on a scale from 1 = Not harmful at all to 5 = Extremely harmful. Answers were reported on pages 84 and 85 as tables of percentages for each of those five levels (plus Don’t know). But it is not obvious how to compare those percentages between questions.

 

 On October 30, 2015 I blogged about how According to the 2015 Chapman Survey of American Fears, adults are less than Afraid of federal government Corruption and only Slightly Afraid of Public Speaking. That post showed how to calculate a Fear Score from their survey results. These results can be summarized by a Harmfulness Score (or a Frequency Score) similarly calculated by a linear formula and reported on a scale from 1 to 5):

 

Harmfulness Score = [1*(Level 1 %) +  2*(Leve1 2 %)

+ 3*(Leve1 3 %) + 4*(Leve1 4 %) + 5*(Leve1 5%)]/100     

 

Based on harmfulness 13 of 16 problems were ranked above 3 (middle of the scale), but based on frequency just 2 of 16 were.  Harmfulness Scores and rankings for the sixteen problems [and Frequency Scores and their rankings] are as follows:

 

01) The speaker was not well prepared: 4.18 [2.43 #13]

02) The speaker did not connect with the audience: 4.04 [2.91 #3]

03) The material was poorly organized: 3.89 [2.72 #7]

04) The objective was not made relevant to the audience’s concerns: 3.86 [2.72 #8]

05) The overall objective of the talk was not clear to the audience: 3.81 [2.56 #11]

06) The presentation ran too long: 3.5 [3.21 #2]

07) Time was not allocated to ask questions or engage the presenter in a discussion: 3.44 [2.87 #4]  

08) The presentation duplicated the content of the slides and/or handouts without adding anything significant: 3.44 [3.40 #1]

09) The amount of material presented was overwhelming: 3.39 [2.81 #6]

10) Technical problems (e.g. poor sound system, malfunctioning projector) disrupted the presentation: 3.37 [2.60 #10]

11) The material was overly complex: 3.34 [2.39 #14]

12) Sufficient time was not allowed for the presenter to cover all the material: 3.22 [2.84 #5]

13) There was not enough information to help the audience make a decision or reach a conclusion: 3.21 [2.49 #12]

14) The presentation was not tailored to the size of the audience: 2.89 [2.38 #15]

15) Translating the material into PowerPoint templates (e.g. bullet lists) made it more difficult to understand, less interesting, or both 2.84 [2.64 #9]

16) The speaker was too nervous: 2.82 [2.18, #16]

 

Note that The speaker was too nervous ranked #16 based on both harmfulness and frequency. So novice speakers (like new Toastmasters) shouldn’t sweat over that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar charts for both scales are shown above.

 

An article with a confusing opening paragraph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At The Ladders on December 2, 2020 there is an article by Sarah Dillon titled Harvard has the ultimate public speaking tip that you’ve never heard of. It opens with the following superfluous and confusing paragraph:

 

“Public speaking is statistically America’s number one phobia – second only to creepy bugs and frightening heights. I never imagined giving a presentation in front of your boss would be scarier than the potential of plummeting 10 stories to your death, but here we are.”

 

As shown above, it is hard to tell whether public speaking should be ranked first, second, or third.

 

Sarah’s article then discusses the article by Amit Goldberg and Erika Weisz at the Harvard Business Review on November 30, 2020 titled Don’t focus on the most expressive face in the audience. If you really want to understand that article, read their preprint rather than Sarah’s description of it.

  

Making the audience a blur: Prince William and his ‘forgotten’ contact lenses

In May 2020 there was a BBC documentary titled Football, Prince William and our mental health. You can watch a video clip. There was an article by Stephanie Petit in People on May 28, 2020 titled Prince William’s secret contact lenses trick helped him overcome ‘anxiety’ about public speaking.

It revealed:

"My eyesight started to tail off a little bit as I got older, and I didn’t use to wear contacts when I was working, so actually when I gave speeches I couldn’t see anyone’s face," Prince William, 37, said. "And it helps, because it’s just a blur of faces and because you can't see anyone looking at you — I can see enough to read the paper and stuff like that — but I couldn’t actually see the whole room. And actually that really helps with my anxiety."

Opinions about blurring the audience varied. At Extra.ie on May 28, 2020 an article by Louise Burne was titled Prince William reveals brilliant trick he used to overcome public speaking fear. But at Woman & Home the same day another article was titled Prince William reveals bizarre trick for overcoming his fear of public speaking.

I think not having eye contact with the audience is a bad idea. If you can’t see them, then you have to depend on someone else to let you know whether people have hands raised to ask questions. The cover story in the December 2013 issue of Toastmaster magazine was an article by Ruth Nasrullah on page 22 titled The Eyes Have It.  

Also, if you are a political figure (like a prince) people may throw things at you (such as shoes or milkshakes) so you need to see clearly in order to duck. An image of an audience from Wikimedia Commons was blurred using a filter in Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Are sharks now the #1 fear in America? Is public speaking only #2?

Heck no! But at Eventbrite I saw an announcement for an online training event to be held by public speaking trainer Eric Dominguez in Des Moines on May 6, 2020. His title is Public Speaking: Scarier than Sharks, and the text says:

“….In case you were wondering, the #1 fear in America is now sharks. Public speaking got bumped to #2 and in some studies, maybe #3. And it is no surprise Between Shark Tank and Shark Week, Public Speaking was bound to take a hit on the fear charts.”

An article in the Des Moines Register on September 13, 2019 explained Eric’s fascination with fear of public speaking – it is titled How a reclusive kid from Mexico tried speech and debate – and found his voice.

I doubt that a general audience would regard either sharks or public speaking to be their most common concern. Look at some rankings in blog post results from the 2015 to 2018 Chapman Surveys of American Fears, as shown above. For 2018 Sharks #51 (29.2%) rank higher than public speaking at #59 (26.2%) – but both are lower than a pandemic #32 (38.6%), and all three are far behind corrupt government officials at #1 (73.6%). Results for 2017 are similar.

Cartoons of a shark and a man speaking in public were adapted from images at Wikimedia Commons.