Your January kickoff nerves arrive at the peak week for speaking-anxiety searches

People in the U.S. searched “public speaking anxiety” most in the week of January 12, at 159% versus 30% for December 14. Google Trends data, pulled through DataForSEO on Nov. 11, 2026, covered the past 5 years. By our calculation, 159 divided by 30 is 5.3 times. But if you are opening a January kickoff, giving the first all-hands update or facing a new-year presentation, the spike can feel less like a search pattern and more like your own voice catching.

Five years of searches point to one post-holiday week

The search pattern comes from U.S. weekly Google Trends data for the query “public speaking anxiety” over the past 5 years. The pull was made on Nov. 11, 2026 through DataForSEO, with Google Ads monthly search volume used as supporting query context.

Google Trends reports these as percentages of the topic’s average week. A week at 159% is well above the five-year weekly average. A week at 30% is far below it. The highest average week was January 12, and the lowest was December 14.

Your kickoff voice meets the search peak

The Google query is typed before someone has to speak, say the opening line or sound confident in a room. For more context on the same fear in everyday terms, these public speaking fear statistics track how common the fear is across adults.

Chapman University’s 2025 Survey of American Fears used the wording “afraid or very afraid” for Public Speaking. That wording fits a January update better than a vague “nerves” label: the concern is whether your voice will hold, whether the words will come and whether the room will hear the tension.

About 1 in 3 adults already report the fear

Chapman University’s Survey of American Fears, Wave 11, gives the national backdrop. The 2025 survey was conducted by SSRS using a probability-based national sample of 1,015 adults. It listed Public Speaking at 34% afraid or very afraid after rounding.

That is about 1 in 3 adults before the January calendar adds pressure. The search surge lands on a fear that already exists in a large share of the country, not only among keynote speakers, executives or people standing at a lectern.

The January high is 5.3 times the December low

The sharpest seasonal contrast is the high week against the low week. Take a manager who has to open a January kickoff. The week of January 12 sits at 159% of the topic’s average week. The week of December 14 sits at 30%. Dividing 159 by 30 gives 5.3.

The 5.3-times gap is our calculation from the public figures. It does not identify why any one person searched. The same query could come from a workplace kickoff, interview, class presentation, toast or performance review where someone expects to speak in front of others.

Every figure behind the January surge

The table separates timing from prevalence. The Google figures describe search interest over 5 years. The Chapman figure describes adults in a 2025 national survey. The 5.3-times figure is our calculation from the two Google Trends points.

What this means for you

If your first January presentation feels harder than expected, do not read that feeling as proof that you are uniquely bad at speaking. The search calendar says many people look for this exact fear in the same part of the year. The Chapman survey says the fear is common among adults.

Before your kickoff, write the first sentence you will say. Practice it out loud at normal speed. Then practice the second sentence, so your voice has a familiar path into the room. Your goal is not to erase every nerve. It is to make the first words less surprising.