Research
Last reviewed: July 2026

Research & Citations

Primary sources for the statistics and claims used throughout EchoPitch. All research is peer-reviewed and linked to original publications where available.

Key Statistics

75%

of people experience some degree of anxiety about public speaking

Kessler, R.C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., & Walters, E.E. (2005). National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593-602.

#1

most common social phobia — fear of public speaking ranks above fear of death in prevalence surveys

Stein, M.B. & Stein, D.J. (2008). Social anxiety disorder. The Lancet, 371(9618), 1115-1125.

13%

lifetime prevalence of social anxiety disorder in the general population

Ollendick, T.H. & Hirshfeld-Becker, D.R. (2002). The developmental psychopathology of social anxiety disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 51(1), 44-58.

85%+

of people with presentation anxiety respond well to systematic exposure-based practice

Hofmann, S.G. & Smits, J.A. (2008). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 10(2), 207-217.

67%

reduction in pre-presentation anxiety using process visualisation vs outcome visualisation

Pham, L.B. & Taylor, S.E. (1999). From thought to action: Effects of process- versus outcome-based mental simulations on performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(2), 250-260.

Methodology & Science

EchoPitch uses established scientific frameworks for emotion detection and confidence assessment.

Facial Action Coding System (FACS)

The gold standard for measuring facial expressions, developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen. FACS defines 44 Action Units corresponding to specific facial muscle movements.

Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (1978). Facial Action Coding System: A Technique for the Measurement of Facial Movement. Consulting Psychologists Press.

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VAD Model (Valence-Arousal-Dominance)

Three-dimensional model of emotional state used to map detected signals to confidence assessment.

Russell, J.A. & Mehrabian, A. (1977). Evidence for a three-factor theory of emotions. Journal of Research in Personality, 11(3), 273-294.

DOI: 10.1016/0092-6566(77)90037-X

Mental Practice and Motor Performance

Meta-analysis demonstrating that mental rehearsal activates motor cortex at 60-70% of physical practice levels.

Driskell, J.E., Copper, C., & Moran, A. (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(4), 481-492.

DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.79.4.481

Citing EchoPitch Content

If you reference statistics from EchoPitch guides, please cite the original research sources listed above rather than EchoPitch directly. This ensures proper attribution to the researchers.