Some speakers get away with it, but think about it like this:

You never know who’s in the audience.

If your f-bomb offends one person in the room, they could be the one person who complains or who has the authority to make sure you never get referred or invited back.

Have we become so bad at communicating that we can’t make a point without a string of expletives?

If you must swear, abbreviate, or obfuscate. Oddly, it seems to be acceptable to use terms like “BS” and “F-bomb.” As long as you don’t actually swear, these substitute phrases imply that your intention is not to offend.

But don’t these terms mean the same things as the swear words they represent?

Why would one phrase be acceptable and the other…?

You got me!

Still, it just makes sense to err on the side of caution and courtesy.

Plenty of speakers inspire their audiences to laugh, think, and grow without being offensive.

Why not you?