This paper provides an overview of previous works on the acoustic parameters of charismatic voice and illustrates MASCharP, a scale for measuring the perception of charisma in voice. A study is then presented on the perception of charisma through the temporal and pitch structure of the voices of an Italian and a French politician. Results show some cultural differences in charisma perception and how acoustic features such as pitch (normal, higher, or lower) and types of pauses (short or long) can affect the Proactive-Attractive and CalmBenevolent dimensions of charisma. The same dimension of charisma can be conveyed by different acoustic correlates of voice by connecting them to the dimension of leader extraversionintroversion.

A leader's charisma is conveyed by various multiple aspects of his perceivable behavior among which the acousticprosodic characteristics of speech. We present here a study on the perception of charisma in political speech that aims to investigate the notion of charisma and to validate a theoretical framework on a multidimensional scale of charisma perception. The study points out that a multidimensional approach of charisma allows to better analyze which factors are related to specific aspects of speech. We finally clustered the charismatic voice of an Italian political leader in three factors: Proactive-Attracting, BenevolentCompetent and Authoritarian.

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