Model-based prosodic analysis of charismatic speech

Abstract

This study examines at a new level of quantitative detail the intonation and timing properties of charismatic speech by comparing two popular CEOs, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, who are known from informal observations and formal perception experiments alike to be more or less charismatic speakers, respectively. By applying the Fujisaki model we decomposed F0 contours into baseline frequency, phrasal F0 excursions and pitch accent-associated F0 excursions. Timing details are examined by applying Pfitzinger's model of perceived local speech rate to phone and syllable segmentations. Results suggest that high pitch not only involves generally higher F0 levels, but that these increases in F0 are not the same for every prosodic domain or level of the Fujisaki model. In addition we found significant differences depending on whether customers or investors are addressed.

Shapes and timing in charismatic speech - Evidence from sounds and melodies

“…First, we have already addressed this speaker pair in previous analyses, in the course of which we created a prosodically and segmentally fully annotated corpus of their [40], MZ's presentation skills were described to be "rough enough to impact Facebook's perception in a negative way" [41]. Third, these assessments from the media are consistent with the result of our own formal perception experiment, see, for example, [42]. The experiment was based on randomly selected and de-lexicalized and de-personalized (i.e.…”

“…For the level of sound segments, we can conclude from our study that articulatory patterns, analyzed in terms of the hypo-hyper scale [38,42], have to become an integral part of phonetic research on speaker charisma. Our findings in combination with the constant call of rhetoric for a clear articulation (e.g, [21,22]) point to a general systematic difference between more and less charismatic speakers that affects many (if not all) segmental features and deserves a detailed and objective phonetic description.…”

“…Performing these in-depth analyses is important for assessing and teaching charismatic speech. For example, simply knowing as a charisma teacher or learner that 'higher' (pitched) means 'better' is not sufficient if 'higher' is not restricted to the F0 level alone (if at all, see [42)], but also includes pitch-accent types (timing) and shapes. Furthermore, it becomes obvious in this application-oriented context that follow-up studies have to scrutinize how much the accent types and shapes actually contribute to the acoustical and perceptual increase in a speaker's average pitch level, and, on this basis, what the effectiveness hierarchy of the individual pitchrelated components is within the total effectiveness of the charisma factor 'higher'.…”

“…This claim is, so far, only supported by evidence from contrastive vowel-space analyses of SJ and MZ. More specifically, SJ was found to use a significantly larger vowel space than MZ (along both the F1 and the F2 dimension, [42]). In this paper, we investigate this pronunciation-related segmental parameter in more detail by looking at stop-consonant voicing and place assimilation of alveolar consonants.…”

“…In this paper, we investigate this F0 raising more closely by looking at prosodic details of pitch accents. The question is whether the higher F0 of more charismatic speakers manifests itself only as a holistic increase in F0 level (if at all, see [42]), or whether being a higher-pitched more charismatic speaker additionally involves using more H* pitch accents and shaping these accents such that they enhance high F0 values, for example, through F0 slopes that are longer and more convex, i.e. slopes that rise faster to a higher F0 level.…”