Digital Rhetoric 2.0: How to Train Charismatic Speaking with Speech-Melody Visualization Software

The present study deals with a key factor of speaker charisma: prosody or, to put it less technically, speech melody. In a contrastive analysis, we investigate the extent to which computer-aided real-time visualizations of acoustic-melodic parameters in a self-guided training task help speakers use these parameters more charismatically. Fifty-two speakers took part in the experiment, subdivided into four equally large, gender-balanced groups. Each group received the same introduction and instruction, but then trained their melodic charisma with a different software tool. One tool – the “Pitcher” – was specifically developed for visualizing melodic parameters and providing feedback on their proper use in charismatic speech. The other software tools serve language- or singer-training purposes. Results show that three out of the four tools in fact support speakers in adopting a more charismatic speech melody after training, whereby the “Pitcher” outperforms all other tools by more than 25%. We discuss the implications of our findings for refining speech-melody visualization strategies (also for L2 training) and for digitizing rhetorical speaker coaching.