Of voices and votes: Phonetic charisma and the myth of Nixon’s radio victory in his first 1960 TV debate with Kennedy

Stephanie Berger, Oliver Niebuhr, Alexander Brem

Publikation: Kapitel i bog/rapport/konference-proceedingKapitel i bogForskningpeer review

Abstract

The present study investigates acoustic features of charismatic speech using a case study. There is an ongoing myth regarding the first ever televised presidential debate on September 26, 1960, between John F. Kennedy (who emerged as the winner of the debate) and Richard M. Nixon. The myth states that while Kennedy clearly won amongst the TV audience, Nixon was actually the winner among radio listeners. The question that appears is if the debate had only been broadcast over the radio (as in previous years), would Nixon’s tone of voice have helped him to victory over Kennedy? In a nutshell, based on current research on speaker charisma, this myth turns out to be plausible with certain reservations: Our results indicate that Nixon’s tone of voice corresponds more closely to what is nowadays known about charismatic voices as opposed to Kennedy’s tone of voice.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TitelAn den Rändern der Sprache
RedaktørerMichael Elmentaler, Oliver Niebuhr
Vol/bind12
UdgivelsesstedFrankfurt
ForlagPeter Lang
Publikationsdato28. okt. 2020
Sider109-145
ISBN (Trykt)978-3-631-82875-5
ISBN (Elektronisk)978-3-631-82875-5
StatusUdgivet - 28. okt. 2020
NavnKieler Forschungen zur Sprachwissenschaft
Vol/bind12
ISSN1868-8365

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