演说台前的魅力从哪儿来

To be a *charismatic leader, it helps to have speaking skills that convey strength, experience, and *likeability. Contrary to popular belief, a speaker’s message might not matter as much as the style in which the speech was delivered. A new study finds it’s a leader’s tone of voice that actually assembles the masses.

要想成为一个有魅力的领导者，拥有能展现说服力、经验和亲和力的讲话技巧至关重要。与大家普遍认为的正相反，演讲的风格其实比演讲者所传递的信息更重要。新的研究表明，一个领导者讲话时的音调才是能否吸引听众的关键。

Researchers from the University of California analyzed the vocal stylings of four US politicians–Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. They found that while all of them presented wildly different messages, they altered their voices in similar ways, depending on the audience.

加利福尼亚大学的研究者对四名美国政客——希拉里•克林顿、卡莉•费奥莉娜、伯尼•桑德斯及唐纳德•特朗普的声音模型进行了分析。他们发现虽然四个人传达的信息大相径庭，但他们都会根据不同的听众群来改变音调。

“Politicians use voice as a very powerful behavior to convey their charisma,” Rosario Signorello, one of the researchers behind the work, said at a recent briefing.

“政客们用声音作为强有力的手段来展现个人魅力。”该项目的研究人员罗萨里奥•希诺纳雷洛在近期的发布会上说。

When it comes to politics, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. There’s a good reason that some of the most successful politicians, for better or worse, are also known as outstanding *orators, able to persuade large and diverse crowds with powerful speeches. But it’s not just about the words they choose; the same paragraph on chopped carrots might sound boring in a monotone speaker’s voice but *riveting when recited by a Shakespearean actor. *Seasoned politicians know this all too well.

对于政客来说，关键不在于你说的是什么，而在于你怎么去说。一些最成功的政治家，无论是好是坏，在人们心中也都是杰出的演说家，他们能够用强有力的演讲来说服人数众多且各种各样的听众。但这并不单单是因为他们选择了哪些词汇。同样一段关于“切胡萝卜”的段落，用一成不变的音调读出来听上去百无聊赖，而让一个莎士比亚戏剧演员朗诵出来就能引人入胜。老练的政客们深知这一点。

Addressing large crowds

对群众演讲

“When the candidates addressed [an] audience of perceived and assessed lower status, lower social status, they would use a high vocal pitch range, a high vocal pitch average and a wide loudness range,” Signorello said.

“当竞选人推断听众的社会地位较低时，他们会将声音保持在高音域，音调高、音响范围大。” 希诺纳雷洛说。

This makes sense given the audience, he added.

这种方式也的确对此类听众奏效，他补充道。

“They have to diversify in their speech because they address an extremely diverse audience, so it’s like they’re focusing on subgroups of their audience and trying to fulfill each one’s expectation” of what a charismatic leader sounds like, said Signorello.

“他们需要以多种多样的形式演讲，因为他们的听众是形形色色的人，这就好比他们要照顾到听众中的不同群体，并试图满足每个人的期待。”希诺纳雷洛讲道，在不同群体心中，一个有魅力的领导者的声音是不一样的。

Addressing fellow politicians

对同僚政客演讲

When the politicians were addressing other politicians, such as when Clinton spoke to a United Nations commission, when Sanders spoke to the US Senate or when Trump and Fiorina spoke at the New Hampshire Republican Leadership Summit, the candidates limited their pitch to low and medium frequencies. That’s a pattern that’s meant to signal power and dominance – and it’s a well-worn strategy across the *mammalian kingdom. A politician may lower their pitch range in this context because they want to hold their own among perceived equals, said the scientist. 

当政客给同僚们演讲，比如当克林顿在联合国委员会、桑德斯在美国参议院、又或者特朗普和费奥莉娜在新罕布什尔州共和党领导人峰会上讲话时，他们都将自己的音调控制在中频或低频。这是一种暗示权力及支配力的模式，而且是一种哺乳动物惯用的策略。据科学家所说，一位政客在此类环境下会降低他们讲话的音调，因为他们想在同僚前坚持自己的立场。

“When they address leaders, the audience diversity is very, very restricted,” he pointed out. “They’re probably mostly male listeners of a certain age. So this is why the vocal behavior is adapted to that.”

“当他们对领导人讲话时，这样的听众群就非常单一了。” 希诺纳雷洛指出，“他们基本上都是特定年龄段的男性听众，因此音调也就相应地做出了调整。”

When on a talk show chatting about nonpolitical things, however, the politicians all used their normal pitch range, without “stretching” their frequencies or loudness, he added.

“然而当在脱口秀节目上谈论一些与政治无关的事情时，政客们就全都用平常的声调来说话，而不会特意拉高或降低嗓门。”他补充道。