Aug 18 2008
The Politics of Voice
With the conventions about to get underway, it is fascinating to consider the many influences over who we choose for our elected officials. In this case, I am specifically wondering if we choose them by what they say or HOW they say it. In a well-known study by Dr. Albert Mehrabian at UCLA in the 1970’s, it was learned that content is only responsible for 7% of a speaker’s appeal. A whopping 93% of our opinion of a speaker is based on the sound of their voice and other related physical factors.
What is even more interesting to me is that what we consider appealing changes over time, just as fashions do. Today, we like voices that sound real rather than cultivated, although it is true that ALL voice s are cultivated…but more on that later. As opposed to the time of the great orators like FDR, today we don’t even mind if our politicians make grammatical errors. In fact, to us, it makes them seem more real. We think we can relate better to people who make mistakes. That being said, we sure don’t want them to make mistakes when it comes to policy decisions!!
When you listen to the conventions, keep this in mind: Do you like what they say, or how they say it, or both?
