Best prosody for news: a psychophysiological study comparing a broadcast to a narrative speaking style

Abstract

Studies in different languages have identified a broadcast speaking style, a particular manner that broadcasters have of reading news. This speaking style is characterized by an emphatic intonation with a fast speech rate easily recognizable by listeners. Some authors have stated that messages in this style are not positively perceived by listeners, as it is repetitive and regular, but there is no empirical data to support this conclusion, nor has the style been analyzed with physiological measures. The physiological approach has some advantages, such as a more objective assessment and real-time evaluation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effectiveness, adequacy, and physiological response of this broadcast style compared to a narrative pattern. We combined self-report with physiological measures. Fifty-six participants listened to six news pieces in both styles and with two voices, male and female. They had to rate the effectiveness and adequacy of the news while we measured their physiological responses (heart rate and electrodermal activity). The results showed that news conveyed through the broadcast style elicited less cognitive resource allocation and emotional arousal than the narrative pattern, but there were no significant differences in self-report evaluations.