Language Log » “Weak point; shout louder!”

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My debate analysis for The Economist included the following charts:
:

…with the commentary

The final charts show the average pitches of the two candidates and their variability within each speech (which can be a rough proxy for emotional arousal). Both candidates start with a lower average pitch and lower variability before showing a fair amount of range throughout the debate. Mr. Trump was most animated (a highly variable pitch) when asked if he regretted his behavior during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

A striking difference is on the right side of the chart. Ms. Harris’s final statement was close to the tone with which she began: low and steady, like a prosecutor closing a case she thinks she has done well. Mr. Trump, in marked contrast, and unusually for a closing statement, delivered one of his most animated turns of the evening, rising in pitch and variability as he decried “what these people have done to our country”; “they are destroying our country, the worst president, the worst vice president in the history of our country” was his final line. In other words, Mr. Trump sounded like a man still trying to expend energy on changing the narrative — or perhaps just a man who knows he has not had his best night.

Here’s the text of Trump’s “most vibrant” performance:

2699,510 2774,899 Donald Trump You just said something that is not being treated peacefully and patriotically. I said it during my speech, not later. Peacefully and patriotically. And nobody on the other side was killed. Ashli ​​Babbitt was shot by a police officer who should not have been able to control her and should never have shot her. It is a disgrace. But we have not dealt with this group of people who have been treated so badly. I ask, what about all these people who are pouring into our country and killing people who she has had deported? She was the border czar. Remember that. She was the border czar and she does not want to be called the border czar because she is ashamed of the border. In fact, she said at the beginning, Well, I am surprised you haven’t mentioned the border yet. That’s because she knows what a bad job they’ve done. And those people? What are they going to be prosecuted for? When are these people going to come from countries all over the world, not just South America, they are coming from all over the world, David. All over the world. And crime rates have dropped all over the world because of this. But let me just say when it happens, will every one of those people be prosecuted? One of the people who set fire to Minneapolis will be prosecuted. Or in Seattle. They went to Seattle. They took over a large percentage of the city of Seattle. One of those people will be prosecuted.

And the audio:

Jerry Goldman sent this comment:

Senator Huey Long was reviewing a speech he was going to give on the Senate floor. He wrote in the margin: “Weak point; shout louder!”

There are interesting things to be said about Kamala Harris’s median and MADM pitch variation, but I’ll save that for another post.

September 15, 2024 @ 6:20 pm Posted by Mark Liberman under Rhetoric

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