Prosody in public speech: analyses o a political inte

The study concerns informative and argumentative functions of prosody in the public domain. Analyses were based on speech samples from a professional news announcer and a well-known politician, each with a reputation as a highly skilled speaker. Results show both speakers to use prosody in a very efficient way. In the news reading, prosodic variation mainly serves informative demands, primarily the focusing of important information. The interview allows for a greater variety of expressions and the skill of the speaker manifests itself in her use of a wide repertoire of argumentative and emotionally colored expressive acts conveyed by prosody. The goal of this research is to shed light on what makes “a good speaker” and also how speech can be optimally adjusted to the demands of the situation.