Work-related communicative profile of radio broadcasters: a case study

Effects of the Program for Developing Oral Communication Expressiveness on university radio announcers: a pre/post intervention study

PURPOSE

To analyze the effects of the Program for Developing Oral Communication Expressiveness on announcers of a university radio station.

METHODS

This is a pre/post intervention study. The Program for Developing Oral Communication Expressiveness was implemented with eight announcers in eight 2-hour meetings. Participants were evaluated before and after the program using self-perception instruments, auditory-perceptual judgment, and acoustic analysis of their voices during standardized readings. Statistical analysis included descriptive and statistical inference methods with a significance level of p < 0.05.

RESULTS

The announcers' self-perceived diction and voice improved after the program. Half of the pairs evaluated improved in the auditory-perceptual judgment of reading, emphasizing voice quality, speech, and interpretation. The acoustic analysis found reduced fundamental frequency of speech, increased articulation and elocution rate, and decreased speech intensity.

CONCLUSION

The program considerably improved aspects of the announcers' voice and speech, highlighting the importance of specific training programs to improve radio communication skills.

Self-Perception of Vocal Effort in Response to Modeled Communication Demands

OBJECTIVES

The optimization of vocal effort given a response to a voice demand is a common clinical and vocal performance goal. Increases in vocal effort are often in response to communication limitations from both the interlocutors and the communication environment. This study investigates the relationship between vocal effort and vocal demands from changes and limitations imposed by the communication environment.

METHODS

Thirty-seven participants rated their vocal effort associated with a map description task in a range of communication demands. These demands included communication distance (from 1 m to 4 m), loudness goal (54 dB-66 dB), and excess background noise (53 dBA-71 dBA). The vocal effort ratings were compared across the different types and extents of vocal demand conditions.

RESULTS

As would be expected, there were significant increases in vocal effort levels from the control condition to the extremes of the distance and loudness goal vocal demands. Each increase in background noise resulted in distinct increases in vocal effort level. Participants were able to use the vocal effort scale to efficiently quantify expected increases in vocal demands.

CONCLUSIONS

Increases of vocal effort level accompany increases to vocal demands that exceed the habitual or expected communication. While voice training and vocal therapy are essential for reducing internal vocal demands, clients with a goal to reduce vocal effort should also consider external vocal demands such as communication distance and background noise.

Bilingualism and Voice Production. Differences Between Bilingual Latin-American Spanish- English Female Speakers and Monolingual Spanish Female Speakers During Spanish Productions

BACKGROUND

Speaking a second language influences jitter and shimmer when comparing monolingual English speakers with bilingual English-Spanish speakers. However, there is little information about differences on voice acoustic parameters when comparing monolingual Spanish speakers with bilingual Spanish-English speakers during their productions in Spanish.

AIM

Determine differences in five voice acoustic parameters commonly used in voice assessments (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio and Cepstral Peak Prominence Smoothed) which may be influenced by bilingualism.

METHODS

Exploratory cross-sectional study with two groups of female participants: monolingual Spanish speakers (n = 17), and bilingual Spanish-English speakers (n = 11). Participants filled out a questionnaire and recorded two voice samples (sustained vowel /a/ and reading). For this study, all the participants reported that their native language was Spanish.

RESULTS

Being a female bilingual speaker had a significant effect on Shimmer (%) with a Beta = -0.7. Similar tendency was found on harmonics-to-noise ratio (B = 0.2) and cepstral peak prominence smoothed (B = 0.2).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that being a native Spanish female speaker, speaking English as a second language, has significant small effects on voice acoustic parameters, such as shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio and cepstral peak prominence smoothed, during their productions in Spanish. This information is of interest for assessment and intervention plans of bilingual speakers at clinical and work-related settings.

Differences on Voice Acoustic Parameters between Colombian College Professors with and without Vocal Fatigue

AIM

To determine which acoustic parameters may be associated with vocal fatigue among college professors in Bogotá-Colombia.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional study including 27 voice samples of college professors.

RESULTS

A gender analysis showed that mean fundamental frequency increased significantly among men and women who reported vocal fatigue compared with the those without fatigue (138.2Hz vs 122.3Hz for males; and 228.7Hz vs 188.9Hz for females; Mann-Whitney U test P value <0.01). Participants with vocal fatigue demonstrated a significantly decreased standard deviation of vocal sound pressure level compared to participants without vocal fatigue (8.7 dB vs 10.2 dB; Mann-Whitney U test P value <0.01). For the males in our sample, fundamental frequency had fair discriminatory value for vocal fatigue (area under the curve = 0.7). Sensitivity and specificity were moderate at a cut-off of 125 Hz (0.7 and 0.6 respectively). For females in this sample, the discriminatory value of fundamental frequency was slightly higher (area under the curve = 0.8). At a cut-off of 200 Hz, sensitivity was high (0.9) and specificity were moderate (0.7).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the fundamental frequencies and standard deviations of vocal sound pressure level are good indicators of and may be used to identify college professors with vocal fatigue. Clinically, voice clinicians may aim to train their clients to produce speech with a higher variation of "intensity" in order to avoid vocal fatigue.

Occupational voice is a work in progress: active risk management, habilitation and rehabilitation

The current article reviews recent literature examining occupational voice use and occupational voice disorders (January 2018–July 2019).