discussion meter

Some day I am going to invent a "discussion meter".

This device will be placed on a table during a meeting. The device will be able to identify each voice, and for each person, separately track the following info:

  1. Total number of minutes each person has spoken.
  2. Total number of times each person has spoken.
  3. Volume of each person (average and standard deviation).
  4. Tonal range of each person (average and standard deviation).
  5. Speaking speed in words per minute.
  6. Number of times each person interrupts someone else.
  7. Stress level of each person.

Later it could be fancier, and start to track how a person treats other people in the meeting differently from each other. E.g., maybe Paul interrupts Melissa more than he interrupts Amy. E.g., maybe Amy speaks louder or faster to Bill than she does to Jim.

A discussion meter could be used for live feedback like a chess clock. It would have a display showing total number of minutes each person has spoken, and optionally also showing some indication of speaker volume etc.

paulenglish.com - articles - startups - nonprofits - press 01-May-2008