Crafting the right messages is only the first step in influencing investors. Effective delivery depends on confidence, speech patterns, and a host of nonverbal cues.


BY ALEXANDRA WALSH T


oday’s investors do more than just listen to earnings calls, presen- tations, and meetings. They use a range of advanced tools – both human and technological – to decipher the nuanced messages conveyed in investor relations (IR) communications.


Observing nonverbal cues like body language and facial expressions, analyz-


ing vocal tone and inflection for emotional hints, and utilizing natural language processing and semantic algorithms to determine a CEO’s sentiment and intent is now the norm, according to David Pope, CEO of Speech Craft Analytics, and Dr. Abbie Maroño, a Behavioral Scientist at Social-Engineer, LLC. Te two spoke in a session, “Te Investor View: Non-Traditional Tools for


Assessing IR Messaging,” at the NIRI 2025 Annual Conference, which was moder- ated by Harry Blount, Founder and CEO of Baans Holdings, LLC. Blount identified three objectives for the session: raise awareness and


insight of the tools and techniques that investors use, provide insight into the verbal and nonverbal cues that the buy side looks at when making investment decisions, and offer insight into how to help management improve their com- munications to investors.


Why It’s Important “We use artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced machine learning to understand what is in the mind of the speaker, and we analyze voice cadence to gauge their emotional state,” Pope said. “It is important for CEOs to put forward their best com- munication performance because the buy side is already analyzing them this way.” Dr. Maroño explained that in her current role, she routinely trains person-


nel from the Secret Service, Homeland Security, and the FBI to read nonverbal communication and present themselves effectively. “I also train CEOs, and it’s exactly the same,” Dr. Maroño observed. “Both


the agent and the executive want to project an image of themselves for the goal they have. And both want to be able to read other people to elicit information


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