> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.particle.pro/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Speaker statement characteristics

> How each returned line is said: its sentiment, certainty, specificity and temporal orientation, as labels on search and mention results.

Lines returned by [episode search](https://docs.particle.pro/podcasts/episode-search.md) and [mentions](https://docs.particle.pro/podcasts/mentions.md) carry `speaker_statement_characteristics`: four labels that describe *how* a line is said, not what it is about. Use them to tell a confident prediction from a hedged aside, or a pointed criticism from a passing remark, without reading every line.

```json theme={"dark"}
{
  "number": 412,
  "speaker": "Jane Doe",
  "role": "GUEST",
  "text": "Within five years, most new drug programs will start from a model, not a wet lab.",
  "speaker_statement_characteristics": {
    "sentiment": "positive",
    "certainty": "confident",
    "specificity": "specific",
    "temporal_orientation": "future"
  }
}
```

## The four axes

| Axis | Labels | What it reads |
| - | - | - |
| `sentiment` | `negative` · `neutral` · `positive` | The statement's tone. |
| `certainty` | `hedged` · `neutral` · `confident` | How sure the speaker sounds: "maybe", "I think", "it could" against a flat assertion. |
| `specificity` | `vague` · `neutral` · `specific` | Whether the line commits to something concrete (names, numbers, dates, mechanisms) or stays general. |
| `temporal_orientation` | `past` · `present` · `future` | Whether the line looks back, describes how things are, or looks ahead (predictions, plans, expectations). |

Combinations read naturally: `specific` + `future` is a concrete prediction, `confident` + `positive` + `future` is a bullish call, and `negative` + `specific` is a pointed criticism.

## What a label means

* **A pole label means the line clearly reads that way.** `positive`, `hedged`, `specific`, `future` and the other poles are assigned only when the reading is clear.
* **The middle label means "not clearly either pole".** A borderline line takes `neutral` (or `present` for `temporal_orientation`), so the middle label is not a measurement of neutrality. Most lines sit in the middle on at least one axis.
* **Labels describe one statement, not the speaker.** A guest who is bullish on a company can still make a hedged, backward-looking remark about it.
* **Labels are read from the words.** Tone of voice is not part of the reading, so sarcasm and irony can be misread.
* **Labels keep their meaning over time.** When the model that reads lines improves, each new version is held to the same standard before it labels anything.

## Which lines carry them

* Lines in topic-discussion and interview segments. Lines in intros, outros, ad reads and other structural segments carry none, and neither do short lines such as "Yeah." or "I don't know."
* Every line of a returned window: the `is_match` and `is_mention` lines and the context lines around them.
* The object is absent, not `null`, on a line without labels.

Labels ride on the lines a query returns. Whole-transcript endpoints, such as [transcripts](https://docs.particle.pro/podcasts/transcripts.md) and [segments](https://docs.particle.pro/podcasts/segments-and-clips.md), do not carry them.

## In MCP

[`particle_podcast_search_transcripts`](https://docs.particle.pro/mcp/tools/podcasts/podcast-search-transcripts) and [`particle_podcast_find_mentions`](https://docs.particle.pro/mcp/tools/podcasts/podcast-find-mentions) end each line with its pole labels, for example `_[confident · positive · future]_`. Middle labels are left out of that short form; `_[neutral]_` marks a line that leans clearly on no axis, and a line without brackets carries no labels. With `output_format=json`, each line has the full `speaker_statement_characteristics` object.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.