Hey Reader,

Welcome back! Pull up a chair. I've been saving a story for you…

Your voice is leaving money on the table

You can walk into any room looking like a million bucks. Sharp outfit, perfect hair, shoes that cost more than some people's rent.

And still... completely forgettable the moment you open your mouth.

Here's the thing nobody talks about enough…

We spend so much time obsessing over how we "look" that we completely ignore how we “Sound”.

Your visual image gets people's attention for about three seconds.

Your vocal image keeps it for the next three hours.

Think about the podcasters and speakers who make you stop everything and actually listen. You know the ones.

They pull you in without trying too hard. Their voice has this magnetic quality that makes you trust them before they've even finished their first sentence.

That's not an accident, and it's definitely not luck.

Not because you sound bad, but because nobody ever told you that your voice is doing 80% of the heavy lifting in every conversation, interview, and presentation you will ever have.

Your visual image gets people to look.

Your “vocal image” is what makes them stay, trust you, and come back!

Your voice is a full-on instrument with settings most people never even touch. Pace, tone, warmth, authority, pauses that actually do something.

When you learn to use all of it, your audience leans in instead of zoning out.

Your coworkers stay with you instead of sneaking a peek at their phones.

Your voice is an instrument. And just like a guitar sitting in the corner, it sounds exactly as good as you have learned to “play” it.

Nobody is born knowing how to play their “instrument”.

It gets practiced and shaped over time.

The good news is you don't need decades to make serious progress.

That is exactly what I dig into with you in a free “One on One with Royce”.

I want to hear your specific challenges and hand you real, usable tips you can run with right away.

(Link below)

Stellar Quotes

“You’re never going to kill storytelling, because it’s built in the human plan. We come with it.”

Margaret Atwood

“Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too.”

David Storey

Lord knows I've met some unique people in Radio.

Let's face it. Broadcasting has always attracted a certain type of individual.

Some would call them "creative." Others would call them "weirdos."

Both are correct.

One of the most memorable people I've ever worked with was Donnie Staten.

In the early 1980s, Donnie was already unusual for Tucson Radio. He was an African-American DJ at a time when there weren't many in the market.

But what really made Donnie unforgettable was that he was born without arms!

He had a prosthetic hand and a hook, but for most things, he used his feet.

And when I say "used his feet," I mean he used them better than most of us use our hands.

His handwriting, or should I say “footwriting”, was BETTER than mine!

We became friends almost immediately.

Not long after I earned my Private Pilot's license, Donnie became my very first passenger. Looking back, that was an incredible act of trust. Once I strapped him into the back seat of a tiny airplane, a guy with no hands was basically at the mercy of a rookie pilot.

That's friendship. Or insanity.

Maybe both.

But what amazed me most was watching him work.

Back then, Radio stations still played vinyl records. I'd watch Donnie reach into a record bin, pull out an album with one foot, hold the jacket with the other, slide out the record, place it on the turntable, and cue it up with his hook.

Smoothly.

Effortlessly.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were struggling to find “Side One”.

I still remember staff meetings where our Program Director would joke:

"Donnie, you've got to stop leaving toe prints all over the records!"

One day, I stopped by his apartment to pick him up.

I walked into the kitchen and found him standing on a chair with one foot in the SINK.

I asked… "What are you doing?"

He looked at me like I was the idiot.

"I'm washing dishes. What do you think I'm doing?"

Fair point.

Then there was the “Cigarette trick”, Reader!

I watched him hold a paper matchbook with the toes of one foot, tear out a match with the other, strike it, and light the cigarette in his mouth—all in one smooth motion.

It looked like something David Blaine would pull off!

At a party one night, he bet all of us that we couldn't do it.

In fact, he offered to pay anyone who could simply remove a match from a matchbook using only their toes.

Most of us couldn't even get the matchbook open.

That's when I realized something.

Donnie never spent much time thinking about what he couldn't do.

He spent his life mastering what he could.

And he got so good at it that he made the rest of us look clumsy.

He's still one of the most knowledgeable music people I've ever met.

More importantly, he's still a good friend.

And every time I think about him, I find myself smiling. 😊

Diversions

Your Thoughts

No right answers here. Just pick the one that feels most familiar.

If you could instantly fix ONE speaking challenge, what would it be? Speaking without overthinking every word Staying calm instead of feeling nervous Getting people to actually pay attention Trusting my voice instead of criticizing it