What your mouth is doing wrong 🤔

Hey Reader,

I’m happier to see you than a Vegas buffet manager seeing someone order a salad!

Life gets easier… When people stop asking you to “repeat yourself”!

One of the professionals I coach, Rohan, came to me with a challenge.

He’s from India… Rohan has good ideas. Really good ones.

Here’s what’s actually happening with Rohan. He’s sharp, well-spoken in his native language, and packed with ideas worth hearing.

But every time he opened his mouth in English, he could see it on people’s faces.

That slight squint. The polite “Sorry, could you say that again?”

The moment when the listener is working so hard to decode the words that they completely miss the meaning behind them.

That kind of thing quietly eats away at you.

What most people don’t realize is that different languages literally train your mouth to move “differently”.

Many languages are faster and more compact. English, on the other hand, needs big vowels, wide mouth movements, and room to breathe.

When those two worlds collide without any bridge between them, clarity gets lost in the gap.

So that’s where the work started. Not with an “accent coach”.

Not with erasing who he was.

But with “articulation”!

Slowing down. Exaggerating mouth movements.

Watching himself in a mirror. And one exercise that sounds completely ridiculous but absolutely works…

A pencil. Sideways. In his mouth. Reading out loud.

Sounds silly, right? But your mouth has to work twice as hard with that pencil in there. Every word demands more precision. (Try it!)

When you take it out, suddenly speaking clearly feels almost effortless.

The results were real. Rohan stopped getting puzzled looks.

People stopped asking him to repeat himself.

And here’s what changed most…

His confidence.

Once you stop worrying about HOW you sound, you finally focus on what you’re actually saying!

That shift in presence is everything, whether you’re hosting a podcast interview or commanding a meeting.

Your audience feels it immediately.

If you have a challenge speaking up… because of your accent, thin voice, or just plain “nerves”, we should talk!

A “One on One with Royce” costs you nothing and gives you real, actionable feedback you can use right away. No pitch. No pressure.

Just real, actionable ideas from 30-plus years in Major Market Radio that you can use right away. (Link below)

Stellar Quotes

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.”

Lee Iacocca

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

Ayn Rand

“Behind the Mic”

Donald Duck was smoking a cigarette

Throughout my Radio career, I’ve done tons of “Remotes”.

(when you do your show “on location”)

Some are much better than others!

Outside at a car dealership in Phoenix, in the summer, NOT good.

Broadcasting live from Disneyland for a week, Good!

Most people think they know Disneyland. They’ve ridden Space Mountain, eaten a churro, and watched the fireworks from the perfect spot on Main Street.

They think they’ve seen it all.

They haven’t seen anything, Reader!

There’s a whole other Disneyland happening right underneath your feet. Literally. A city of underground tunnels runs beneath the park. Cast members (that’s Disney-speak for everyone from the ride operators to the guy sweeping popcorn off the ground) move through those tunnels like a secret civilization.

And speaking of cast members, I’ve seen “Donald Duck” sitting in the break room with his giant cartoon head resting on a table next to a lit cigarette.

Magic, officially, ruined.

Thanks to my previous Magic Kingdom remotes, I’ve also been inside the top of the “Matterhorn”. (There’s a basketball hoop…long story.)

But the real crown jewel of ‘backstage’ Disneyland?

Walt’s apartment.

Walt Disney’s private apartment, sitting right above the fire station, on Main Street, exactly as he left it in the late 1950s.

Original sofa, original drapes, a beautifully painted tea set, and a green-tiled shower with multiple showerheads, which was basically unheard of at the time.

Employees who’ve worked there for 18 years have never set foot inside.

No cameras allowed. You get two Disney hosts escorting you the whole time.

When my producer and I walked in, ‘something’ hit us both immediately.

The second we walked through that door, the room had this “weight” to it.

Not spooky. More like a quiet, heavy sense of “importance”.

Like the room still remembers who built all of this and why.

Sure beats broadcasting from an asphalt parking lot when your shoes are actually “melting”!

Diversions