Welcome!

Each week we bring to you a discussion on the latest trends in digital marketing and how you can actually implement these strategies into your organization.

#165 Why Voice is the Most Underrated Marketing Channel with Tina Dietz and Zachary Bernard

Today we’re speaking with Tina Dietz and Zachary Bernard. Tina Dietz is an award-winning vocal leadership expert and founder and CEO of Twin Flames Studios, a premier audio publishing company helping entrepreneurs and experts turn their voices into powerful audiobooks and professionally published, authority-building books. Zachary Bernard is the founder of We Feature You PR, a public relations firm that helps individuals and businesses build thought leadership through podcasts and major media features, with over 350 clients and 1,000+ podcast appearances secured. In this episode, we explore leadership, podcast marketing, audiobook creation, and authentic approaches to AI with Tina and Zach.
“One of our most unique and precious things we can use is our own voice.” -Tina Dietz
“Never trust AI to write your entire content — you’re going to kill your brand. You want to have that authentic piece in your content.” -Zachary Bernard

About the Episode

Welcome to a deep dive into Episode 165 of the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast! This episode features conversations with two trailblazers in the world of audio, voice-driven leadership, and modern marketing: Tina Dietz, CEO of Twin Flames Studios, and Zachary Bernard, founder of We Feature You. If you’re ready to learn about the evolving landscape of audiobooks, podcasts, AI in content strategy, and the unique role of authentic voice in leadership, you’re in the right spot.

This detailed guide walks through every layer discussed in the podcast — from building trustworthy brands with your voice, translating podcasts into best-selling books, to leveraging PR and AI effectively. Let’s dig in.

Meet Tina Dietz: Twin Flames Studios and the Art of Voice

Twin Flames Studios isn’t just a podcasting or audiobook production company — it’s a pioneer in giving creators the tools to amplify their voice, tell authentic stories, and break new ground in content creation.

“Twin Flames Studios is celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2026. We produce world class audiobooks, and we were the first audiobook company to pioneer remote recording and production while still offering the studio-directed experience remotely.”
— Tina Dietz

Quick Facts about Twin Flames Studios:

  • Over 500 nonfiction audiobooks produced
  • About 80% author-narrated
  • Pioneers of remote, studio-quality audio experiences
  • Recent launch: Podcraft Books — turning podcasts into published works

Why Audiobooks Matter

There’s something magical about hearing a memoir in the author’s own voice. Tina and Jenna both agreed that author-narrated books hold an unmatched emotional weight:

“As we all know, one of our most unique and precious things we can use is our own voice. We’ve been stewards of protecting people’s voices and helping them get their voice out into the world in new ways.”

Audiobooks are more than content delivery; they are vessels for personality, values, and connection.

Unlocking the Leadership Power of Your Voice

The conversation soon digs into why “voice” is now more crucial than ever for building trust, authority, and leadership in a digital world.

Why Voice Resonates

There’s actual science behind why hearing a person’s real, unique voice builds trust and authority. Tina Dietz shares:

  • Voice conveys authority: Research shows that pitch, cadence, and word choice are core to how others judge a speaker’s leadership potential.
  • Voice reveals personality: From values to excitement, to boredom — all of it can be decoded from enough audio data.
  • Voice is about control: When so much feels out of our control, choosing how we speak and what we say is more important than ever.

“One of our most unique and precious things we can use is our own voice.”

Cool Research:

  • A study of 792 CEOs found that those with lower-pitched voices were seen as more trustworthy and led larger teams — with average paychecks $180,000 higher!
  • Over time, women’s voices have gotten lower as perceptions and biases have changed.

Bias In Audio

We all have unconscious (and often irrational) biases around voice:

  • Lower voices = more trustworthy?
  • Accent, gender, ethnicity — all impact how we subconsciously receive authority.

This is a wake-up call for leaders to assume responsibility for what they convey and how they sound:

“We have a responsibility to be out at the forefront and declare what our values are, declare the world we are creating, and say we are accountable.”

Turning Podcast Content Into World-Class Books

Twin Flames Studios innovated an entirely new way to leverage podcasts: transforming a creator’s spoken body of work into powerful published books.

“Most podcasters don’t even realize the depth and breadth of the body of work they’ve created. We use podcast content as the basis to create beautiful, world-class, consumable books.”

Why This Matters:

Most entrepreneurs and thought leaders pour huge time and energy into their podcast episodes. But once an episode is published and lightly repurposed, that mountain of intellectual work is often forgotten.

The Problems:

  • Creating a book is hard: Even a publishing pro like Tina Dietz admits she hasn’t published her own book — yet!
  • Ghostwriters hate raw data: Many professional writers prefer starting from scratch, given the scattered nature of podcast content.

The Solution:

Through custom software (developed with her data architect husband), Tina’s team can now:

  • Ingest and analyze huge bodies of content
  • Use advanced tools (databases, machine learning, AI)
  • Pull out key themes, consistent thought patterns, “voice prints”
  • Preserve personality, values, even speech quirks, through a detailed editorial process

Voice Print Analysis

The system analyzes seven detailed layers of a creator’s speech, decoding thinking patterns, core values, and personality. Editorial decisions ensure only the right quirks make it onto the page. Not all spoken content translates well to written books!

“You can’t see the label of the jar you’re in — but now you can.”

Beyond Podcasting

While the focus is on podcasts, the same technology can analyze YouTube channels, blog articles, and other content.

“We can use blog feeds, YouTube feeds, other bodies of work — we’re focused on podcasting now as we refine the beta.”

Vocal Leadership & Brand Authenticity

Tina introduces the powerful idea of vocal leadership — not just what we say, but the consciousness behind it.

“Vocal leadership is a lot more than what you’re hearing… The human voice is an instrument no different than a violin or trumpet. Inside the music you play is your thoughts, beliefs, values, lived experience…”

Separate Ego from Brand

Leaders often confuse personal wants with company vision:

  • Define the company’s voice as separate from your own.
  • Build a personality, culture, maybe even a “horoscope” for your brand.

Virtuosity in Leadership

Great vocal leadership recognizes the interplay between thought (“the music inside”) and delivery (“the instrument”). It means regularly rewriting our own beliefs and values as business evolves.

“We really only get to virtuosity when we know how to not only play the music, but to write and rewrite it.”

AI, Synthetic Voices, and the Future of Audio Media

With AI-driven content and synthetic voices on the rise, authenticity becomes a tricky playing field.

“For the last couple years I’ve written a ‘State of Audio and Synthetic Voice’ article… but AI isn’t anywhere good enough yet to fool most people. Voice is actually harder to fake than video.”

Why Is Audio Hard to Fake?

  • Short snippets (like TikTok clips) can fool listeners.
  • Long-form audio (podcasts, audiobooks): AI artifacts accumulate; your brain starts picking up subtle red flags.
  • Even breath sounds are largely missing from AI.
  • Audiobook sales data proves: AI-narrated books do not sell well.

“People want to hear the human voice. They don’t care about an AI story — they want a human story.”

Practical, Ethical Use of AI Voice

  • Accessibility: Use AI-cloned voices to read blog articles.
  • Transparency is key: Let listeners know when audio is synthetic.
  • Relationship vs. Info: AI works for conveying information, but not for engaging a human relationship with listeners.

The “Uncanny Valley”

That almost-human-but-not-quite feeling? It actually matters — listeners can sense when audio isn’t authentic, especially over time.

“It’s the vocal equivalent of when AI tries to draw hands — there’s always an extra finger or one missing…”

AI Tech Is Improving, But Slowly

Top-tier synthetic voices require lots of fine-tuning, and public tools aren’t always available.

Meet Zachary Bernard: Building Authority in a Noisy World

Switching gears, our second guest, Zachary Bernard, brings the same candid, practical approach to podcasting and PR. Zach’s company, We Feature You, helps entrepreneurs become recognized thought leaders — primarily by landing them on targeted podcasts.

Building Real Authority

With so much online content, what separates “the known” from “the ignored”? Zach shares:

“It’s not enough to be able to speak to anything… It’s about: what do you want to be known for?”

Key to Recognition:

  • Find your niche: Specialize in one (maybe two or three) topics.
  • Consistency in messaging: Regularly talk about that core topic.
  • Brand congruence: If you talk about everything, your audience won’t remember you for anything.

Social Media Parallels

This advice is equally true for social platforms. If you’re unpredictable, audiences won’t know what to expect, won’t keep coming back, and won’t recognize your authority.

Finding Your Niche: The Secret to Standing Out

Zach drills into the notion that being “known” means picking the right thing to focus on — relentlessly.

  • Pick a lane: Figure out your expertise and talk about it.
  • Less is more: Narrow content focus draws core fans, not random wanderers.

“You need to find one thing or maybe two, three things you speak about — only focus on that.”

Practical Steps:

  1. List your main strengths.
  2. Survey your audience for what they want to hear.
  3. Stick to your core message on all channels.

PR as Amplifier, Not Magic Bullet

Where does PR fit in the marketing mix? Zach’s philosophy: PR is an amplifier, not a silver bullet.

What Does PR Really Do?

  • Amplifies other marketing channels: It adds credibility, not overnight growth.
  • People who see your ads will Google you — PR builds a trustworthy online presence.

“Use PR as a way to amplify everything else you’re doing.”

Integrating PR With Paid, Organic, and Sales

PR works best when it’s meshed with:

  • Paid ads
  • Organic social
  • Podcasts, video, email
  • Sales process assets

For podcasting, make sure you leverage episodes — send clips to prospects, use them in email nurture sequences, and repurpose for blogs.

AI in Content Creation: Tips for Staying Authentic

The rise of AI tools (think ChatGPT, Claude, automated video editing) has changed the content game. But how do you keep messaging authentic, not generic?

“Never trust AI to write your entire content — you’re going to kill your brand. You want to have that authentic piece in your content.”

Main Advice:

  • AI is for brainstorming, not dictating voice
    • Use it for generating ideas, outlines, market research.
    • Feed it your own writing samples: train it on your style if you use it for drafting.
    • Review and rewrite — always insert your thoughts, quirks, and perspective.
  • Avoid copy-paste AI replies on socials
    • Your followers want you, not an algorithm.
    • Add real stories, opinions, and emotion.

Top Tools Mentioned:

  • Claude (by Anthropic): Great for ideation, handling larger context windows.
  • ChatGPT: Ubiquitous, but needs careful prompt design and editing.
  • Transcript-to-content tools: Good for turning podcasts into written assets.

How We Feature You Uses AI for Strategy & Efficiency

Step-by-step, Zach pulls back the curtain on how his team integrates AI in their everyday workflow.

Biggest AI Wins for We Feature You:

  1. Client Strategy: Feed previous wins, data, and client info into AI, quickly draft outlines that are hyper-relevant.
    • What used to take days now is hours.
  2. Transcription Magic: AI-powered transcription saves massive amounts of time, turns audio into blog posts, social copy, and soundbites.
  3. Podcast Clips: AI can tentatively select timestamps for great podcast moments (but final editorial by a human is still vital!).
  4. Team Culture of Efficiency:
    • Onboard staff to use AI prompts, workflows, search company SOPs.
    • Encourage creative use, but always coach critical thinking over blind acceptance.
  5. Resource Management:
    • Store company recipes, protocols, systems in AI for quick queries.
    • Make operations seamless and documentation universally accessible.

AI Adoption Tips:

  • Have staff experiment, train, and learn as AI evolves.
  • Stay up-to-date — avoid playing catch-up.
  • Use AI to augment skills, not replace personality.

“Once you get to a point where everyone uses AI, understands it, and uses it effectively, it makes your life much easier.”

Key Takeaways

Both Tina and Zach focused on one central theme: the power of authentic voice is irreplaceable in leadership, content, and brand building. Technology is a tool, not a substitute for personality, values, or genuine connection.

What You Can Do Next

  • If you’re a podcaster: Audit your episodes — look for themes, frameworks, or ideas that are standing out. Consider how these could be the backbone of a book or deeper project.
  • If you’re a business leader: Re-evaluate your brand’s voice; separate your personal style from your company’s culture. Get feedback from your team.
  • If you create content: Use AI wisely — for speed and brainstorming, but always inject yourself into the process. Never lose your authentic, human edge.
  • If you want more exposure: Double down on niche authority, clarity, and consistent messaging. Use PR to amplify everything you already do well.
  • If you run a team: Train your staff to use AI thoughtfully, leverage its speed, but stress the importance of human-driven final decisions.

“You have this body of work you probably haven’t looked at in a way that allows you to utilize it as a book, as a thought partner for your future.”
— Tina Dietz

“If you’re getting on podcasts and not using the content elsewhere, don’t do podcasting — it’s a waste of time.”
— Zachary Bernard

Final Thoughts

The voice-driven future isn’t about silencing the human connection — it’s about using every tool to amplify your authentic leadership and creative presence. Whether you’re an author, podcaster, strategist, or entrepreneur, your unique sound, attitude, and values are your brand. Don’t let technology dilute what makes you memorable. Use it to empower your journey.

Ready to take your voice further? Start with the resources above, and never underestimate the power of authentic connection in a noisy, AI-evolving world.

More Episodes

The School for Humanity Archive

Explore our archive of NTM’s original podcast, The School for Humanity, created to discuss the greatest challenges humanity faces and help promote those who are helping to find solutions. 

Skip to content