The Perfect Way to Order Toast, According to Jim Nantz

The Curious Case of Jim Nantz’s Breakfast Routine

With the 2025 Masters set to begin this week at Augusta, it’s a good time to dust off some storytelling advice I shared in a former role. As golf fans around the world prepare to hear Jim Nantz's buttery-smooth voice deliver his familiar "Hello, friends" during the broadcast, it's a lesser-known anecdote that offers a world-class tip on effective communication.

Golf Digest shared a story about the legendary sports announcer and his unusual relationship with toast. You see, Nantz is a breakfast guy, eating out 6 days a week. [Editor’s  note: this tracks, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who pulls the covers up over his head and just keeps hitting the “snooze” button on the reg]. His order: three eggs scrambled with bacon and wheat toast. But here’s the catch: he’s pretty particular about his toast, preferring it burnt to a crisp. In Nantz’s own words:

“The problem is, it never came back burnt. For years it would arrive limp and tan, which brought breakfast to a standstill when I sent the toast back. It was costing me 10 minutes a day, which, multiplied by six days a week, is four hours a month. That’s 48 hours—two full days per year. My friends, time is currency.”

Visuals Speak Louder Than Words (Even Jim Nantz’s)

While I appreciate that he’s done the math on missed productivity, it's Nantz's inventive solution to his problem that provides true storytelling gold: a clear, impactful visual can overcome even the toughest communication challenge.

Here's how Nantz mastered the art of morning meticulousness:

“My wife, Courtney, got tired of hearing me complain about it. She found a photograph of a kitchen toaster ejecting two slices of burnt toast. She minimized it, printed it out, and had it laminated. She insisted I put it in my wallet. When I order, I present the photo to my server. I get some strange looks, but I can assure you, the toast now arrives black and scary, just the way I like it.”

Courtney Nantz and her lamination machine intuitively grasped a fundamental principle of successful storytellers: specificity and visual clarity help cut through ambiguity, reducing the cognitive load on your audience. Morning wait staff, hesitant to serve something that seemed inherently wrong, quickly understood precisely what Nantz wanted—no hesitation, no interpretation—and proceeded to burn his bread with brilliance.

As storytellers and communicators, we regularly face the challenge of conveying abstract ideas or precise nuances. Whether it's in marketing specific product features, pitching ideas to stakeholders, or presenting complex scientific concepts, our success hinges on the audience's ability to clearly understand our intention. Sometimes, the fastest, most effective path isn't through words alone—it's through an image that immediately resonates. Studies suggest that the human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than written language.

Burnt Toast With a Side of Better Storytelling

So, next time you're struggling to communicate an abstract idea, remember Jim Nantz and his wallet-sized toast. A simple, powerful visual can save you valuable time in making your point—and empower you to toast to your own storytelling success.