Keynote speech: The Power of Reading

It has been said that reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. The good news about mental fitness is that, you don’t have to lift heavy weights and do push ups daily to be mentally strong.  All you need to do is befriend good books, and get lost in them daily and consistently.

Ladies and gentlemen. Mr. toastmaster, speaking of mental fitness, I am reminded of Malcom X. One of the most eloquent, influential and powerful leaders in American history.  A street hustler who was convicted of robbery in 1946 and consequently spent seven years in prison, where he educated himself.

What I found fascinating about his story is that he never went past beyond eighth grade in formal education. While in prison, he envied his inmate who was well-spoken and fond of books. He tried to read some books himself but couldn’t understand most of the words. But that didn’t deter him from becoming a good speaker like his jailed friend.

In an attempt to improve his penmanship and speaking abilities, he decided to copy the entire dictionary from letter A to letter Z and everything in between including punctuation marks. He would write and read back to himself everything he had written, aloud, over and over until he could finally read and understand books that were available in the prison libraries.

The results of this act were astronomical. In his own Autobiography, he says “I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying.  Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.

Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn't have gotten me out of books with a wedge. He went on to say “months passed without even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the true definition of mental toughness and resilience. Garnered through the power of reading. Reading, when cultivated consistently, becomes a superpower.

When Nelson Mandela said “Education, is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world”, I am pretty sure he wasn’t referring only to formal education. He was referring to informal education through reading of books too. This is the person who bought his fellow inmates and comrades books as gifts on their birthdays and on Christmas while he was in prison.

I believe it was because of the books that Nelson Mandela read he was able to forgive his oppressors despite all the injustices that he experienced in his life prior and during his time in prison. I believe it was the books he read that lead him to become a world renowned and respected great leader he is today. I believe, and genuinely so, that it was because of the books he read that made him the global icon and legend that he is today.

Many of us who reads can attest to Oprah Winfrey when she calls reading her personal path to freedom. Nelson Mandela would agree too. It was his reading habits that encouraged him to start and finish that long walk to freedom. That’s what reading does to great leaders. In fact, great leaders become great because they read.

With time I learned that you are never too late to express your highest and truest potential as a human being and become the best version of yourself. It all starts with reading. And I mean that.

Growing up as a shy and reserved boy child in the rural outskirts of the Eastern Cape I never imagined that one day I could give a key-note speech (in English even), in front of a diverse audience like this. While I was high school, I would be in awe watching young black kids from multiracial schools on television being interviewed or having conversations in English. How do they do it? I would ask myself.

I was so fascinated because they spoke English like they were having their favorite dessert. I would say these kids speak delicious English. One day I watched this little girl speaking to her mother.. “mommy mommy, she said in excited, come see my painting, come see mommy, I drew myself swimming in the ocean.”

The mother took the paper and observed the painting, she looked at with straight face, the looked at the girl, then looked the painting again, without saying a word, she shook her head in disapproval. The girl snatched the paper back to herself and sang teasingly as she walked away “na na na naa naaah momy is so jealous, nyi nyi nyi nyiii” Her confidence as she did all that was amazing.

On the other hand, when teachers in high school would ask me or any of my classmates to speak English or read a book written in English, it felt like we were being punished for something we did not do. Even in Matric, we couldn’t have a decent conversation with each other or with or our teachers in English. We even dreaded being sent to our biology teacher who was Indian and only non-Xhosa speaking teacher in our high school. Even for simple things like going to his class to borrow a chalk or a duster. It was a mission. This was a common problem to almost all of us. You would swear we were in the same WhatsApp group called English Breakers Association.

I later discovered what the problem was. We were taught English in vernacular. Our English teachings were using IsiXhosa to explain English grammar, figures of speech, and so forth. Instead of finding better ways to simplify English without using our mother tongue.

The worse part we were taught books that were written by Shakespeare such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and others. All I could hear in class was “Thou-didst-seeketh-thyself... I was so confused. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs in frustration and say WHAT’S GOING ON! I mean this is NOT the English they speak on TV. Why are we being punished like this. But I didn’t scream or shout, I remained quiet instead. Remember I was shy and reserved, even worse in class. Let alone the task of constructing a question in English.  

Fortunately for me, I passed my matric with a delighting D symbol in English.  Yessss, I was so happy. The following year I went to the University of Fort Hare, in a small town called Alice which is also in the Eastern Cape. The majority of the students at that time, probably even today, were Xhosa natives from deep rural parts of the province. When I think about all the stories we used share with each other regarding our English blunders in class and in town, I could write a comedy book.

I left the Eastern Cape after completing my degree and moved to Pretoria because I wanted to be in an environment that will enable me to speak delicious English. Within a year of being away from home, my comprehension and speaking abilities of the English language started to improve significantly.  However, few years later I realized that my vocabulary still lacked some ingredients and recipes that will make my English sound delicious.

I remembered it was 2014 when a friend borrowed me a book to read with an intention to enrich my English vocabulary. Although my friend my born in Lesotho, was raised and studied in the United States, in New York City to be specific. So you can imagine how delicious his English was. He credited his eloquence mostly to reading. He knew exactly what I needed to accomplish my mission.

By this time, I had never read a book outside of academic space, not did I ever own one. And I did not think that reading books can help someone speak better English. Although I hesitated to take that book from him, I eventually did. Few months later, I finally opened that book and read it. Within a month I was done. The title of the book is Milk in My Coffee, a romantic novel which opened a new world to me.

Early the following year, in 2015, I went to library and borrow couple of books, one of them was Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela and in that year alone, I read about 16 books and I realized, I am hooked to the reading culture for good. Later that year, for the first time in my life I realized, I have found my voice, just by hearing other people’s voices from their books.

At this point, even to this day you couldn’t and still can’t separate me from books because that would be like taking the core of my identity away from me. An important piece of the person that I am. To date, I have more than 500 books in my shelf and they are not just books but best buddies, friends, comrades, and mentors. Today I even brought some of them as my fans and witnesses for my story (point to your books).

The sense of admiration and awe I feel deep within the faculties of my soul when I gaze at them cannot be explained in simple English. It’s a great feeling that inspires me to be a great leader someday just like them. From Jesus to John C. Maxwell, from Steve Biko to Steve Jobs, and everyone else in between.

Speaking of great leaders, here at Pretoria 2000 Club we pride ourselves as being great leaders. That is our strong selling point and identity, but it hasn’t come out clearly like in other Toastmasters’ Clubs. Think of our sister club, Vital communicators. Needless to say, their strong selling point is vital communication. Think of Entrepreneurs Toastmasters Club, guess their selling point?...that’s right! It’s Entrepreneurship!

 At some point I even thought of proposing a name change for our club from Pretoria 2000 Club to Visionary Leaders Toastmasters Club because Visionary Leaders are great leaders with dynamic communication skills. That thought is still haunting me to this day.

But today I want to tell you about I believe will make us great leaders that we pride ourselves to be as Pretoria 2000 club. It is reading. Great leaders are inspiring and great because they read. Great leaders are articulate in their speech and eloquent in their conversations because they read. Great leaders serve their people selflessly with compassion and empathy because ......That’s right. They read! 

But that’s not all, reading can save your life too. Probably from mental imprisonment associated with stress, anxiety or depression, which in severe cases may lead to suicidal thoughts. I am reminded of Og Mandino who was on the verge of committing suicide. He went to the library and read a book titled Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and his life turned around. 

He went on to write about 13 books of his own which include classics like, The greatest salesman in the world, A better way to live, The Christ commission, just to name a few. It’s stories of that nature that prompted Alvin Toffler to say “A library as a hospital for the mind.” 

Other benefits of reading include mental stimulation, memory improvement, persuasive communication skills (both verbal and nonverbal), horizon expansion, vocabulary enrichment (which enable you to have a good command of the English language), strong analytical skills, improved writing skills, stress reduction, tranquility, enhanced inner peace, elevated levels of happiness, the list goes on and on and on…Now tell me, WHO WOULD NOT WANT THAT! I am sorry for shouting but I can feel the spirit of Shakespeare shaking my spinal cord right now!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a vision of starting a book club where we will encourage and motivate each other to read and inspire others to follow our footsteps. As members of the book club, we will meet once a month via Zoom for now. During our meetings, each member of the book club will give a 3-5 minutes’ book review or summary in a form of a speech on any book of their choice. which you would have read that month.

Even if two or more members chose the same book title, that will be okay. The goal is to promote the culture of reading so that we can become great leaders and better versions of ourselves in the process.

By the show of hands, let me who would love to be part of this great initiatives? All of you, Amazing! Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Toastmaster.