Interview By Bophelo Kanetsi
Having set down with this young fellow for lunch, I truly felt motivated!! Tokiso Nthebe, an inspiring motivational speaker already on his way to publishing a book.
This mafeteng born gentleman is currently a student at university of Pretoria. He discovered in his teens he has a unique ability to inspire other people. Sitting in a busy restaurant, Tokiso, otherwise known as T.K, spoke flamboyantly and above the noise. ‘People always said to me they feel better after speaking to me, when going through a difficult time. This is when I decided to reach out to more people and inspire the masses.’
So where did all this start? After a short pause to take a sip of his drink, he revealed that starting out was not necessarily difficult, as organizing talks does not require startup capital, just the right marketing. He started by informing friends and acquaintances about his seminar. He therefore gathered material from several books he had read; his own life experiences and put together a PowerPoint presentation to be presented at his former primary school, in Wepener.
He retold the story as if was yesterday. He had targeted Grades 11 and 12’s, but mostly matric students that would be writing their exams soon. His talk seemed to have been effective as it drove several people to tears. It was then that he knew that this was his passion and a potentially lucrative business.
From there on, it has been talks for fellow students at the University of Pretoria. “I attended seminars of other well known public and motivational speakers, so to improve on my own presentations. I added exercises as well, to make a better and longer lasting effect on a person.
He further went on to explain that in order to be successful in the future, he had to receive feedback from his audience. So every talk would be followed by a questionnaire. The audience rates him and suggests ways in which he could improve. With this information, T.K planned and executed bigger better talks. One memorable one ….he said, was the event at NUL. He prepared well as he knew this would be a difficult audience. To this surprise, they were fully attentive and willing to participate.
He is now a member of the Professional Speakers Association in South Africa, what is this twenty two year old planning for the future? Quite ambitious, I gathered. Among many of his big dreams for Lesotho, one that he feels could be the beneficial to Basotho is to create a platform that empowers the youth. ‘I feel that there isn’t really good career guidance in high schools, that people just study what is available, what is sponsored, what their parents are familiar with and not necessarily what they are good at. He is doing what he’s passionate about and it gives him such great pleasure, why not teach others to do the same. Tokiso further wants to partner with organizations such as SIFE to help young entrepreneurs build up successful business.
After this brief meeting with Mr. Nthebe I truly felt inspired. I had something to take home as well. He encouraged me to read, to read motivational books such as the Secret that help individuals to fully reach their potential. “The more you read, the better you can write, and the better you can speak. So T.K we truly look forward to your next public speaking event…….
