Mungoshi in bid to talk his way into record book

4/3/2003 7:42:06 AM (GMT +2)

Entertainment Reporter

JONAH Mungoshi will seek to eclipse the Guinness World Record for the Longest Public Lecture on 11 and 12 April at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale, Harare, when he will speak for 36 hours.

The record is currently held by John Trevor Walker, a South African, who managed to talk for 26 hours. Mungoshi hopes to out-talk Walker with his speech entitled None But Ourselves.

His whole address will be divided into 18 sessions of two hours each. Mungoshi will only be allowed to take a 15-minute break after every eight hours of intense talking. During those eight hours he will be allowed natural pauses of no more than 30 seconds.

It is a back-breaking, tongue-wagging ambitious programme that will see Mungoshi delving into questions of leadership, management and personal transformation.

Mungoshi said: “I hope that in the entire 36 hours, I will be able to provide alternative and new perspectives as well as offer practical solutions to problems that bedevil people as individuals, societies and nations.”

Mungoshi joined the Harare chapter of Toastmasters International, Capital Club, on 6 August 2000 and six months later he won the Impromptu and Humorous speech competition at the Zimbabwe toastmasters’ convention in Bulawayo.

In that short period, it became apparent for those with a discerning ear and mind that Mungoshi had a rare gift of oratory excellence, with a flair for converting ordinary words into pearls of pleasure and wisdom.

Mungoshi has been a member of the Baha’i faith since 1985, giving him spiritual succour, strength, guidance and wisdom in everything he does.

Indeed, his limitless energy has seen him contribute to a weekly column in The Financial Gazette called The Success Coach which motivates people to tap into and unleash their power to create wealth.

“Success,” Mungoshi said, “is a perpetual process of searching for our talents, developing those talents, utilising them to the best of our ability for the betterment of ourselves, our families and the whole world.”

So powerful is his sense of selfless dedication to the well-being and development of the human race that he formed an organisation, the Success Club, which offers success, wisdom and guidance to those who seek it, free of charge.

Success, Mungoshi explained, “is not a privilege to be enjoyed by a few. It is more than that, a God-given right for every human being.”

As a member of Toastmasters International, Mungoshi believes in, and adores, the potency of the spoken word.

In that realm, his own potency as an outstanding orator cannot be doubted.

He is the first black African ever to win the Toastmasters district contest.

In May 2002, Mungoshi scooped the Toastmasters International District 74 International Speech Contest held at Technikon, Omonde, Johannesburg, in South Africa. His speech was called The Vision.

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