Startup Kenya

Here was my final message to my District team as I neared the end of my service as District Director for Toastmasters East Africa in June 2020. The team went on to achieve extraordinary results despite disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and emerged as the top 3rd district in the world out of 125 districts. In August 2019, a month after I had started my term in office as District Director my wife Wanjira and I received the wonderful news that we were going to have a baby. We were elated and celebrated the good news for a nice long moment. Our small celebration would have gone longer, had reality not then rudely knocked on the door. Behind it were the doubt and fears which had been held back at the fringes of our mind. And as we cranked the door open, all of them crudely burst through. How were we going to manage a new baby? Wanjira was the new District Administration Manager, a role she was well suited for as a Human Resource practitioner and with her detailed-oriented...

  On April 15, 2014 Early Birds Toastmasters became the first Toastmasters club in Kenya to use a whatsapp group to communicate with its members. Having participated in several other Toastmasters club whatsapp group, I can confidently claim that Early Birds whatsapp group remains the one of the best managed. With this article, I’d like to delve in what it takes to manage a whatsapp group effectively. Before we embark on that, maybe first we should define well managed. In my view a well-managed whatsapp group for a Toastmasters club should be: relevant in terms of information shared, vibrant in terms of the breadth and frequency of messages, and productive in terms of contributing to the goals of the club. Relevance Every whatsapp group when set up has a purpose. For a Toastmasters group this purpose should be either communication about Toastmasters related activities, learning on leadership and communication, or bonding by members within the values of the Toastmasters communi...

  Here is my valedictorian speech given during Riara University's first graduation   On January 7 th , 2013 on my 31 st birthday I received a strange gift from my sister. It was a deposit slip for part payment of fees for a one-year evening diploma course to a brand new University which I hadn’t heard of before. I had 1 week to make up my mind, or she could offer it to someone else. I decided to research a bit before making a decision, and I’d start first of the website. When the webpage loaded it took me all of 5 seconds to make a decision. Yes, I definitely wanted to attend Riara University. It all came down to 2 words, proudly proclaimed on the university’s logo Nurturing Innovators At my age, I’d been fortunate to have already attended two universities: Strathmore down the road where I learnt computing and University of Nairobi where I studied law. But never before had I felt such a strong emotional connection to a place of learning like I felt with Riara. And it ...

Almost three years ago to the day, I gave my CC9 speech at my then home club Nairobi Toastmasters on the need to set up a new toastmasters club. It's been my great privilege since then to see dozens of enthusiastic men and women come together and form what is without a doubt the best club in Kenya - Early Birds Toastmasters . Recently one of our members at Early Birds who flew back to San Francisco where he's domiciled told me that Early Birds also beats hands down the three clubs he visited in San Francisco. I am excited at how far we've come and I look forward to another three years of being part of the born ready leaders at Early Birds Toastmasters. Enjoy the speech below Early Birds How many can tell me what the first toastmasters promise is? Fellow toastmasters and guests, today I’d like to present you with an opportunity. An opportunity that helps you achieve that first promise, but can also result in so much more. My friends - both old and new - today I ...

Reader’s discretion: Strong Language and Violence Paxa  Rainne slams her open palm on the car horn frustrated. Another matatu has overlapped and cut her off just as she was to join the highway. Driving into town from Ngara is still a nightmare, despite a spanking new superhighway. Rainne wonders if her naivety in being polite to other road users is a magnet for this menace. Rainne has been in traffic now for over an hour and has hardly moved ten metres, giving way to dozens of other vehicles but not getting any reciprocation. She wriggles her bare toes, driving shoeless in these conditions is more comfortable.  She takes comfort in that small luxury. The lotion she applied on her feet earlier is keeping them nice and cool. The conductor of the matatu swings wildly from the door as it narrowly misses Rainne’s front bumper. “Siste, huku ni Nairobi, jikakamue”! She glares at him and he returns a lewd look, seemingly excited at the fact that he’s unnerved ...

The following is a tip session delivered by John Kageche, ACB, CL and current President of Nairobi Toastmasters Club. It focuses on the need to properly prepare and present the 2nd, 3rd and 4th projects in the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual towards building strong speech delivery. KILL THE VIRUS, SHARE THE MAGIC 2, 3 and 4. That’s where magic lives. Mr Toastmaster, fellow members, guests in ccs 2, 3 and 4 that’s where speech magic lives Unfortunately, numbers 2,3 and 4 are numerically lower than 7,8 and 9 And because they are lower many a speaker in this room and beyond tend to gloss over them And yet if 2,3 and 4 were a virus many a speaker sadly failed to protect themselves from it And because they failed to protect themselves they missed the magic and got infected And because they were infected then, these speakers have carried over the infection to 5,6,7 and beyond For instance, If your cc 2 did not have a singular organized message in it,...