Young motivational speaker dares to dream

695203_NRuth Butaumocho Gender Profile —
The turbulent process of coming of age is one that for generations has left scientists and parents baffled.

From time immemorial when teenage hood was recognised as a bona fide developmental stage, adolescent remains one big puzzle that society and even the teens themselves battle to deal with.

Tantrums, terminal love sickness and peer pressures are some of the issues that teenagers and their parents grapple with on a daily basis.

However, that was never the case for Bulawayo-based teenager Marshal Chiza, who at 18 years claims he never experienced any of these.

Marshal is already showing signs of astute leadership and motivational skills, with his name being counted among the region’s top word-smiths.

With already two books to his name and a series of accolades for his motivational work, Marshal is slowly carving his own piece of history and making a name for himself on the international scene through motivational writing and has become one of the youngest authors and motivational speakers in Zimbabwe.

“I am a simple boy who has trained himself to become a gentleman by choice,” Marshal confidently asserted in an interview in Harare recently.

In less than two years after finishing high school education, Marshal has successfully branded himself as an author and a motivational speaker with a deep conviction of unlimited possibilities, a development that has enabled him to further develop his brand.

“What I am today did not happen overnight, but it came about as a result of nurturing talent.

“I managed to discover that I was talented in speaking and in the general use of words at a tender age,” he said.

When young people of his age were fascinated with okapi knives, spinning cars and compiling discographies of kwaito music, Marshal was already perfecting his skills in public speaking at Robert Treggold Primary school in Bulawayo.

Luckily for him, some of the teachers at the school, having realised his passion for public speaking and creative writing, assisted him to fine tune his act.

“I got so many awards in writing and public speaking and that alone motivated me to work hard in these two areas,” he said.

When he proceeded to secondary school, Marshal’s interest in writing grew, resulting in him volunteering his services at the school library, so that he could have access to an array of reading books at his disposal.

He was later elected to become the president of the library after the teaching staff took note of his commitment to serve in the school library at no cost, whilst his peers were pursuing other co curricular activities.

That decision by the school to appoint him to head the school’s library marked a turning point in Marshal’s life.

“I now had all the books at my disposal at any given time. It meant I could now carry out research on any subject, whilst sharpening my writing skills,”

“The environment that we live in really determines who we become and having been a bookworm for all my school days, there was no way I was just going to read all those books, without being motivated to write one myself,” he recalled.

Soon after finishing school, Marshal was offered a job as a library assistant at the library, and in less than a year, he penned his first motivational book titled Success In No Time.

“Writing the book and having it published was clearly a testimony of what I was capable of.

“It was also an affirmation that I could succeed in whatever I set out to do despite the challenges that were everywhere,” he proudly declared.

The book was well received, opening endless opportunities for him in motivational speaking and coaching.

While motivational speaking remains a domain for the mature, believed to be think tanks for social problems, having experienced some of them and could have interfaced with them at various stages of their lives, society is sceptical of young motivational speakers.

That has not fazed Marshal, who argues that experience can be achieved within a minute, and cannot be used as basis to determine one’s suitability for such a job.

“I have been trying to demystify motivational speaking by gently reminding people motivational speaking is the ability to convince and bring change in people’s lives, through issues that you can relate to.

“It does not matter whether I am experienced or not, what is important is to speak about things that I can relate to.

“‘Motivational’ as the word implies, is a psychological feature that arouses a person to act towards a desired goal which gives purpose and direction to behaviour.

“So, simply, it is there to motivate and give you the courage that you are stronger than you think you are, and give you power that you create your destiny by what you do today,” “ said Marshal who is also known as Minister Chiza, after he was “ordained” as a strategic minister in motivational speaking.

His feat as one of the youngest authors and motivational speakers to emerge from Zimbabwe has earned him media coverage and slots in some of world’s renowned television stations, among them CNN, CCTV, Zambia Television and several radio stations.

Marshal concedes that his achievements have been as a result of hard work, inculcated in him by his parents whilst growing up.

“I come from a family that believed that success was for a selected few and I chose to become one of the successful ones. I am sure we have all come across such scenarios and we just have to work hard and join the ranks of those who are successful.”

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