Speeches by Nduati

In October 2024, shortly after relocating to Addis Ababa, I completed my first 10K run. After the run someone asked me what I had been listening to and I told them an audiobook.

They looked at me like I was one of those weirdos who eats the crust of a sandwich and leaves the middle.

And I get it—it does sound strange.

But I know exactly how I became the kind of person who listens to audiobooks rather than music while working out.

26 years before that run, back in high school, at Starehe Boys’ Centre, while most of my classmates played sports after class, I preferred the quiet of the library.

One evening, I stumbled upon a mysterious book. It had no cover, and half of it was missing.

I should have known better, but I started reading it—and it turned out to be the most captivating story I had ever read.

But the ending was missing.

I spent years in pursuit of a copy of that book to read the ending. But without a title or author, the search was impossible.

In the process, however, I discovered other authors I came to love. I discovered Stephen King while at USIU during my undergraduate studies, C.S. Lewis after graduation, and Fyodor Dostoevsky when I started my software business.

But still, I longed to find that one lost book. I needed to know the ending.

That search continued—until, unknowingly, a Toastmaster pointed me in the right direction.

Around the time I had joined Toastmasters, I had gotten married and rejoined USIU to pursue a Master’s in Finance pivoting into a career in Financial Analysis.

With my academic focus, most of my reading was consumed by non-fiction and finance texts. My long desired book started to fade from my memory.

Then, one day, a fellow Toastmaster and a mentor suggested:

“Why don’t you try listening to fiction audiobooks? It might help your storytelling and public speaking.”

I took their advice. The first audiobook I downloaded was The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. I listened to it during my drive from Nairobi to Nakuru while visiting Toastmasters clubs as an Area Director.

It was transformational.

When the book ended, I wanted more.

That’s when I remembered the mysterious book from high school and the elusive ending. I recalled it was about a place called “Midkemia”. So I searched for that word on Audible.

One of the first titles to appear was The Magician by Raymond E. Feist.

Within minutes, I knew.

This was it.

The very story I had been chasing for 20 years.

And…. it was book of one of a 34-book series called the Riftwar Saga.

I devoured all those books in pursuit of my end.

These books became my companions through my Toastmasters journey.

From club meetings to leadership roles, from being elected Program Quality Director to eventually District Director, the books have helped me understand how to connect with the emotions of an audience through stories.

During that 10K run, I was nearly done with what amounts to 600 hours of listening, and when I came to the ending of the Riftwar Saga, the 26 years of waiting was worth it. 

But I also realised, it was, not just the ending, but really the journey through that place called Midkemia that I enjoyed the most. 

So I did the most natural thing…. Just last week, I restarted the series from the beginning. I started, for the second time, the slow, savoury, and satisfying journey to the ending I had so long pursued.

As I prepare to turn 41 in a few weeks, listening to The Magician once again while I run on a treadmill, lift weights, and climb the stair-master makes me feel as young and inspired as I was when I first read that book fragment in the library.

Because in the end, it’s the pursuit of our passions that keeps us young at heart—

—even if it makes us look a little weird to other people.