Throughout his professional life, Dr Sibongiseni Mgolozeli has harboured an ambition to become a professor.
When the opportunity to pursue this dream abroad arose, his fear of public speaking posed a hindrance, robbing him of the opportunity.
Despite this, he remained committed and in pursuit of his ambition produced a book that gives insight into his resilience and serves as a guide for others who may also be struggling with glossophobia.
Originally from Komani (Queenstown), Mgolozeli holds multiple BSc degrees in soil science from the universities of Fort Hare, Pretoria and Unisa.
In 2021, he was awarded his PhD and as of 2022 he is a post-doctoral fellow and an assistant lecturer at the University of Pretoria.
Despite his success, his journey towards these achievements has not been easy and the book is testament to his attempts to grapple with fear, to understand it and eventually manage it.
Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking and according to Mgolozeli, 77% of people across the world struggle with this fear.
“I was part of that 77% statistic and in this book I share a story of how I lost a once-in-my- lifetime opportunity due to glossophobia and consequently, the steps which I took to address this challenge and how I turned it into a love for public speaking,” he says.
His book covers his upbringing in Komani, his years as student, research relating to glossophobia and strategies to manage it, and more importantly, the notable speeches he has delivered over the years as a Toastmasters International Certified Public Speaking coach and keynote speaker.
When he lost what seemed to him to be the opportunity of a lifetime, he refused to feel sorry for himself and instead threw himself headlong into confronting his fear by joining Toastmasters International.
Toastmasters operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking and leadership.
In the years since he joined, his commitment to facing his fear of public speaking has propelled him to great heights within the organisation as he has served as president, CEO and currently as area director for Toastmasters in Southern Africa.
“I want the reader to understand public speaking is a skill that can be cultivated and nurtured. At the same, it’s like a muscle, if you want to grow your muscle to be fit and bigger, then it means you must eat healthy and go to the gym almost every day,” he says.
“In the context of public speaking, your healthy meal is reading books voraciously about the subject at hand, and communication skills in general. Then seek out opportunities to practice what you learnt from those books.
“I recommend joining Toastmasters International as one of the best places you can practise and hone your public speaking skills.”
He says the fear of public speaking cannot be overcome but can be adequately managed, and this is the impact he hopes his book has.
Of his writing journey, he says: “I must say I wrote this book while I was doing final year of my PhD. So I had to plan meticulously and follow through my goals to get to the finish line.
“My advice to all authors would be as follows: if you want to have a fulfilling experience in your writing journey, be an avid reader first. Read daily and read every book you can get your hands on but focus more on the genre you are trying to write on. This will help you to identify your own writing style and give you confidence in yourself as a writer.”
