Symphony of Speech 2014 is happening this June. To find out how this unique event got its zany start, read on. Like the Official Symphony of Speech page for future updates.

Have you ever done something really crazy, and after the fact wondered to yourself,

“What on earth did I just do?”

Yeah, so have I. The time we started an NGO was probably one of those times. I’m not saying we were ignorant, because we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve. But three years later I’m much older and wiser. I understand that even though we thought we knew what we were doing, we were in fact on the borderline of clueless.

It’s funny how it all began. It was just two guys who wanted to apply their know-how in debating to make something epic. The call to greatness is a strong one. Before we knew it, we were the proud directors of a spanking new NGO with a grandiose name – The Opunimagine Leadership Organization. At the time the song that must have been playing in my mind was:

“Now that we found love what are we gonna do, with it.”

This time round the lyrics were modified to:

“Now that we got our own personal NGO what are we gonna do, with it?”

Don’t try to sing that, it doesn’t sync with the original melody. So we knew what we wanted to do with it – organize a debating event. But that was just about it. There was an entire new world to navigate and figure out. You will be happy to know we’re still figuring it all out, but at least we’re not singing that song any more. We know exactly what we’re going to do with it, and in fact we are doing it. Even though we are still in the seminal stage, I believe it is useful to share our story so that someone may read it and get the push they need to start their project going. So if you find yourself singing our song, read up.

Usually we hear stories of companies and organizations only after they are hugely successful (grass-to-grace), and it seems they had everything come up roses for them. After you hear our grass-to-nicer-grass story, I truly hope you jump out of your seat, call someone and start something.

START SOMETHING!

In The Beginning…

So it all began when my friend Nicholas called me and pitched the idea. “Let’s organize a debate event.” At first I didn’t want to do it because, frankly, it sounded like a lot of work (I was right about that). I knew how to debate, fine, but I didn’t know the next thing about mobilizing a bunch of high schools and getting them to debate. Then I thought about the programs we used to organize as students in high school. Those weren’t that hard. Plus, you always got some money out of them. That’s what hooked me. There could be money.

          Caveat: :For the love of money is the root of all evil."

 So I jumped right in and we started planning.

Baby Steps

It took about two months for us to realize – we didn’t know what we were doing. Holding an event when you are in high school is easy. You don’t have to worry about so many things. Free venue, free bus, a gate fee students happily pay, and more. It’s totally different when you do it from the outside. You need to get everything yourself.

I’m going to cut a long story short here. We got the approval of the Ghana Education Service, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Education in Ghana, in 2011. Believe me when I tell you that obtaining that single letter was no mean feat. You don’t know what bureaucracy is until you start an organization. We sent out letters to headmasters of 16 schools, met with some teachers, and navigated the entire land area of Adum looking for sponsors. The results? A whole lot of experience! Yeah, that’s code word for ‘nothing’. We had to cancel the first edition of Symphony of Speech and regroup to strategize. We learned a lot at this stage. Probably the greatest lesson is, don’t give your proposal to a manager and expect they’ll handle everything for you. Push hard until you’re sure the head of the company gets a chance to see it. Otherwise you might not have a chance.

Back In Action

We revamped everything. We finally obtained our registration certificates. That is a story all on its own, because the places we pulled money from to pay for the registration  bring a smile just thinking of them. Eric Osei of Napex UBI gave us our first funding, in what we regard as a mini-historical moment. We’ll be forever grateful for that, and later assistance.

We rewrote the business proposals, brainstormed new ways to raise money, and kept walking all over Adum. I’d love to say that we obtained a hefty sponsorship deal from a major company and it was all happily ever after from there on out, but it wasn’t so. Hustling was our motto and it continued to be so. I always like to say proudly that Symphony of Speech 2012 was organized on a zero budget. Below, I have outlined key moments in the organization of the début edition.

The Road To Symphony Of Speech Season 1

Registration: We applied for the certificate of commencement for a company limited by guarantee, from the Registrar General’s department. Due to bureaucracy and human error, we obtained out certificate a year later. Nicholas and I were directors, and our friend Caleb was signed as secretary. These are the minimum staff requirements.

Planning: We printed up a batch of proposals to companies, and letters to headmasters of invited schools. Then we cancelled the 2011 event due to lack of funds. We sent out letters and proposals again in 2012. We were back in business. We spoke to patrons of debating clubs of the invited schools. You’d think this was the easy part, but even here there were challenges. We had our own Symphony of Speech on the phone, convincing some patrons to come on board. Negotiations broke down in some instances, resulting in a reduction of the number of considered schools from 16 to 8. Then we drew up a schedule of activities, detailing the dates for the preliminary stage and the final debate events, timelines for seeking sponsorship, and the actual order of events for the debates themselves. We made plans for refreshment, entertainment,  and finalized venues for the events.

Sponsorship: We followed up on companies on the phone and in person countless times. The big companies were hard to convince. So we targeted the smaller industries, and obtained sponsorships in kind from Davida Décor (venue decoration), Studio 225 (still and motion picture coverage), Alliance Francaise (scholarship vouchers) Indomie Noodles (item13) and Kingdom Books and Stationery (well, books and stationery).

Two major deals we scored were a partnership with the Otumfuo Charity Foundation (venue sponsorship and donation of books) and Touch of Bronze (winners’ plaque valued at $450).

The Touch of Bronze plaque really came at an opportune time, because Plan B was a rusty old trophy we bought at Adum which we unsuccessfully tried to spray paint.  That trophy was to spend its days in my hostel room, serving as a conversation starter (everyone wanted to know what it was for, whereupon they were unreliably informed it was an award for Best Room). There were also personal donations from professionals we reached out to. This was one of Kafui Dey’s suggestions, that we reach out to lawyers, who inherently debate for a living.

The Touch of Bronze plaque really came at an opportune time, because Plan B was a rusty old trophy we bought at Adum which we unsuccessfully tried to spray paint.  That trophy was to spend its days in my hostel room, serving as a conversation starter (everyone wanted to know what it was for, whereupon they were unreliably informed it was an award for Best Room). There were also personal donations from professionals we reached out to. This was one of Kafui Dey’s suggestions, that we reach out to lawyers, who inherently debate for a living.

“To debate and speak well in public is a thing of power” – Kafui Dey

Preliminary Stage: The prelims were held at Kumasi Anglican SHS. Nicholas’s former headmaster from Kumasi Academy had incidentally been transferred there, but any hopes we harboured of special treatment were quickly discarded. Four semi-finalists progressed from this stage – St. Louis SHS, Yaa Asantewaa Girls SHS, Kumasi Academy, and eventual winners Prempeh College. The students put up a great performance, impressing our astute judges on the day and setting the tone for what was to be a magnificent final event.

Semi-final and final stage: The semis and the finals were held on the same day, and that demanded even more excellence of the students. First of all we managed to secure the Engineering Auditorium of KNUST with the help of Otumfuo Charity Foundation. We then set up the venue on the eve of the event. Courtesy of the can-do spirit of our fledgling organization, our team did all the setting up, with a little help from our friends. We had our man Evans help us out with the sound setup, and my buddies Harry, Ato, Andrew and Benjamin help with preps and generally keeping up the vim. MCs Naa and Yaw did a good collaborative job, as did all the debaters. Students from St. Louis and Kumasi Academy entertained the audience with an acapella performance and a short play (not respectively). Prempeh won the day, and we heaved a huge sigh of relief and satisfaction when the day ended successfully.

Afterwards: Just because the event was over didn’t mean the work was. We had to call up supporters to thank them, deliver certificates to our debaters and evaluate the event. We made some notes of the positives and the negatives, took a critical look at our financial situation, and made a few plans for the next event. Our personal funds had sunk deep into the event at this stage. But that didn’t even matter so much (though it did). It was less about money and more about making a lasting impact. That’s when we could relax. A tiny bit.

Achievements

No, we haven’t won a medal from the US Department of State yet, but there are quite a number of milestones that we’re proud of. When starting out it’s important to celebrate the small things, and these will motivate you to greater heights.

We got to appear on the Thank God it’s Friday show, with KSM, Ghana’s renowed ‘humour therapist’. That was really fun, and we promoted Symphony of Speech on that great platform. You can’t put a price on such experiences, and we really thank God for such opportunities. We met KSM’s lovely daughter Ama Misa, which is a ‘mini-achievement’ of sorts. We also had interviews on Ultimate Radio and Kapital FM, and also had online coverage of Symphony of Speech.

We built important links with the companies we reached out to, as well as distinguished individuals. Kafui Dey of Who Wants To Be Rich fame was an advisor before, during and after the program. In this year’s edition, he is joined by ace broadcaster Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah (known for hosting Joy FM’s Super Morning Show) in formally endorsing Symphony of Speech 2014.

‘The art and science of effective public speaking are essential skills that every young person should master. – Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah

Symphony of Speech 2012 was held successfully in a two-day format. We overcame incredible odds to stage the first such event, and now we continue unabated.

We’re still here. If you think getting started is hard, try staying together. We’re here to stay, and that in itself is a joy every day.

Well done! You’re Still Here!

This story is a much summarized version of the events that led to the organization of Symphony of Speech 2012. It was truly an adventure, and a memorable one at that. A lot more happened that is hard to translate into words. There was tension, there were struggles, and there were times when we had to go broke because every extra penny had to go to support the dream.

If you’d like to hear at this stage that everything is rosy now, sorry to disappoint you. We’re still in the trenches. But believe me when I tell you that when you’ve come as far as we have, there can be nothing like regret. At this point, we know that whatever additional effort we put into the dream will reap amazing benefits later. That kind of conviction fills you with hope and yearning for the future, amidst your current struggle. As co-director Nicholas put it,

“That very night we finished the final, I couldn’t sleep, believe it or not. Not that I wasn’t tired, but I was so overwhelmed and fulfilled and couldn’t sleep but reflect on how good God had been to us.

If we don’t succeed big time, God will soak canes in kerosene and whip us.”

I hope you have been inspired to start executing your life-changing idea today. Right now! I can guarantee you this: The road will be tough, but you will feel much better, so much better, after your first victory. It doesn’t matter how small. You would have proved to yourself how much you can do, and from there on out, the world will truly be your oyster.