Project L2 S3 speech (intro to tm mentoring)

Good evening, fellow toastmasters and guests. Close your eyes, imagine someone who has taught
you and guided you through any part of your life. Did you think of anyone? If you did, who is that
person. For me, that person is my first Toastmaster mentor, who coincidentally have the same name
as our club MJTM, Mei Jen.

When I first joined toastmasters, I was completely clueless as to what to do and what to expect. I
just knew that I wanted to improve my public speaking skill. At that time, Pui Fei sent me a mentor
selection form for me to choose my mentor to guide me in my toastmasters journey. Going through
the list, all I see was unfamiliar faces with their descriptions, and I didn’t know who to choose. So my
feeling that time was like I’m on Tinder choosing a partner, because I can only see their faces and
just a short description and based on that I have to choose someone to meet with for the next six
months. Hence, I was jubilant. First one, Alfred, swipe left, looks too innocent. Next, Brian, swipe
left, not my type. Li Ying, swipe left, too pretty, later cannot focus on the lesson. Then, ah ha,
someone named Mei Jen, she was a young lady, with many years of experience and seems like a
good mentor. Swipe right. So I chose her.

After that, me and a few other members got into the same mentoring group and had our first
mentoring session. To my surprise, the session was very different from what I had imagined, I
thought that it would be like a typical lecture where the mentor would teach us on public speaking
but it was totally different. First of all, It was facilitated mostly by the members and Mei Jen was
there just to be a coach. Next, the session was not merely just on improving our speeches, but we
had table topics, leadership coaching, and personal development. I was very shocked, I did not know
that we can learn so much from a public speaking platform. Although I have forgotten most of the
information she taught me (Sorry MJ), but there is one lesson that really stick in my mind until now.
She said, we must be willing to give more to others rather than take, because one day, we would be
the one needing help, and we would want others to be willing to give to us.

Besides that, there was one incident that I am grateful of, because without her, I would not be here
in Toastmasters. During I was the contest chair for the Humorous speech contest last year, I was
really stressed out, because it was the first time that I had played a leadership role in my life. Also, I
had zero experience on how to manage a team and also organise a contest. At some point, when I
faced a lot of difficulties, I wanted to quit Toastmasters because I felt like It was not for me. So, the
best thing to do is of course getting in touch with the person you trust most and getting an opinion
from them and I texted Mei Jen and she immediately scheduled a video meeting with me that
evening. After I told her my problems and issues, she patiently comforted me and told me to look at
challenges from another angle. After the contest and everything calmed down, I felt like I was a new
person, ready to take up challenges head on. And now, I am here giving a speech and also taking up
a tougher leadership role as the VPE, eventhough this is my first time as the VPE and I faced a lot of
challenges, I am stronger now because of her.

In the end, I learned that being a mentor is not just a lecturer spewing out knowledge, but also a role
model and most importantly an inspiration for others. Hence, I want strive to become an
outstanding mentor just like MJ and hopefully I would be able to transform my mentees into great
mentors just like me. Thank you and back to you.