TM Insider: Becoming a Mentor

There is a tradition in every Toastmasters club to have mentors for new members.

Mentors are usually senior members who will help show the ropes to new members or member show need extra help in their Toastmasters journey.  At times, not so senior members can also become mentors if they are keen.  All they have to do is volunteer.

There are a number of benefits mentors have to the new member (mentee), club and mentor themselves.

For the Mentee

1) Mentees have someone to guide them.  Every new Toastmaster can tell you that the first few times they walk into a meeting, they have no idea what is going in.  They don’t know how far they can go, the many terms that are used and they don’t know the hierarchy of clubs, area, division and district.  The mentor’s role is to explain to them the big world that is Toastmasters.

2) Mentees have someone to help them prepare for their assignments.  New members may take forever to do their first speech, not know if it’s good enough.  A mentor can help them tweak their speech till they feel confident enough to present it at their club.

3) Mentors can help their mentees go through their assignments faster than if they were to do it on their own through trial and error.  They can share with their mentees what works and what don’t work.

4) Mentees have someone who they can talk to about the challenges they face in their journey, things that they not feel comfortable talking to other people in their club about.

For the Mentors

1) Sharing their knowledge and guiding their mentees help mentors assess how far they have come and identify any areas for improvement.

2) Mentors gain news perspectives when working with their mentees.  The challenges that their mentees are going through will be something unique.  Helping their mentees address these challenges will help mentors acquire new skills that they can use in other areas of their lives.

3) Mentors keep their passion Toastmasters alive by sharing their knowledge with their mentees.  Some even renew their passion after staying in the background for some time.

4) If you are a first time mentor, you learn new leadership skills in the process.

For the Clubs

1) Mentors keep their mentees on track with their assignments, which help clubs retain active members who are passionate about their personal development.

2) Members are able to progress on their assignments fast, helping clubs earn points.

3) Having an active pool of mentors make a club more attractive for prospective members.  They will feel more assured that there will be people who can guide them and they can pick someone they feel most comfortable with.

There are more benefits to becoming a mentor.  You learn many soft skills along the journey and most of all, you form lifelong friendship with your mentee.

Mentoring is not just limited to club members.  When you are ready, you can volunteer to mentor a new club as well.

These are opportunities that may not be available to you in your career, but at Toastmasters, all you have to do is raise your hand and say “Yes” when asked.

If you would like to learn effective communication skills as well as leadership skills that you can put in practice immediately, join us for our bi-monthly meetings on every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month.  Please refer to our Next Meeting page for information on our next meeting or contact us directly to see how we can help you achieve your goals.