Meet our Mentor, Chai Pei Shan, DTM, our Past Club President (2015-2016), a TEDx Talk Speaker, and a Communications and Public Relations Specialist who has been with the Club since 2014.
- Tell us a little more about yourself and what do you do?
I am a Communications and Public Relations Specialist at a non-profit organisation that promotes philanthropy and volunteerism. I greatly enjoy my work as it involves pitching stories to regional media; writing speeches for management; profiling unsung heroes, volunteers, ground-up movements; developing powerful narratives and training spokespersons for media interviews. Outside work, I give coaching and conduct workshops for executives in areas of public speaking and dynamic presentations. Last year, I accomplished three major achievements arising from my experiences as a Toastmaster. My joy of sharing and training has inspired me to achieve my WSQ Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA), delivered my first TEDx talk and WSQ workshop, and traveled on international cruises across Pan-Pacific to deliver talks to large, international audience as an enrichment lecturer. To learn more, you can visit shanswan.com for my stories.
- What has been your most memorable experience in MMTMC so far?
The most memorable experience in MMTMC was the time where I served as the Club President (July 2015 – Jun 2016) and came up with novel solutions alongside a team, to bring our Mother club to greater glory. It was my honor to work with a team of 9 dedicated and talented Exco members to roll out new initiatives like, Improv (helps in spontaneous and creative speeches) and curating many fun and enriching themes to engage the new and retain existing members. We were delighted to help our members achieve their education goals, motivate them to further their journeys, and eventually achieve wonderful milestones as a collective group! Apart from the usual President’s Distinguished Club Award, we were surprised to be awarded three prestigious awards: Winner of ‘Diamond Presence Award’ (that acknowledges only two clubs out of 250 clubs in Singapore with the best Publicity and Social Media strategies), ‘Toastmasters Awareness Award 2016’ (that promotes the benefits of Toastmasters to the wider community) and ‘Club President of Division D Award, 2015-2016’ (recognising the best Club President among 28 clubs).
- How has being a toastmaster changed your life?
Being a Toastmaster has transformed my life and “gifted” me greater confidence to make a giant career leap from a business development role in the public sector to a communication lead (Storyteller/Advocate) in the non-profit sector. The empowering experiences enabled me to follow my dreams! Through my journey, I also met many new friends who fellowship together, traveled overseas and learnt together as a family. The life-changing aspect is the opportunity to adapt, grow with the club, and hone communications and leadership skills through experiential learning in my role serving as Club President, Club Mentor and chartering a new club, Toastmasters in Christ. These experiences are invaluable!
- What motivates you to take up a role as a mentor?
What motivates me is the person’s heart to learn, especially someone who is teachable and committed to learning. It gives me tremendous joy when I see my mentees excelling in the personal goals that they have set out to achieve. The rewards go beyond the ribbons and trophies – the greatest take-away is the life skills to be confident, have courage and speak up for oneself. One of my mentees discovered her hidden talent to be humorous and grew increasingly confident after being aware of her abilities to entertain the audience. A few of my mentees who are older than me also shared life lessons and become great friends. My mentees go ‘club-hopping’ with me together, and exchange ideas. It’s truly a blessing to give and motivates me to give more. I would encourage all members to become someone’s mentor at least once.
- What is your top de-stressing activity?
To de-stress, I would sing worship songs, indulge in drawing or watch funny YouTube videos like The Ellen Show or The Night Owl Cinematics for some good laughs and catch up with my friends on their Facebook social feeds.
- If you can invite anyone for a dinner, who will you invite and why?
Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew. I will ask him about how (the secrets) to groom the future generation to be great orators like himself.
If he is open to share, I will interview him about his real thoughts on the Lee family, thought-leadership about the future of Singapore and his views regarding Millennials as the key human capital driver in the world economy.