Vincent Chan is the former President of Meadowbank Toastmasters
1. Tell us about yourself please. Who are you?
Born in NZ and raised in South Auckland by my parents who came here from China in the 1980s. My background is in IT and currently working in the project management space. I'm a father of two boys and my life purpose is to bring ideas to life that help people and organizations get ahead and do great things
2. Toastmasters is primarily about education, acquiring leadership and communication skills. Why did you join Toastmasters? What did you hope to gain?
Early in my IT career I switched from a technical pathway towards leading people. Being an introvert at heart I failed my first interview for my first people leader role, feedback was I didn't have the skills to manage/communicate with difficult stakeholders. I didn't let that stop me and decided to join the Toastmaster club in the building to work on my communication skills. Applied for the next people leader role in my department and nailed it thanks to the confidence and skills I gained from Toastmasters.
3. How many Toastmasters clubs do you belong to? If you are a member of more than one club why did you join multiple clubs? What do you get out of your club or clubs?
I returned to Toastmasters in 2021 where I have been a member of Toastmasters Meadowbank.
I enjoy bringing people together that have a common purpose and objective. It makes me happy to see people grow their skills and to be part of that journey.
4. When did you first attend a Toastmasters meeting and what did you think of it? Why did you stay? What advice would you give someone thinking of joining Toastmasters?
10 years ago when I first joined Toastmasters I was part of Spark Talkers located at Spark New Zealand Limited in the CBD.
At my first meeting I was surprised to see some roles doing Toastmasters. I thought those roles would already have great communication skills that do not need to come eg Service Delivery Managers, head of departments, sales managers, product owners. It made sense why they came because practice makes perfect. I stayed because I wanted to learn how to communicate better and I could see that I could learn from others in the club that clearly had great communication skills. My advice for someone thinking of joining is to try out a few clubs as a guest. Get a feel of the club environment and see which people you feel comfortable with the most.
5. What impact has Toastmasters had on your personal and professional life?
Professionally it helped me land my first people leader role and in my other roles it's been able to bring out my leadership skills.
Personally having the confidence to communicate and be comfortable in my own communication style has helped me be more myself socially.
6. What are your future life goals and how do you think Toastmasters can help you achieve them?
One of my goals is to have the best online Toastmaster club in NZ where members are from all around NZ+World. The leadership skills taught in TM and the experience working with a committee is going to help me achieve this.
7. What has been your greatest memory since joining Toastmasters?
One of my greatest memories was me doing my first speech the ICE BREAKER and my evaluator giving me feedback. She liked it when I joked that I dated a girl friend and upgraded her to wife. Only a man that enjoys and works in technology would say that!
8. Being on your clubs committee is a big challenge. When and why did you join your club's committee? What is your favourite committee role? How has the challenge impacted you? What is the highest executive role you've served in Toastmasters. What did it teach you?
When I returned to TM in 2021 I was not looking to join the club committee and just wanted to complete my speech projects. Meadowbank is my nearest local club and after visiting them I decided I wanted to give back to TM and help a club of 43 years history get back on its feet. I have never been president of a club and the only other role I have played in a committee is the VP of PR.
So far I'm enjoying the president role the most as it is challenging and rewarding. Being an introvert I don't like being put in the spotlight and as the president you get the spotlight a lot. Also being called president makes me feel uncomfortable as it's often associated with the person on top with people reporting to the president .I feel that it's the people at the top that deserve all the attention and the president is at the bottom lifting up the people. In order to effectively lead as a president I needed to embrace the president role. A quote by Joshua Wong, a Student Activist in Hong Kong at 16 years old helped me change my mind set. "Being famous is just part of my job.
If you need to increase your influence. If you need to let people support your idea. The first thing you need to do is let others recognize you.
9. What advice would you give anyone taking on a committee role?
TM provides a safe environment to learn and grow. Taking on a committee role will help grow your leadership skills and best of all you don't need to know how to do the role, have any previous experience or knowledge. TM does provide officer training and you get the support from the previous committee, another club committee or area director for support. Career tip if you are aiming for the next role that incorporates any of the skills that are part of the committee. There is an opportunity to demonstrate those skills in real life giving you advantage on your CV and in your next interview.
10. Do you have a favourite quote that sums up your philosophy on life?
For things to change, YOU have to change.
For things to get better, YOU have to get better.
For things to improve, YOU have to improve.
When YOU grow, EVERYTHING in your life grows with you.
- Jim Rohn
11. When I researched the questions that people wanted answered about Toastmasters Altruism was at the top of the list. The number one question on everyones tongue was if Toastmasters is about service, how are you of service to your community outside of Toastmasters? It is obvious that Toastmasters are deeply involved in the Toastmasters organisation and their own clubs - but what about the real world? People want to know how have the communication and leadership skills learnt in Toastmasters programmes been translated into reality, how have our Toastmasters skills impacted our communities.
Building confidence at Toastmasters doesn't mean it's only used at Toastmasters but in your life. Whichever community a Toastmaster serves, I definitely believe that having confidence unlocks the true potential of that person to fully provide the most value back to the community.
12. What is your favourite Toastmasters programme, manual, or project and why?
Ice breaker is my favourite project as I love to see how members progress and compare the growth from speech 1.
13. Toastmasters has drastically changed over the last few years. I think Toastmasters going online or hybrid is fantastic. It means anyone can join any Toastmasters club anywhere in the world in real time. As Toastmasters continues to adapt to a changing world do you have any predictions for the future? Are there any changes you would like to see?
Would love to see more online clubs and be creative with technology to make the club experience more engaging. For example I still want to try immersive mode on Zoom in a meeting.
14. In your opinion what makes a Toastmasters club successful?VC>>
Club environment and culture which every member is responsible for and contributes to.