When you enter Toastmasters, you start with an adventure of developing yourself as a Leader and Communicator.
Mentor, Mentee and Networking: a Powerful Combination
In the beginning, Toastmasters always intends to provide a Mentor, to guide the new Toastmaster. But in most cases it has been a challenge. Until now!
That is why The Toastmasters Odyssey Project was initiated: to offer the possibility to find a Mentor, a Mentee, or a Networking Pair and then to establish and follow-up a mentoring relationship.
With this initiative, the problem of finding a Mentor is completely solved: Register to Odyssey, wait until the next round starts and a mentor/mentee/networking pair will be assigned to you.
Mentoring is the key…
Mentoring is the key educational element in the Toastmasters ‘learning by doing’ system. A proper Mentor gives you valuable feedback, shares his/her knowledge, offers support and helps you grow in your Toastmasters journey.
It is great to be a Mentee under the careful supervision of your skilful Mentor. However, at some point we grow out of the Mentee role and turn into Mentors ourselves – although we also remain a Mentee and student within.
And it is definitely important to train your skills as a Mentor. As from Level 3 in Pathways you get access to the Mentor Program of Toastmasters. Becoming a Mentor also accelerates your growth as a Toastmaster. Learning to mentor others will also give you great insights of your own capacities which you will be able to improve on the way.
Accelerating your growth
Being myself a Mentor, Mentee and Networker within The Odyssey Project, I can only emphasize the benefits of the program.
Being an Odyssey Mentee accelerates your development of the skills you work on, as you get access to Mentors with various expertises and get to decide with whom to work.
Being an Odyssey Mentor quickly develops your abilities as a Mentor because you get in contact with Mentees with diverse experiences. In addition, you also learn new and unexpected things since a great Mentor is someone who can learn from and with his-her students.
Being an Odyssey Networking Partner opens your eyes to new perspectives seen through the eyes of fellow Toastmasters from around the world.
The Odyssey Project has now been in use for more than a year. It has matched as Mentoring and Networking Pairs more than 437 people(!) from more than 50 countries!
There are currently 151 active users as per January 2021.
The matching is based on 35 skills and 6 expertise levels. The matching is done based on common language, time zone and availability, and aims at pairing people who have not met before? in Odyssey or at their Club.
Connect, Learn, Discover
Overall in the current context… The Odyssey Project enhances Toastmasters due to the fact it involves crossing borders, meeting new people online – and sometimes also offline -, connecting continents and people.
In the journey you may face challenges, overcome fears, find opportunities and unfold new abilities like Odysseus did in his long travel. This journey will last at your convenience as long as you want. And the best time to start the journey is …right now.
We love to welcome you onboard as Mentor, Mentee and Networker! Especially if you already have reached level 3 in Pathways, or if you are a more experienced Toastmaster, we encourage you to take the Mentor role. Strength comes in numbers, and we need your experience as Toastmaster to lead starting Toastmasters to their success.
Fred is welcoming you onboard:
It’s your chance to embark on a ship finding new adventures and new friends and rule the ocean of knowledge. Start your journey at https://tm.odyssey.today/!
Contact directly your Pilot and Captain on this Journey Fred Eijkenboom, The Odyssey Project Ambassador for our District 59.
Email: fred@odyssey.info | Tel. 0031(0)614435508 | Facebook | LinkedIn.
We are sure you will enjoy this quality personal growth and typically Toastmasters education journey. Don’t miss sending us your testimonials, feedbacks and comments 🙂
Hi TM Fred, Ii read you story and i was so moved by it. Ii feels like my story being told by someone else. I had similar experiences except that our club is doing ok. I ventured out to explore how others do it and I loved it. I never came across the project though and i would love to join. I am in District 74 (Gold Reef Toastmasters club). Looking forward to hearing from
Dear Edith, you are welcome to come on board. I placed a reaction on the facebook page of your club. I will also post it at the facebookpage of District 74.
Looking forward to meet you and see your participation in the Project. Leadership is about stepping up to the plate..This means you are one the right path.
greetings from the Netherlands..
Fred