Don't Leave the Children Behind.

What is Youth Speaking to America? 

 Simple when you’re thrown out of school at 16, you think your cool! But maybe as Mark Twain said  “ When I was fourteen, I just could not believe how dumb my old man was;  but by the time I turned twenty-one, I was amazed how much he had learned.”

Fast foward to 2003, I joined Tampa Toastmasters.  It was then I realized the power of this speaking thing, Toastmasters.

When you think back to all the things you did the hard way, because you had no writing skills, English skills and math skills etc., I have a flashback, just see about York.

So you decide to take your experience’s, learned of course ( the hard way ) and then take this message “ don’t quit school” to the youth of America.

Youth Speaking to America(YSTA) is powerful, it's learning how to become a leader, it's opening the door to yourself. I truly believe public speaking must start at the elementary school level.

Why elementary school you ask? Because adults believe that this speaking in public is scary, you might die, have a embolism or just run out, or just embarrass yourself! The answer is that's exactly why Toastmasters was born!

So lets take 5th graders, no one is telling then all that scary stuff. Even if they are shy, they step up, because peer pressure in this case is powerful.

What if in elementary school each child was given the chance to become a future leader, by introducing them to public speaking? The world is searching for leaders. Are we not seeking the next Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, or Ronald Reagan? Is that your child, or maybe it's your time to help one child or even a group.

Toastmasters has a Youth Leadership Program, but sadly they don't promote it. But I do.

Now after 10 Youth Leadership Programs, I truly believe these students will grow up, they will step-up, if you guide them. But I can't do this alone, I need you to step-up!

Go to the teachers, go to the schools, go to Toastmaster clubs and ask about the Youth Leadership Program, contact: york.ysta@gmail.com. Join Youth Speaking to America, the rewards are how you feel inside, not what does it pay!

If you need to know what it pays, your doing it for the wrong reasons.

That’s why Youth Speaking to America!

Don't Leave the Children Behind.

York T. Somerville