Young Speakers Club Programs

Classes and Workshops

YSC offers public speaking classes, presentation skills training, and debate workshops for students from 1st grade to 12th grade. These classes are offered year-round and students can join the program at any time. Most classes are only once a week and usually one-hour long.

Competitions, Camps, Special Events

YSC conducts speech competitions, connects students to local competitions, organizes leadership camps, moot courts, and comedy evenings.

Research

YSC conducts research on improving communication skills of children and youth, improving the effectiveness of instructional methods, developing better evaluation methods to assess students and teachers, and making the process of learning a fun activity.

Publications

YSC publishes research reports, books, training manuals, instructors' guides, and news letters on communication and presentation literacy.




Abe George, Founder and President of YSC

Warren Buffett on Communication Skills
 Buffett reveals that up until the age of twenty, he had an acute fear of public speaking. Just the thought of it would make him physically ill.

This all changed when Buffett forced himself to take a public speaking course.

He discloses, "that $100 course gave me the most important degree I have... In graduate school you learn all this complicated stuff, but what's really essential, no matter what you do, is being able to get others to follow your ideas. Good communication skills are incredibly important and something that almost anybody can improve upon, both in writing and speaking. A relatively modest improvement can make a major difference in your future earning power, as well as in many other aspects of your life."


A Brief History of YSC

Young Speakers Club was founded in Fairfax, Virginia in 2005 by Abe George, an educator, writer, data scientist, and presentation coach. YSC classes are designed based on the current research findings in the fields of communication, psychology, and cognitive development, combined with the practical experience from classrooms. Classes and curriculum are renewed in an agile manner and are proven to improve student confidence, motivation, organization skills, research and writing skills, presentation skills, and critical thinking.