Our classes and meetings are strictly virtual and held on Zoom. The coaches will send the links before each class.

Depending on how involved you are in classes, camps, programs, and sessions, the time commitment will vary. If you are involved in a competition-based prep class, it is expected that you attend all classes.

During the school year, club sessions are held once a month but during the summer, they are held once a week.

Our age range is between late elementary schoolers to early highschoolers (5th - 10th). However, younger students with a strong interest in speech or debate will benefit from our programming.

We are a completely student-led nonprofit organization. This doesn’t just refer to our talented ensemble of high school volunteer instructors. It means that behind every lesson and every activity are the needs of our students. When you put your trust into the Youth Voices promise, we tirelessly work to deliver the best program possible. In two years, our team has helped 200 students across the program find their voices and use them.

We recommend that every child starts with our Introduction to Debate class. Although many children start with speech and debate experience, it is important to note that NSDA speech and debate activities are very different from class debates and other informal actives. Our program will help correct bad habits and teach proper practices.

Youth Voices offers top quality instruction for almost every NSDA speech and debate activity. We offer the following programs: A free club program that meets regularly, led by volunteer high school instructors Many speech and debate classes that run by season (ie. fall/spring) that encompass multiple events and levels Camps during breaks in the school year that also have multiple events and levels, such as Winter Boot Camp or Summer Camp The Leadership Incubator Program for highly dedicated members

We have highly experienced coaches for all sorts of different speech and debate programs. For more information, visit our "Our Team" page.

Yes! We offer advanced, intermediate, and beginner classes. No matter how experienced you are with speech and debate, we have a program for you.

YV builds communicative confidence by teaching you how to be persuasive, construct arguments, and be confident in your own voice. These kinds of skills can be applied to a multitude of activities in school like presentations or Socratic seminars.

YV offers some of the best championship-level coaches in the nation that have a proven track record of both competitive and instructional success. We will help you reach the highest level of success in speech and debate.

A Youth Voices Membership that entitles you to access to club meetings and discounts on all camps, all classes, and year-round programs is $50. The 2022 YV Summer Program is $320 for members and $350 for non-members.

We're sorry to hear that you aren't enjoying our programs. If you want to cancel a class, please contact the coach of that class to see if there's anything we can do to help remediate the solution. If you still want to leave, please email info@youthvoicesusa.org.

Yes! Anybody is welcome to register for our classes, even non-members. However, a membership is highly recommended as it will give you a substantial discount on our already affordable classes.

In competition-based speech and debate courses, YV attends the Harvard Forensics Tournament in February and the Middle School Tournament of Champions for which YV handles the registration process and offers classes to help students prepare.

The cost for each tournament varies. Note that competition costs aren’t paid to Youth Voices, but to the tournament organizers. We only handle the registration and logistics. As tournaments return in person for the coming school year, students and their families should consider the cost of travel and lodging.