Our Toastmasters program, Lightning, is a gavel club for the youth. Lightning is a registered club with Toastmasters International. All participating teenagers are members of the club.

The program cultivates communication, public speaking, teamwork, and leadership skills in youth. Teenagers can join the program at age 13 or older. The program combines elements of a Toastmasters club format with a very active coaching support system. We have adult coaches with every group to personalize each member’s training and goals.

Every member of the club gets Toastmasters manuals and workbooks. Many of our members have completed their speech goals and have received award certificates from Toastmasters International.

Program Focus for Youth

• Develop your ideas with clarity and a coherent organization.
• Empathy and Perspective Taking: Cultivate a mindset to look at an idea or viewpoint from others’ perspectives. Try to understand the other person and see if you can feel what they might be feeling. Acknowledge and relate to other club members.
• Learn to listen: Empathic listening helps you become a capable team player and a leader.
• Cultivate the art of giving meaningful, constructive feedback.
• Learn how to plan and run meetings.
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Understand the power and impact of emotions in communication and leadership; see, explore, and try ideas to cultivate mutual trust, respect, and credibility.
• Public Speaking: Enjoy the journey with fellow club members to cultivate belief in yourself.

Core Values

1. Be your natural self. Every individual has a unique perspective with their way of thinking, background, temperament, and overall outlook. That is a tremendous asset to have.
2. Stretch or expand your comfort zone.
3. Prepare.
4. Make people around you feel comfortable.
5. Think ahead. Plan. Coordinate with others for effective teamwork.
6. Have fun.

> Click on this link for the Program Q&A. It covers how to sign up, when you can start, how this program works, what to expect when you join, etc.