Spoken Word artists will be conducting wordshops with partner youth agencies this summer. Wordshops focus on building the writing and performance skills necessary to succeed in this summer's open mics and poetry slams. More importantly, these skills are necessary to succeed in life. We deemphasize the competition to focus on the development of craft, voice, and identity.

Click here for a map and calendar of all our summer wordshops.

Youth Speaks believes that programs which provide social and emotional support for youth help them succeed in school and in life. Contemporary research shows that social and emotional learning programs positively impact social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, mental health, school attendance, graduations rates, achievement test scores and school grades. We will be assembling a committee of professors, administrators, teachers, and spoken word-artist educators to examine the best way spoken word programs can keep the arts in language arts and support Nashville's teachers in their work with youth.

Are you having a hard time getting your message across? Are you trying to speak to teens but not getting through? Are the bills for coffee and diet coke at your meetings and trainings depleting your budget? Are your attendees only retaining 10% of what you say? Youth Speaks can translate your lectures, meetings, and orientations into interactive, engaging learning experiences which will reach a young audience. We want to help you in your mission or cause. Click here to find out how we are helping take the Red Cross "Join the 10,000" disaster preparedness message into the community.