The privilege of living

Friday, March 30, 2007
Jeff Yalden spoke to Bronaugh students on Tuesday. He spoke of the importance of making right decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions. The students and teachers gave Yalden a standing ovation and cheered for more at the end of the assembly..

By Crystal D. Hancock

Nevada Daily Mail

Have we become a society focused more on rights and privileges than responsibilities and obligations? This is exactly what Jeff Yalden, an international motivational speaker, is asking America.

International speaker for youth, Jeff Yalden pauses for a snapshot with elementary students from Bronaugh. The children were honored by their teachers for outstanding performance in responsibility, character and respect.

Yalden visited Bronaugh's students on Tuesday and left the entire audience in high spirits after his presentation.

He has been speaking to youth all over the world since 1992. He is a Certified Speaking Professional with the National Speakers Association, a distinction earned by less than 10 percent of all professional speakers.

Because of his simple but commanding approach, he has become one of the most sought after speakers for school assemblies, leadership conferences and for youth at risk.

"My work is to get inside our kids and prepare them not only for scholastic tests but for the real life trials that lie ahead. I capture their attention with stories that educate and stimulate, messages they can't help but remember. Kids are glued to their seats, eager to hear more, staying after, in fact, to ask questions. They are receptive to my message because I speak in a language they can understand," Yalden said.

Yalden's goals are to teach our youth his keys to success: respect, direction, and choices with consequences. At a time when children will literally die for acceptance, he instills in them a sense of the bigger picture, a life beyond hormones and immaturity.

He covered several points with the kids and educated them by telling his own personal stories of various experiences in his life.

Yalden spoke of the importance of role models and how they influence our youth's decisions, the importance of setting goals and what he believes is the purpose for pain and for happiness in our lives.

Yalden said, "While the audience laughs and learns, I resonate with a sense of connection -- connection with the students and with the mission. Any teacher will tell you how rewarding it is to reach a child. I find that the best way to achieve this is by keeping it real. Smart, but real.…

For more information on Yalden, please visit www.jeffyalden.com or call (800) 948-9289.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: