National Youth Leadership Training is BSA’s primary leadership course for youth participants. It is a week-long overnight course at a local scout camp where a small group of more experienced youth instruct younger scouts on communication, team building, vision/goal setting, planning, ethics, conflict resolution, and outdoor scout skills.

I attended as a participant in March 2015, and served as a staff member in 6 courses from 2017-2019, including a course for which I was the lead staff member. Being lead required systems thinking and risk management to make sure all participants and staff were safe and having a fun time.

NYLT Staff takes NYLT skills to an extreme, and adds on the extra skill of presentation, a subset of communication.

My success in thesis defense definitely is because of my presentation experience in NYLT.