4-H’ers learn lessons through speaking competition

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Over 25 young and talented speakers from various 4-H clubs within Wheatland County gathered on March 9 at the Strathmore Civic Centre for the Wheatland District 4-H speak-offs, where they delivered speeches and presentations at the second level of the public speaking competition.
This advanced opportunity allows each 4-H club’s top two speakers in each level (junior, intermediate and senior) to recite their speeches or presentations to a new set of judges alongside other advanced speechmakers from different clubs.
All 4-H members are required to participate in at least one communications activity every year, usually a formal prepared speech or a presentation, as master of ceremonies for an event or by hosting a workshop in lieu of presenting a formal speech.
Part of requiring each member to participate in one communications activity every year is to allow members to gain the skills and confidence that knowing how to speak in public can bring, to help them out in everyday situations, to prepare them for speaking opportunities in the rest of their lives and to not fear having to speak in public.
“The biggest benefit I have is just not being so nervous anymore when I have to speak in front of people,” said Grace Heuver, who placed first in the senior speeches competition. “It will always be something that sets you above the rest if you have the skills and the ability to (speak) in public. And I think it just kind of applies to everything, I think being able to communicate and share ideas effectively will be beneficial to every field and everyday life.”
Among other things, 4-H aims to prepare members for real world situations through involving them in practical life lessons targeted at teaching members responsibility and confidence.
Members learn this through running their own meetings with minutes, financial reports and upcoming event planning, through participating in a yearly public speaking event and through putting together a final project.
By learning how to research, write and deliver a speech or presentation, members gain valuable life skills that will benefit them in the future in job or school interviews, meetings or work presentations. It is also beneficial to help the members learn how to stand up and speak in front of a crowd and even just to hold a conversation with another person.
Lori Bach, a returning judge at the district competition this year, and who has gone through the 4-H program herself and with her kids, said of all the things 4-H teaches its members, public speaking is the one thing that users will take with them and utilize for the rest of their lives.
Speech topics this year included sustainable farming in the modern world, “they legalized what!?,” 10 things every girl should know, and even “why Grade 6 sucks.”
Following the competition, competitors get to take home a set of judges’ notes that provides hints and tips to help them with speaking in the future.
“I have had to speak up a couple times when I was leading some other kids … it helps with confidence and even just having a normal conversation,” said Erin Slemko, who placed second in the senior speaking competition. “(I learned) how to talk under pressure, how to make stuff up and think on the fly as you’re talking, and how to come across as confident even when I really don’t feel like it.”
Winners from this years’ district communications competition includes:
junior presentations: first Jenna Herriot, second Lucas Jordan; intermediate presentations: first Abby Van Egmond, second Corbin Neal; junior prepared speeches: first Avery Koole, second Colby Nelson; intermediate speeches: first Jayce Beekman, second Jason Slemko; senior speeches: first Grace Heuver, second Erin Slemko.
The top two finalists from each level will present their speeches at the third level of the competition, the Regional Speak-offs at the Strathmore Civic Centre on March 23.