Contests

Learning to speak in public is one of the best life skills that we can help our youth develop. Alumni of the 4-H program often point to public speaking as one of the most useful lessons they learned in 4-H, leading to success in their future careers. In the public presentation program, youth learn to organize their ideas, to share emotions and creativity, and to communicate clearly. Additionally, they develop subject matter expertise and gain self-confidence.

The 4-H Public Presentation program is designed to provide a safe, age-appropriate environment for 4-H members to develop communication skills. By participating in a variety of presentation types, members will be able to find comfortable starting points, as well as new challenges.

Members can compete at the county, state, and in some cases, the national level, earning recognition for their achievements! The Colorado 4-H Public Presentation program currently offers four competitive divisions: Demonstration & Illustrated Talk, Prepared (Formal) Speech, Impromptu Speech, and Interpretive Reading. Demonstration & Illustrated Talk is the only contest that can have a team of two.

Members are encouraged to review the expectations and requirements for each of the divisions and choose the area(s) in which they would like to participate. Each of the competitive divisions will have three classes: Juniors (4-H age 8–10), Intermediates (4-H age 11–13), and Seniors (4-H age 14–18.) There will be no events for Cloverbuds (4-H age 5–7).

Please sign up here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4AACAD29A4FC1-public.

For questions about the Public Speaking Contest, please contact Kara Rudnick (kara.rudnick@gmail.com).