• By April Bowman
• Posted Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Forsyth County 4-H Presentation Competition

“I am uncomfortable with public speaking” is a common response given in answer to the dreaded “What is your biggest weakness?” question during job interviews. In fact, the top results of a Google search for the phrase “public speaking” all also include words like “fear”, “hate”, and “anxiety”. However, skills demonstrated by effective public speakers are also skills that contribute to a successful job interview, and comfort with speaking to a group of people is helpful in most professions.

Because of this, 4-H members are encouraged to give a presentation each year in order to practice public speaking skills. These presentations use audio-visual aids and can include a demonstration, PowerPoint presentation, posters, and props. Often, they allow students to utilize problem-solving skills and encourage 4-H’ers to research topics in-depth. Through their presentations, youth learn to organize their ideas in a logical manner and share what they have learned with confidence, poise, and intelligence. By practicing their public speaking skills in front of their peers and judges from their community, students become comfortable speaking to a diverse audience in a safe, non-judgemental space.

Forsyth County 4-H will hold its county-wide Presentation Competition on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Presentations are typically around six minutes long and can be on a large variety of topics that fit into one of 32 different categories. The top two youth in each category and each age division will have the opportunity to advance to district competition on Friday, June 23rd in Caswell County. Read the presentation rules here.

Click here to register for the Forsyth County 4-H Presentation Competition.

Contact, April Bowman (awbowman@ncsu.edu) or 336-703-2855 to learn more about 4-H or the presentation competition.