4-H Speeches and Demonstrations Strengthen Confidence 

 Enhancing public speaking was identified as a need for students among the Clay County Extension Council and 4-H Council members. Youth across many classrooms also agreed that public speaking is intimidating and felt uncomfortable when completing this task 

As a community, Clay County strives to prepare youth with tools needed to become successful individuals. One of those tools is the opportunity for students across the county to participate in the local 4-H Speech and Demonstration Contest. Clay County 4-H partnered with local schools, teachers and parents to provide this opportunity.

Many classrooms across the county received lessons discussing the importance of public speaking, choosing a topic, researching and spent countless hours preparing for the contest. Thirty-two students presented a speech or demonstration at the local event, and ten students participated at the 4-H District Communications Day Contest. Of those ten, nine participated at the 4-H State Communications Day Event.

Overall, 100% of students reported feeling more confident when speaking in front of peers when presenting a speech or demonstration. 100% of students reported gaining the skill of writing a speech and demonstration and 93% reported improving their public speaking skills.