Public speaking and communication skills have been proven to be the most valuable skills for individuals to obtain a job in the competitive workforce.  To help youth develop these skills the Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service 4-H Program involved over 300 youth in 4-H Talk Meets.  By participating in these programs, youth develop, improve and practice communication skills and gain poise and self confidence while talking before an audience.They also learn to research their topics as well as write and present information along with their ideas and opinions to others.  Participation in this program includes classroom presentations with winners advancing to the school finals and the school winners competing in the county wide finals.  County winners competed at the multi-county event and next in the State 4-H Communications Event.

As a result of these Talk Meet Programs, 100% of the youth reported that they learned something new by either researching and presenting their speech or by listening to their fellow classmates present their speeches.  One past state winner, Steve Oldfield, wrote me the following email after we met when he was volunteering at a Newport High School 4-H Reality Store:

Dear Owen,

As we discussed, I won the Boy's 9 year old State 4-H Talk Meet back in 1975.  Quite simply, it changed my life and started me on an exciting course for my life.  I was an instant celebrity in my home town of Bellevue--I was the subject of newspaper articles, I received congratulation cards from local and state lawmakers.  I was invited to speak at various civic organizations around the area.  My topic was "What TV Tells Me" and the contest was the first validation that perhaps my goal of being a television news anchor/reporter had potential.  I continued to compete in speech contests for a variety of organizations through high school and when it came time to write an essay for college, I wrote about winning the 4-H contest and how I'd been working toward my goal since I was nine years old. This essay earned me a full-ride to Northwestern University and the Medill school of Journalism, where I founded Northwestern Student Television.

After college, I worked as a producer at the NBC Station in Denver before embarking on a long career on-camera at Fox TV where I was the syndicated entertainment reporter and critic for the Fox News Edge feed to all of the affiliates in the country for more than a decade.  My career in broadcasting journalism took me to six continents and 30 countries- I have covered everything from the Oscars to the Super Bowl and interviewed nearly every major A-list star and director.

I worked as a professional speaker for several years, traveling the country giving a speech for a program called "Making It Count".  Like many Kentuckians, I returned home to be closer to family and now I teach a public speaking course at Thomas Moore College.  When I recently spoke to high school leaders from across Northern Kentucky, I began talking about how the 4-H Talk Meet changed my life and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in television.

I have always wondered what would have happened had I not been able to participate in your wonderful and important contest- I truly believe it was a pivotal moment in my life!  I will be glad to help judge future contests and do whatever I can to support your efforts. Thank you again for all the great work you do with 4-H.