With technology continuing to advance rapidly, creating the path for youth to communicate nonverbally is easier; therefore, as youth become older, this will present a challenge when it is time for them to interview for scholarships, careers, and even communicate with others.  Based on conversations with community leaders, communication is a strong need in the community for youth, which is why the Franklin County 4-H Program conducted a Communications Lesson to over 500 4^th and 5^th grade students.

The Communications Lesson consisted of two sessions: the first session introduced the students to Communications 101, discussing the importance of communication and the basic parts of preparing a speech, as well as how to present a speech.  Then the students participated in a couple of communication activities to make them more comfortable about talking in front of others.  At the conclusion of the first session, the students were given an assignment to prepare a one minute speech to present in front of their class for the second session.  The second session consisted of the students presenting the speeches they wrote.    With the teacher’s support, each student received an academic grade on how well prepared they were for their speech and how they presented their speech.   

              At the conclusion of the program, the Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development conducted a verbal evaluation asking the students about their experience and what they had learned the most.  Before presenting the program, the students were asked, “How many of them have ever given a speech?” and “Do they know what a speech is?” Afterward, the students were asked post-questions, such as, “Did you have fun presenting your speech?” and “Did you learn how to properly prepare and present a speech?” The short outcome showed majority of the students expressed having fun while presenting their speech and admitted it was not near as bad as they thought it would be.  An intermediate outcome showed an increase in participation during Franklin County 4-H Communications Night!  

Testimonies:

“This was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be!”

 “Speeches aren’t bad!”

“This activity was fun!”