Contest Details
- Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024
- Time: Check-in at 10:00 am, Awards Program at 3:00 pm
- Location: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
- Registration Closes: April 10, 2024
- Entry Fee: $5.00 per youth contestant.
County/city 4-H programs will be invoiced for contestants after registration closes.
Eligibility
Youth who received Champion placing for their age division at their 2024 local public speaking contest are eligible to participate. Each county/city 4-H program may register one youth contestant per age division in each category.
How to Register
Registration for this event is through 4-H Online. The contest is restricted to youth members who earned a Champion placing in their local Public Speaking contest.
Each eligible youth’s registration must be initiated by their county/city 4-H Online Manager. Families cannot start their registrations. This restriction prevents ineligible 4-Hers from registering for the event.
Once a 4-H Online Manager initiates the registration, the family must complete and submit it. The submitted registration must be verified and approved by the county/city 4-H Online Manager to forward to the State 4-H Office.
To initiate registration for a qualified youth participant (county/city Champion), a 4-H Online Manager should follow these steps:
- From the Members tab, search for the youth member’s name. Click the name to open the member’s profile.
- Click Member List to view the family profile’s full member list.
- Click Events to view all open events. Locate the Public Speaking contest event and click Register.
- Select the youth from the list of family members.
- Select the youth’s age division and click Start Registration. Registration will open.
- STOP. The registration has now been initiated, and its status is incomplete.
- Notify the family that you have started the registration; they need to finish and submit it before the due date. The family will also receive an automated system email notifying them that a registration has been initiated.
- Follow up with the family and assist as needed. Once the registration is submitted, it must be approved by a county/city 4-H Online Manager to release it for State approval.
Families can find an Event Registration “how-to” guide on the Maryland 4-H website. This guide can inform families how to submit their registration once it has been initiated by a 4-H Online Manager (see Step 12). It is also available to Managers on the 4-H Online Support Page in the AGNR Groups. Managers are strongly encouraged to review the family help guide and share it with families submitting a registration for this event.
All event registrations must be submitted by 11:59 pm on April 10, 2024. Registrations must be verified and approved by local 4-H offices by Friday, April 12.
Contact event coordinator Navonne Owen nowen@umd.edu if you have questions about the event. Submit questions about 4-H Online registration or processing through the 4-H Online Support portal.
Rules
How Do I Enter the Contest?
- Please remember the State 4-H Public Speaking Contest is for eligible youth who received a Champion or Reserve Champion placing in Prepared, Radio Spot, Interpretation, Extemporaneous or Visual Presentation and Demonstration at a 2024 county/city level public speaking contest.
- You must identify your primary 4-H membership county to enter this contest.
- Entries will be accepted via 4-H online.
- Contestant information will be collected through 4-H online.
- Each 4-H member must be entered individually.
- The entry deadline is April 10, 2024, by 11:59 pm.
To register, go to 4-H Online.
One of the many life skills that 4-H offers youth is effective public speaking. This skill, along with many others, helps to build confidence and leadership. Public speaking fosters creativity, critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, poise, and professionalism, valuable for the job market and life. Public speaking is an individual development experience. The speaker's own growth, measured against their own previous experience and accomplishments, is the most important feature of the program. Although the 4-H structure does identify "winners" in the competition, the primary objective is to develop strong communication skills in individual members.
Confident, responsible self-expression is a goal of the communication program. Public Speaking helps members to organize and present ideas, opinions, and information, logically and persuasively. They are building confidence in self-expression and taking responsibility for the most important skill of adult life - communication.
Judging their efforts provides valuable guidance to these young speakers. Judges' comments reinforce and reward their efforts. An unbiased observer can identify strengths and pinpoint areas needing attention. Judging speeds growth and development by presenting a clear, honest reflection to the speaker.
Questions can be directed to
Navonne Owen nowen@umd.edu
Judging/Awards
Judging
- Each judge will be assigned to an age group and category.
- Judging will be done in person.
- Judges may be required to judge multiple categories and age groups accordingly.
- Judges use a score sheet containing a rubric that identifies key areas related to the category, allowing judges to assign points related to the quality of each presentation.
- Each judge will provide comments and an overall score independently for each 4-H member. These scores will then be averaged to determine a winner.
- Timing counts, so practice, practice, practice. Points will be deducted if the speech does not fit the time parameters.
- It is the goal of the 4-H Program to leave participants with positive, creative comments and allow them to maintain their self-esteem during the evaluation process by the judges.
- Below are the judging score sheets. Please look over them for more insight on each area judged.
- Judging sheets will be shared via email or mail with each youth after the contest.
Score Sheets
Awards
- Awards will be distributed at 3 pm at Maryland Day in Ag Alley under the tent.
- Each age group and category will have a Champion and Reserve Champion winner.
The 2020 Public Speaking Showcase
