We are excited to share with you all updates to the 4-H Public Speaking Contest for 2020. As we moved away from Districts, we are also moving from regional contests. This as a great opportunity to elevate the educational components associated with the Public Speaking contest. Through partnerships with resources on campus, we hope to offer rich opportunities for learning in addition to the contest components.
The 2020 contest will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska and will be a part of the PASE/Life Challenge experience. County public speaking contests will continue to operate as they have done in the past. Once counties have conducted their contests, they may invite their top 5 competitors in both Speech and PSA for all 3 age groups (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior) to compete at the state wide public speaking contest to be held on a third day of PASE/Life Challenge. That looks like:
PSA
Junior Top 5 from County Competition
Intermediate Top 5 from County Competition
Senior Top 5 from County Competition
Total of 15 potential PSA submissions to the competition from the county.
Speech
Junior Top 5 from County Competition
Intermediate Top 5 from County Competition
Senior Top 5 from County Competition
Total of 15 potential Speech submissions from the county competition.
Please note, in order to qualify, all participants must have earned a purple ribbon at the county competition. Also, as in years past, youth do not have to be present on the day of the competition to participate in the PSA competition. Ribbon placing and medalists will be announced on the day of the competition.
The schedule for PASE and Life Challenge will remain the same. The Public Speaking contest will take place on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Here are some important points to note:
• The PSA Theme for 2020 is Inspire Kids to Do
• For both Speech contest and the PSA contest, all youth will register through 4-H Online (as they do with PASE/Life Challenge).
• All age groups will be divided in four groups.
• In order to create accessibility for youth that could be geographically limited, there will be virtual option. This does not mean pre-recorded. It will be live.
• Each group will have their own judge/set of judges.
• For Juniors and Intermediates, all youth will earn the appropriate ribbon. The top 5 competitors will be awarded medals.
• For Seniors, all youth will earn the appropriate ribbon. The Top 5 (this number is open for negotiation) competitors in each of the four groups will advance to the final round. Here youth will deliver their speeches again and medalists will be named along with an overall state winner.
• We will award ribbons to all participants and announce medal winners for Juniors and Intermediates. Seniors advancing to the final round will also be announced.
• Seniors will then participate in a final round of competition.
A tentative schedule will look like this:
Schedule of events:
8 a.m. Check In and Judges Orientation
830 a.m. Competition Begins
12 Noon Award Ceremony
1230 p.m. Final round Senior Speeches Begin
145 p.m. Final Round Awards
230 p.m. Farewell