Last year, about 25 4-H members received certificates for their Public Presentations on various subjects. Top scoring youth will move on to regionals competitions and some to New York State Competition. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — Many people get at least a little squeamish when asked to speak in front of a crowd. The 4-H helps prepare youth to present with confidence.

4-H Youth and Families Supervisor Kristi Gorrell said the Public Presentations program had about 25 students last year and are hoping for more this year.

“Kids can talk about general topics or enter our horse specific communication program. The top scoring kids will move on to regional competitions and some will move up again to New York State Competition,” Gorrell said. “Certificates and ribbons are most commonly awarded.”

Registration is by February 16 and can be found at reg.cce.cornell.edu. Presentations will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on February 24 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Chenango building located at 99 North Broad Street. Presenters may choose their time slot.

Gorrell said the program offers a variety of presentation choices including Demonstration, Formal Speech, Illustrated Talk, Recitation, Dramatic Interpretation, Interview, and Horse Communications.

4-H Parent Lauren Mace had three children in Presentations last year and all three look forward to participating again and are in the planning stages now.

Mace said her six year old daughter Emily is a cloverbud and gave her first presentation on ballet. At one moment she became a bit nervous and forgot what she planned to say but with some gentle prompting, was able to get back on track.

“She's very excited to do another presentation this year,” said Mace.

Her nine year old son Owen also gave a presentation last year and chose to do an illustrated talk about hockey. He spoke about the require gear, equipment, different positions, and his favorite teams.

“This was his second year doing a presentation but the first one as a regular 4-H member, instead of cloverbud,” she said. “His presentation was about eight minutes long before the question and answer time. He participated in both the county and regional level of the program.”

Mace said this year he wants to present something related to fishing.

She added her twelve year old Abbey has been involved with the program for three years, with the last two presentations on Equine which has given her the possibility to go to the state level Equine presentation program.

Mace explained the equine presentations have a few more requirements than the general ones and include a specific time requirement plus have different scoring rubric.

“The past year she gave a speech on Seabiscuit, titled “A Hope For Americans”, said Mace. “She spoke about the Great Depression and how the American people connected with Seabiscuit's story of perseverance through hard times.”

She said Abbey then went on to participate at the local, regional, and state levels and was awarded first place in New York State for the junior's speech category.

“She is more naturally a confident speaker and typically settles any nerves quickly,” Mace said. “She also looks forward to participating again and is planning to present on Lippizaner Horses.”

“There are so many pieces to this program that are important skills for people of all ages to learn from researching, note taking, and making outlines to piece all of the information together in a way that is both interesting and engaging, even making posters or visuals to aid in the overall delivery of the information,” she said.

“Top all of that off with a verbal presentation that many adults find intimidating and you have the 4-H Public Presentations,” she added. “As someone who struggled with public speaking when I was younger, I find great value in this program giving children an opportunity to practice these skills from a young age.”

For additional information email Kristi Gorrell at Kg499@Cornell.edu