what to write a 4 h speech about

Cooperative Extension in Cumberland County

Giving a 4-h presentation and demonstration, giving a 4-h presentation.

Planning How you decide on your topic.
Parts The three main parts of your presentation.
Video: It’s Showtime! How to Demonstrate the 4-H Way (YouTube) from New Mexico State University.

The first step is to decide the topic for your presentation.

The three parts of the demonstration or speech:

1. Introduction:

Grab the audience’s attention with a quick story, question, quote, joke or another method.
Tell the audience your personal information (name, age, 4-H club, years in 4-H).
Tell the audience the theme or topic of your talk — this is when you tell the audience, in a short sentence, what you are going to tell them in the next part of your presentation.

2. Body: Tell the audience the information.

The body of the presentation is the longest part of your presentation and should take up most of your time. The body should include the main points (or steps) of the presentation in an organized order. For example, when making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the steps you give the audience might be to:

gather ingredients/supplies, put peanut butter on bread, put jelly on bread, and put the pieces together to form a sandwich. Your presentation will probably be much more detailed than this!

3. Conclusion: Tell the audience the information that you just told them.

The presenter should use one or two paragraphs to summarize their presentation by restating the main points of your talk. During your conclusion, you should always:

Ask if there are any questions from the audience. Make sure to repeat any questions asked so everyone in the audience can hear what is asked.
Conclusion from 4:10 to end: 4-H Victoria Watson demonstration part 2 (YouTube)
and this video from 2:34 to 3:48: How to Give a 4-H Demonstration (YouTube)

There are a lot of things to remember when you are “performing” your speech or demonstration. For right now, we are going to focus on four important steps that will help your audience follow your presentation. We will use the acronym “P.A.V.E.” to remember these steps:

P : Pace The easiest mistake to make as a speaker is to talk too fast! Practice your presentation in front of an adult or your siblings and ask them to tell you if you talk too fast. It is a good idea to talk especially slow while you share very important points in your presentation.

A: Audience Remember your audience by making eye contact and smiling.

V: Volume Make sure your audience can hear you. Don’t be afraid of a microphone — it is there to help you!

E: Energy Be excited about your topic! Tell the audience what you like about your topic and what it means to you. And smile! If it seems like you don’t care about the topic then the audience won’t care either.

Four things to avoid when giving a presentation!

Video: Top 4 things to avoid while giving a speech (YouTube)

For more resources about choosing, writing, and giving a 4-H presentation, visit Public Presentations from University of Illinois Extension page.

Let’s try a speech

Write a 30-second speech that has an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Join your 4-H club
Attend 4-H Mini-Forum
Give a demonstration at the Public Presentation Festival
Volunteer to help collect food for the Food Bank
Raise an animal/pet such as a cow, horse or dog (or any animal you want!)

Demonstration Guidelines

What is a Demonstration? Demonstration is an opportunity for any 4-H participant to prepare, organize and present an idea by using visual aids and teaching skills. Such things as showing a friend how to tie a knot, take a picture or play cribbage are all examples of giving a demonstration.

Why should I do a Demonstration? Giving a demonstration in front of an audience will help you to think on your feet and to speak in front of a group of peers and families. This is a great and fun way to begin to prepare you for more challenging events that may involve public speaking.

What will I get out of doing a Demonstration? Once you’re done you will feel proud of yourself for taking part in a County event and talking to an audience. You will boost your confidence to try other events. You just might meet some new people and make a new friend.

Each participant is encouraged to demonstrate a topic or activity that interests you. Anything goes and the sky’s the limit!! Remember to be a successful 4-H Demonstrator, you must understand what you are demonstrating, keep it simple and comfortable to do, and most of all have fun doing it!

4-H Public Speaking/Writing Project

male 4-h youth in a baseball uniform standing between an adult male and female during a presentation

Do you love to talk? Do you find yourself with a mind full of creative thoughts? Are you excited at the opportunity to write and share your thoughts with others? If so, the 4-H public speaking and writing project can help you learn to express yourself in a variety of ways, from speeches to written communication on topics that you love and are excited about! Let’s get started!

Ages and Stages of Youth Development

Beginners may consider having fun with this by creating a puppet and delivering a puppet show to Cloverbuds at a local club meeting. Use your love for words to write and draft a story book with pictures to share with children.

Juniors can begin to expand their prepared speech or presentation beyond the local 4-H Club. For example, take the prepared masterpiece and enter it into a county or state fair or a local contest in the community!

In addition to previous suggestions, a senior could film and evaluate oneself as a public speaker. Or, if you have discovered that you might be interested in an education in these areas, visit a college and discuss career options.

4-H Programming Priorities

Give presentations to other 4-H clubs and organizations and use your speaking skills to promote 4-H to community members.

Health & Wellness

Communicate with others and write a public speech showcasing the power of health and wellness.

Conduct a science experiment and project and report the findings to your local 4-H club or another organization.

Agriculture

Agriculture isn’t just the process of sticking seeds into the ground; there are endless topics to speak about. Use your voice to promote agriculture!

Get Involved

Youth Voice

Public speaking
Demonstrations/illustrated talks
Written communication

Community Service

Read a book to children at a local library
Give a speech at a nursing home/assisted living center
Teach a workshop on communication tips

Career Connections

Journalism and communications
Education and teaching
Drama and theatre

Exhibit Ideas

Public speaking/presentation
Write a narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive paper
Poetry: collection of three or more short poems or one long poem
Fiction or non-fiction prose: short story
National 4-H communications curriculum

Learning Resources

National 4-H Curriculum
University of Tennessee, 4-H Youth Development, 4-H Communication/Public Speaking Project

South Dakota 4-H Seeks Project Committee Members

October 20, 2021

These committees cover a range in interests, from traditional animal projects and youth-in-action events, to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs.

A young girl with a notebook observing a sprig of flower blossoms.

Projects & Resources

For schools, this page serves as a compendium of evidence-based curricula that our local 4-H professionals can teach or share. This page provides parents and volunteers with project resources and easy-to-digest “hot sheets” for navigating the latest trends/issues affecting youth.

Wisconsin 4-H Publications

Division of extension, 4-h public speakers handbook.

All aspects of organizing and researching, writing and presenting speeches are included in this manual, along with tips for improving oral delivery; and coping with stress, stage fright and competition. Communication information that is covered includes: speech planning and delivery techniques, speech topics, vocal delivery and pronunciation and enunciation skills. This handbook is part of the Building Bridges Communications series. (PDF – 28 pages, 988 KB) Keywords – audience, appropriate, non-verbal communication, gestures

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4‑H YOUTH VOICES

In 4‑H, we believe in the power of young people. That’s why we’re putting a spotlight on young people who are making a difference in their communities and creating opportunities at a time when the nation is facing multiple challenges. This page features stories about young leaders who are making a difference right now, tackling issues ranging from COVID-19 relief, to racial equity, to social justice and beyond.

If you or someone you know is helping your community or people in need, or if are you’re looking for some inspiration on how to help, let us know. Use #TrueLeaders on social media or FILL OUT THIS FORM to share how you’re making a difference. 4‑H may feature your stories and ideas below and on social media.

Read the youth stories below to discover how 4‑H’ers are changing the world.

4-H'ers making a difference

Coding to Combat Hunger

Alexa Mitchell, Virginia

Alexa Mitchell, a 16 year old from Fairfax, VA, first learned about food insecurity—and what she could do to help combat it—through her 4‑H club. It was there that she first took part in projects like donating garden-grown veggies to food pantries, volunteering in soup kitchens and raising money for homeless shelters. “I saw that access to basic needs can transform a person’s life, and that sometimes providing those basic needs can be as simple as volunteering my time,” she explains.

This realization inspired her to search for even more sustained opportunities to help people in need. When she was 14 years old, Alexa found the perfect way to blend her interest in computer science with her passion for helping those in need. She discovered the MEANS Database, an organization that connects excess food with people in need, and secured a summer job improving their database and website. As the youngest person on the team, Alexa had to learn quickly on the job. Eventually, her responsibilities grew to include operational support, donor outreach and food logistics. She even led sessions to familiarize older team members with how to use JavaScript, one of her areas of expertise.

Alexa believes some of her success at MEANS can be traced back to her experience in 4‑H, where she leads her club’s engagement in STEM topics, including computer science and robotics. In addition to helping her develop leadership skills, her 4‑H experience has taught her the value of hard work, to ask for help when she needs it, and to always volunteer to pick up slack. “I tried to make myself as accessible and flexible as possible to maximize my impact on the nonprofit’s system. Because MEANS Database is small, everyone has to put in extra effort to keep it moving. Since this is something I’m used to in my 4‑H club, I am very comfortable in that type of environment,” she says.

Since COVID-19 has struck, Alexa has spent even more of her time working with the MEANS Database. She explains, “The virus has left people food insecure and distributors are struggling to meet their increased need. I feel the need to do all I can to help, including taking the initiative to make calls to potential donors and work with the outreach team to help facilitate larger donations on top of my normal duties. During the pandemic so far, we have successfully moved approximately 200,000 pounds of food.”

Coding to combat hunger

Alexa Mitchell, a 16 year old from Fairfax, VA, first learned about food insecurity—and what she could do to help combat it—through her 4‑H club. It was there that she first took...

Translating Local Grocery Communications

Daisy Buenrostro, Quincy, Washington

Daisy, a 4‑H’er from Quincy, Washington, has been helping connect adults in her community to important digital tools for over three years as part of the 4‑H Tech Changemakers program. Her focus has been on empowering people with skills that will improve their lives, like learning how to order medications online to video chat with family.

As soon as COVID-19 struck Washington state, Daisy knew it was going to have a big impact on her work and her community. She realized that digital skills were going to be more important than ever before.

Around 75% of the residents in Quincy are Latino and many are native Spanish speakers. So while many of the local grocery stores started offering online ordering to allow for social distancing, the materials to teach people how to use these tools were only being offered in English.

Daisy saw an opportunity to fix this. “I want our community to be safer, so I recreated a video in Spanish by the most popular local grocery about ordering groceries online,” she explained. “This way, our whole community can utilize this great resource. Just because COVID is happening doesn’t mean we stop serving our community.”

Inspired by the success of her first project, she is looking to find more ways to help by translating additional videos and resources where the need arises.

Translating local grocery communications

Providing Food to Community Members through Gardening

Janya Green, Georgia Youth in Action Agriculture Pillar Winner

Growing up on her family’s farm, Janya Green learned first-hand about agriculture and the challenges America’s farmers face. Her interest in agriculture channeled into a passion for service when she met Sam X, her 4-H mentor, who not only exposed her to a budding community garden initiative but also opened her eyes to a world of opportunities through 4-H. That was four years ago. Now, Janya proudly serves as the garden’s manager, working to provide free produce to fight obesity and meet the nutrition-related needs of her community, while also teaching classes to youth and adults, urging them to learn how to grow their own produce at home in the event of a future food shortage. She just didn’t realize how soon that future food shortage would hit.

During the COVID-19 crisis, grocery stores across the country face shortages and are unable to keep their shelves stocked. “In a crisis like this, we’re in need of food, and the stores are running out of vegetables. That’s why we’re here,” Janya said. Her work at the garden is more important than ever and is playing a significant role in helping people overcome nutritional challenges.

Janya is seeing the fruit of her labor to educate her community as youth, parents and other adults begin to build their own gardens and raised beds, using the techniques that Janya teaches at the Village Community Garden. Janya is thrilled to see youth and adults working together and learning from one another. “A lot of youth-adult relationships are being built, which leads to the youth trusting the adults more and more,” said Janya.

In addition to inspiring so many at-home gardens, Janya is also still tending to the Village Community Garden. While adhering to social distancing requirements, Janya visits the garden with her mask in hand to tend to its needs and pick up produce. From there, she distributes the produce to elderly community members’ porches, ensuring they have enough to eat.

Janya is also providing virtual classes via the Fort Valley State University 4-H Youth Development Program page to teach community members important techniques like how to freeze fresh vegetables for future use. When asked how she feels to see her work making such a difference in her small town, Janya said, “It makes me feel wonderful, because I actually see what I’m doing playing its part - I see it happening before my eyes. And that’s all I want to do, is help people.”

Providing food to community members through gardening

Growing up on her family’s farm, Janya Green learned first-hand about agriculture and the challenges America’s farmers face. Her interest in agriculture channeled into a passion for...

Helping Kids Manage Anxiety

Jordyn Maloy, Maine

Jordyn Maloy and her 4-H team from Maine have an ambitious goal: create a comprehensive mental health curriculum, for kids by kids. Each lesson is designed to be relatable, relevant and teachable by and for middle through high school aged students. Jordyn and the team are in the third year of this ambitious six year project, called EmpoweringMEandYou , and are currently focusing on the topic of managing stress and anxiety with a ‘Stress Less’ workshop. All the course materials including live online workshops are available to anyone online Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Jordyn and her team have seen their project take on new meaning and importance. At school, kids are facing a whole new set of stresses and anxieties as they transition to online learning and social distancing, and grapple with grief, fear, loss and other emotional effects of living through a global pandemic.

Jordyn sees her team’s project as a way for these young people to develop emotional tools to cope with some of these issues, while also building social connections during a period of isolation. Even beyond students, Jordyn believes anyone would benefit from these lessons. “With the anxiety levels that people across America and our world are undergoing right now, I think our project can effectively help a lot of people that may not have easy access to other forms of help,” she said.

Jordyn first discovered her passion for addressing mental health issues as an attendee of the 4-H Healthy Living Summit in 2018. There, she became excited about the idea of helping other kids navigate some of the same issues she had been facing herself. “As someone who has struggled with my own mental barriers, I found it exciting and therapeutic to explore the things that worked well for me and then put them into action to help others,” she explained. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Jordyn and her team believe that sharing strategies for maintaining mental health is more important than ever.

Helping kids manage anxiety

Jordyn Maloy and her 4‑H team from Maine have an ambitious goal: create a comprehensive mental health curriculum, for kids by kids. Each lesson is designed to be relatable, relevant and teachable by and for middle through high school aged students. Jordyn...

Reaching Veterans with Encouragement

Amelia Day, Fort Valley, GA Youth in Action National Winner

When Amelia Day accompanied her father to an appointment at a veteran's hospital in 2012, she didn't know that the visit would spark an idea for a 4-H service project that would reach far beyond her hometown. At age 13, she sensed a need for encouragement and support for our nation's veterans, so she put the leadership skills she'd learned in 4-H into action and Operation: Veteran Smiles (OVS) was born. Initially, the program provided handmade cards of encouragement to veterans at her local hospital, but soon she expanded to provide care packages and musical therapy in addition to cards. Her program has reached more than 21,000 veterans in 17 states over the past 8 years.

Due to COVID-19, VA hospitals are currently unable to receive visitors or care packages, so Amelia is taking her project back to its roots and empowering youth across the country to create encouraging cards for veterans. Her goal: to provide handmade cards of encouragement to veterans in all 50 states. During these challenging days, the cards are especially meaningful and uplifting for our nation's most vulnerable veterans. With an online "how-to" guide on the Operation: Veteran Smiles Facebook page, youth are encouraged to make a card, then contact OVS for a pre-paid shipping label for distribution. Amelia is excited about the opportunity to bring smiles to all 50 states. "Together, there's no telling how many veterans we can impact with the power of a smile!"

Reaching veterans with encouragement

When Amelia Day accompanied her father to an appointment at a veteran’s hospital in 2012, she didn’t know that the visit would spark an idea for a 4‑H service project that would reach far...

Sewing Masks for Vulnerable Populations

Maria Lonneman, Cleveland, Ohio

Throughout early 2020, Maria Lonneman was hard at work to launch her 4-H sewing project, “Heavy Hugs Weighted Blankets”. In January, she held a small event for 4-H’ers to learn to make weighted blankets for youth with autism and was looking forward to hosting a larger, state-wide service event for 4-H’ers in March. But as COVID-19 swept the country, the course of her project drastically changed.

No longer able to meet with a large group of youth, Maria wasted no time to change course. Both of her aunts work in healthcare, which inspired her to take action to address the country’s most pressing needs using her sewing skills. While many around the country focused on making masks for adults, Maria turned her attention to sewing masks for another vulnerable population: children in hospitals and pediatric centers.

To date, Maria and her sewing team have created hundreds of masks for children at Pediatric Partners and St. Luke’s in Cleveland, Ohio. “I enjoy thinking that I might possibly have saved a parent or grandparent because a child had their face covered by one of my masks,” Maria said.

Maria’s interest in sewing was sparked at the very beginning of her 4-H career at just 5 years old. As a junior in high school, she’s now been involved in every sewing project Ohio 4-H offers, but she has a particular interest in service projects. “4-H prepared me for this work by teaching me to give back to my community, by using my hands for larger service,” Maria said. “A community service project has always been a part of my sewing experience.”

In her community, Maria’s masks are in high demand. The Akron Children’s Hospital reached out asking for her to make masks for them. Though these masks will be for adults, Maria is glad to know she’s making an impact. “One mask can stop the spread of infectious droplets that could impact a lot of people,” she said. “I want others to know that everyone can make a difference; even the things that might seem small can make a big impact on the lives of others.”

Sewing masks for vulnerable populations

Throughout early 2020, Maria Lonneman was hard at work to launch her 4‑H sewing project, “Heavy Hugs Weighted Blankets”. In January, she held a small event for 4‑H’ers to learn to make weighted blankets for youth with autism and was looking...

Providing Resources to Frontline Healthcare Workers

Cade McMunigal and Ian Jackson, Monroe County, West Virginia

Cade McMunigal and Ian Jackson, high school seniors in Monroe County, West Virginia, are answering the call to help medical workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. In March, they heard that healthcare workers were running low on critical personal protective equipment, or PPE, that allows them to treat COVID patients without becoming sick themselves. This issue, they learned, is even more acute in rural areas like theirs, where existing stockpiles of PPE are low and strained medical systems can’t afford to lose workers to illness. Desperate to lend a hand, they leapt into action when the Mayor of Union, WV, Caroline Sparks, reached out to their award winning 4-H robotics team for help.

Right away, Ian and Cade led the club to figure out how to make an impact. First, they reached out to the Monroe Health Center and learned they were facing a shortage of face shields. Next, the group designed a prototype that was quickly tested and approved by the hospital. After that, Cade, Ian and the rest of the club leapt into production. They borrowed four 3D printers from the Monroe County School system, and distributed them to club members to streamline the process. The boys credit 4-H for preparing them to succeed in this project “in more ways than you would expect.” In addition to teaching them technical skills like 3D design, printing and custom fabrication, they also learned important organizational skills. “In 4 H, we learned about the importance of community service, how to write a business plan, how to fund raise to reach our goals, and how to manage projects on tight timelines,” explained Cade.

So far, the group has produced over 200 masks for hospitals and medical centers in their community. They plan to expand to first responders and nursing homes in the near future. Despite running all four printers day and night, they are limited by how long each headband takes to print. They also need to cut each face shield to size by hand. Despite these challenges, they intend to keep producing shields until the need is met or they run out of materials. “Our small community has supported our robotics endeavors for six years, so we were happy to be able to give back in this small way,” Ian added.

Providing resources to frontline healthcare workers

Providing Supplies to Food Pantry Workers

Addy Battel and Pearl Daskam, Cass City, Michigan

Cass City, Mich., seniors Addy Battel and Pearl Daskam have long been committed to addressing food insecurity in their hometown. Cass City became a food desert when the girls were in middle school, and at just 12 years old they launched Meating the Need for Our Village, a program designed to fight hunger through agriculture. Five years later, with the help of grants and overwhelming community support, the program has made an economic impact greater than $63,000 by donating more than 10,000 pounds of meat, 3,200 gallons of milk, 330 dozen eggs, 400 pounds of cheese, 140 pounds of butter, and 350 pounds of produce.

The onset of COVID-19 generated new challenges for Meating the Need for our Village, but high school seniors Addy and Pearl have adapted and found new ways to make an impact. Since mid-March, the two have worked to supply masks and delivery boxes for food pantry volunteers and have donated 280 gallons of milk and 60 pounds of cheese to the community in need. “4-H has taught me how to work together to overcome difficulties and the importance of doing what you can to help when times are tough, while having hope that things will get better,” said Pearl.

As of April 22, a donor who heard about the incredible work Addy and Pearl are leading is looking to help the teens disseminate $2,000 worth of meat, milk and cheese to the Michigan Thumb Region within the next two weeks. This donation will allow the teens to more broadly support the food insecure in their region.

The 4-H’ers work regularly with two different food pantries and are seeking to meet their individual needs during the crisis. One food pantry, Revive Ministries, is still operational, and Addy and Pearl have donated 140 gallons of milk and 40 pounds of cheese to the pantry since the onset of the pandemic. However, the other food pantry, St. Agatha’s, needed to close their open-pantry pickup process and moved to a delivery-only system. Since St. Agatha’s could no longer receive the milk and cheese Addy and Pearl normally deliver each week, the teens adjusted their plans and instead donated 140 gallons of milk to their local school system’s meal delivery program.

Determined to continue supporting St. Agatha’s, Addy and Pearl worked to understand their new needs and connected with local sewing groups to provide masks for the pantry’s volunteers who are delivering non-perishable items to clients. “Many food pantry volunteers are elderly and immunocompromised, while customers tend to have less access to healthcare,” Addy said. “Definitely prioritize hospitals, but food pantries can use masks, too!” In addition to masks, Addy & Pearl are securing boxes for the food pantry’s porch deliveries.

“The need is greater than ever, and I’m privileged to be able to help,” said Addy.

Providing supplies to food pantry workers

Connecting Farms with Surplus Crops to Consumers

Hunter Williams, Lake Butler, FL

With school out of session, restaurants closed, and tourism at a standstill, supply chains for farmers all across the country have been disrupted. The problem is so bad that farmers are plowing thousands of acres of fresh produce back into the ground because they can’t afford to harvest it without buyers lined up. Millions of gallons of milk are being poured down the drain. Livestock and poultry are being euthanized. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t demand for these products. In fact, families across the country are desperate for fresh produce, meat and dairy.

The bitter truth is that this sudden inability to match supply with demand is hurting everyone. Farmers across the country are missing out on the revenue from this year’s harvest at the same time that millions of Americans are struggling to put food on their tables.

That’s why Hunter Williams, a 17-year-old high school junior and 4-H Florida State Officer in Lake Butler, FL, decided to take action. Hunter grew up around farming and ranching his entire life, including serving as a 4-H livestock ambassador in both Florida and Texas. When COVID-19 began to affect his community, he knew he had to do something that would help farmers in the area make ends meet-- while also addressing food access issues for consumers. So, he decided to start a fresh produce box business that would connect farms with surplus crops to consumers who were looking for produce.

Hunter started his new business by reaching out to farmers in the area to understand what crops they had ready to sell. Then, with the help of family and a few friends, Hunter drove all around north Florida picking up crates full of crops-- including green beans, squash, zucchini, onions, bell peppers, corn, cabbage, lettuce, kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, and more-- and packing them into 15-20 pound boxes for consumers to buy. Next, he spread the word on Facebook and through word-of-mouth and established three pickup points across north Florida. With that, Hunter’s initiative, called Save Florida Farms, was born.

Hunter sees this effort to help local farmers find buyers for their produce as an urgent priority in the age of COVID. “It’s always important to support our local farmers-- but even more so during the current pandemic. If we are buying imported products because they are less expensive, it is literally taking money out of the pockets of our local suppliers. These local producers are struggling to move their produce and, in some cases, support their own families,” he explains. In fact, over the last several weeks Hunter has developed business relationships with nine different farms across Florida and has witnessed the impact of this disruption first-hand.

To Hunter, Save Florida Farms goes beyond the important task of matching supply with demand. It’s also a powerful way for him to raise awareness about the importance of supporting local farmers, whenever it’s an option. “After the pandemic is over, we need to continue to purchase from our Florida farmers to keep the industry alive. As the population continues to grow so will the demand. We cannot depend on foreign imports for our food. If we don’t support our local farmers now, they won’t be there when we need them,” Hunter explains.

So far, Hunter’s efforts have been successful. In his first week, Hunter sold about 150 boxes of produce. In his second week, he and his partners sold 500 and added 50 people to his waiting list. Now, he’s introduced online ordering and demand for his produce boxes is continuing to climb. As his business continues to grow, so does his ability to feed his community and keep local farmers in business at a time of crisis. He hopes to keep growing the business as long as he can make a difference.

Connecting farms with surplus crops to consumers

Providing Food through "Blessing Boxes"

Garrett Sander, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

Garrett Sanders, a high school senior and 4-H’er in Tangipahoa Parish, LA, was looking for a way to meaningfully contribute to his community, even after he went off to college. He was searching for an idea that he could get off the ground, and that the community would embrace and sustain. After lots of deliberation, he came up with a concept to create spaces throughout the community where people with means could leave donations of critical staples like food and hygiene items, and people in need could pick them up.

The idea, Garrett explained, came from a desire to make helping people part of everyday life. “I feel that I have been so blessed in my life to have a roof over my head and food on my table, so I feel a need to give back to those less fortunate than myself. This has always been an important part of my life growing up.”

To put his idea into action, Garrett worked with his mom, who is a 4-H agent, and others in his community to design durable wooden pantries that would stand up to the elements and look inviting to passersby. For $150 in building costs, Garrett’s final designs include a sloped and tiled roof, bright green paint, and a plexiglass door with instructions printed on the front: Leave what you can, take what you need. With that, the “Blessing Box” was born.

After completing his design, Garrett worked with local officials to secure two permanent locations. After installing them, Garrett used his own money to make sure the boxes were stocked with $50 to $75 worth of groceries each week. At first, the boxes would empty out quickly and Garrett would restock them. But over time, as word spread throughout the community, other people began to leave goods in the boxes. After a few months, the supply and demand for goods nearly reached equilibrium, with Garrett only needing to top them off every once in a while.

Since the COVID-19 crisis hit, demand for the boxes has skyrocketed. Even though many people are still making contributions, Garrett has gone back to stocking large quantities of groceries each week. “Some people can’t afford to eat. Especially now in this time of uncertainty, they don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Garrett said. “This just kind of reassures them that they do have something to eat tonight.” The power of the Blessing Box, Garrett explains, is to take that uncertainty out of people’s lives and give them something they can count on.

Garrett credits 4-H and his mom for inspiring him and equipping him with the skills he needed to bring Blessing Boxes to life. “Throughout my 4-H career, I have focused mainly on volunteering and service learning. My mom has always been one of the main inspirations for my 4-H projects because she always strives to give back to others in any way she can. I simply want to follow in her footsteps,” he said. “All my experiences over the years have taught me the most effective ways to give back to my community, and this project is the result of that cumulative experience.”

With the help of his community, Garrett plans to keep the Blessing Boxes stocked throughout the crisis. In the next year, he also hopes to expand Blessing Boxes to other Parishes throughout Louisiana and establish a “leftovers program” at school, where leftovers from lunch are sent home with students in need.

Providing food through "Blessing boxes"

Garrett Sanders, a high school senior and 4‑H’er in Tangipahoa Parish, LA, was looking for a way to meaningfully contribute to his community, even after he went off to college. He was searching for an idea that he could get...

Sewing Masks for Healthcare Workers

SewWhat 4‑H Club, Nashville, NC

As COVID-19 swept the country, 4-H clubs nationwide moved their efforts online and began exploring new ways to keep learning and keep projects going from a distance. When the local JOANN fabric store contacted SewWhat 4-H Club leader Jane Tyson, to see if her Nashville, NC, club would be interested in sewing fabric masks, the 4-H’ers didn’t hesitate to say yes and get involved.

“We were eager to learn a new project,” said Megan Garciga, a 17-year-old 4-H’er. But it wasn’t always easy. “The first challenge was to learn virtually, over email. It was a bit of a learning curve at first, because I’m used to Mrs. Jane walking me through a new project!”

Despite needing to learn on their own, Megan and 12 of her fellow club members rose to the challenge and banded together to sew more than 1100 masks for local healthcare workers, policemen and firemen. “4-H has given me a lot of advanced sewing skills,” Megan said. “I’ve been happy to help with this effort and to learn a new project, too!”

Sewing masks for healthcare workers

As COVID-19 swept the country, 4‑H clubs nationwide moved their efforts online and began exploring new ways to keep learning and keep projects going from a distance. When the local JOANN fabric store contacted SewWhat 4‑H Club leader Jane Tyson,...

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Giving Hope through Music

Mason McClintock, Georgia Youth in Action Civic Engagement Pillar Winner

As young people around the globe cope with the drastic changes in their lives caused by COVID-19, 4-H’ers are banding together to make an impact in their communities in large and small ways. Georgia 4-H’ers and young alumni from the performing arts group, Clovers & Company are working together to share their music and provide a bit of hope to listeners.

“‘Stand by Me’” is a song about resilience and realizing that none of us are always capable of thriving in this life alone,” said Mason McClintock, Clovers & Co. alum. “It teaches us it’s okay not to be okay and encourages us to reach out when we need help.” Mason, along with 11 fellow company members and alums banded together to create a virtual, a cappella performance of “Stand by Me”. The 4-H’ers previously performed the song in their 2018-2019 show, “I’m Still Standing.”

Mental health is quickly emerging as an important area of consideration as youth and adults alike grapple with the realities of social distancing and a vastly uncertain future. “In this time of crisis when everything seems especially dark, my goal for this song is to b inspire a sense of hope, positivity and unity in all who hear it. We all need to be reminded sometimes that we are all citizens of this earth, and we all want to be loved and accepted. We truly are all in this together,” Mason said.

The Georgia 4-H performing arts group, Clovers & Company, was founded in 1981 and features a cast of youth singers, dancers, instrumentalists and stage hands who annually perform a high energy show for 4-H events, civic groups, and state and national conventions. Several alumni of the program have gone on to have careers in the music and entertainment fields, including Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Hillary Lindsey and Nikki DeLoach.

Giving hope through music

As young people around the globe cope with the drastic changes in their lives caused by COVID-19, 4‑H’ers are banding together to make an impact in their communities in large and small ways. Georgia...

Creating 3D Face Shields for First Responders

4‑H Club, Illinois

As healthcare workers around the country face a shortage of personal protective equipment, 4-H’ers on the Elgin, Illinois, “got robot?” FIRST Tech Challenge team are working together - separately - to produce 3D printed face shields for first responders. Using the team’s 3D printer and 9 other printers owned by team members or on loan, the 4-H’ers, ages 12-17, launched “Operation got face shield?” in late March to produce PPE face shields for local hospitals, nursing homes, police stations, funeral homes, grocery stores, and more.

Early on, the team tested 3D printed designs and made several for evaluation. Though they could originally only print a single shield band at a time, the team’s mentor, a 4-H alumnus, wrote a new code, allowing the 4-H’ers to print 10 bands at a time and dramatically increase their output capacity. The Kane County Coroner’s Office agreed to test the face shields and were impressed with the simple design and ease of use. “These face shields are essential,” said Natalie Hall, Forensic Morgue Technician for the Kane County Coroner’s Office. “It takes the extra step to ensure that we are having the least amount of exposure possible.” As of April 28, the team has 3D printed just over 4000 face shields for 90 different locations in their hometown of Elgin, Ill., nearby Chicago., and states as far away as Georgia and Texas

“Being a member in robotics and 4-H has taught me and many members on our team to look for opportunities to help our community,” said Evan Sass, a 13-year-old team member. Because the team has access to so many 3D printers, responding to the call for 3D printed face shields was relatively easy. “It is also a great way for the team to stay active and keep learning, while honoring the shelter-at-home order,” said a team leader.

Evan credits 4-H with not only preparing him with the tech skills to create face shields, but also with the leadership and communication skills he needs to deliver them. “One of the biggest things I have learned in 4-H is leadership and that has helped me with almost everything I do in day to day life,” Evan said. “When we deliver the face shields, I give a presentation about how to work with the headbands and how to assemble them. Doing community service projects in the past has helped me with learning to speak comfortably.”

Long committed to making a difference in their community, the “got robot?” team has collaborated with their local library for the last three years to raise funding for STEM Backpacks, which feature a range of STEM activities and topics (in both Spanish & English) for families to learn together. When the opportunity arose for the team to create a product to help the community stay safer during COVID-19, team members didn’t hesitate to join in the effort.

In addition to their own work, “got robot?” has mobilized 3 other local robotics teams by sharing files and best practices, and they’re glad to provide tips and support to other teams as they get started with the relief effort.

Creating 3D face shields for first responders

As healthcare workers around the country face a shortage of personal protective equipment, 4‑H’ers on the Elgin, Illinois, “got robot?” FIRST Tech Challenge team are working together – separately – to produce 3D printed face shields for...

Creating 3D Printed Resources for Hospitals

Joseph Huff, Utah Youth in Action STEM Pillar Winner

Joseph Huff is no stranger to using 3D printing to help those in need. His dad, a stroke survivor, has limited use of his right hand. When Joseph realized he could 3D print prosthetics for youth who have mobility challenges, he leapt at the opportunity. For the past several years, he’s combined creativity with science to lead 4-H’ers to create life-changing prosthetic hands for young people in need.

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, Joseph pivoted to creating 3D printed resources to meet needs for local hospitals and police. Though gaining access to the type of 3D printing materials needed to produce masks is difficult, Joseph has worked alongside his employer to create more than 50 3D printed masks for local police officials.

Using his own 3D printer and materials at home, he’s creating surgical mask tension relief bands for ear comfort for the University of Utah Hospital. “A family friend works at a hospital and talks about how painful it is on her ears to wear a mask all day long, so I looked for a way I could make a difference.” To date, Joseph has printed 21 bands.

Joseph encourages fellow 4-H’ers with access to 3D printers to get involved with the effort to make mask tension relief bands. “They seem to be even more needed than masks at this time,” Joseph said.

Creating 3D printed resources for hospitals

Joseph Huff is no stranger to using 3D printing to help those in need. His dad, a stroke survivor, has limited use of his right hand. When Joseph realized he could 3D print prosthetics for...

Fighting Food Insecurity During Social Distancing

Erin Kistner, Illinois

Like many Americans, Erin Kistner was unaware that a large proportion of her neighbors, friends and classmates were struggling to get access to three meals a day. After all, in high school this problem can be difficult to detect since many teens find it embarrassing or stigmatizing to talk about hunger issues. It wasn’t until she attended a Hunger Ambassador training put on by the Illinois State 4-H Office in 2018 that she learned an estimated 2.3 million households in rural communities face food insecurity. She was shocked. And it got her thinking about her own community in Hillsboro, Illinois, and how many of her friends and peers might be going hungry without any help.

When she returned home, she got to work right away. First, she asked around to see if hunger was affecting people she knew. She quickly learned about a classmate who had been living without electricity for a month and another who didn’t have access to a functioning stove. “Hearing their stories really impacted me and inspired me to do something to help,” explained Erin. She realized there was no way these students could feed themselves properly under these conditions. From there, she decided to survey her high school to assess the extent of the problem. To her surprise, a whopping 25% of her classmates reported having food access issues.

Once Erin understood the pervasiveness of the issue, she turned to her local Extension 4-H office to come up with a plan. Since many students rely on school meals for nutrition, they determined that they could make the biggest impact by providing nutritious ready-to-eat meals that could be picked up at school on Fridays and taken home for the weekend. Working with school administrators and her 4-H mentor, she set up a private room at the school that she and her fellow 4-H members would stock with bags containing a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Participation was private, and students could take as many bags as they felt they needed for the weekend. She worked with local churches and businesses to make sure she had enough donations to keep the program running.

When COVID-19 hit her community and schools closed, Erin knew that food access issues would only get worse. “When school closed on March 15, there were so many students depending on us as a food source, I knew I had to do something. I worked with Extension staff and the school administration to see how we could continue to feed these students,” Erin recalled. Together, they adapted the program to deliver eight meals each week directly to students at their homes on school buses.

But keeping the program running in the era of COVID has not been easy. As her traditional sources of funding and food donations have been disrupted by COVID, Erin has had to navigate finding new partners and new ways to raise funds. It’s been a constant balancing act of finding organizations that are in a position to help despite facing their own challenges. She has also had to adjust to the new reality of needing to run her program without the help of volunteers, since social distancing won’t allow for them to prepare and pack kits together. Yet despite these challenges, Erin has been successful in maintaining her program. “Because of a great outpouring of support from our community, we have been able to provide meals each week since the school shut down,” she said.

Erin credits her experience in 4-H for equipping her with many of the skills she uses to keep this program running. “I developed a passion for community service and helping others as a result of my 4-H involvement. I have organized numerous food pantry collections, food packaging events, supply drives and many other service projects with my 4-H club and Youth Leadership Team. Organizing the Weekend Food program uses many of the same skills,” she explained. 4-H has also helped her develop communication skills that have proved vital in making her program successful. “ As a member of the Illinois Speaking for 4-H team I enjoy talking with legislators, service clubs, and funders about 4-H. So it was easy for me to meet with school administrators and teachers to help develop the framework of the program, then meet with organizations to obtain donations for the program.”

Erin hopes to be able to maintain her food delivery program throughout the COVID crisis, and is already planning to scale her in-school program to other districts. Ultimately, Erin hopes to inspire large-scale action to combat hunger issues. “I hope to raise awareness of youth food insecurity issues in small rural counties, so others will join the fight against hunger. I also want to create a sustainable nutrition program in my community so that no high school student goes hungry on the weekends. This issue is all around us, and I hope my program can be a blueprint for success in other locations.”

Fighting food insecurity during social distancing

Organizing a Blood Drive with Healthcare Works

Hana Pfeiffer, Idaho

Hana Pfeiffer’s hometown in rural Idaho is facing an ongoing shortage of donated blood to perform life-saving procedures at the local hospital. Inspired by her experience as a 4-H leader in civic engagement, she decided to take matters into her own hands. After some careful planning and calling around, she was able to forge a partnership with the American Red Cross and the Minidoka Memorial Health Care Foundation to host a blood drive.

What struck Hana vividly about her experience is that the same healthcare workers who were battling the COVID inside the hospital were also the ones taking time out of their days to donate live-saving blood. Since many of these workers had either been caring for COVID patients, Hana and the hospital had to take special precautions to make sure everyone was able to stay safe. Despite the challenges this caused, the turnout and enthusiasm to help was spectacular: Over 60 healthcare workers came to donate over the course of two days, donating enough blood to save 125 lives.

Hana’s experience has opened her eyes to the incredible role healthcare workers play in keeping the rest of us safe every day. “This service project and pandemic have shed new light on how truly amazing health care workers are. With COVID-19, they have worked countless hours, taken many precautions, and risked their lives to protect us—and now over sixty of these individuals donated blood on top of that. This experience has opened my eyes to how very fortunate we are to have these amazing people in our communities.”

Hana is eager to keep helping, and is already planning her next blood drive. For other people interested in finding ways to help out in their communities, she offers, “My best advice is just to ask! Contact local shelters, foundations, or movement organizations and ask how you can get involved. Also, 4-H extension coordinators are great resources for finding service projects near you. There are usually plenty of people who are always looking for a helping hand.”

Organizing a blood drive with healthcare works

Hana Pfeiffer’s hometown in rural Idaho is facing an ongoing shortage of donated blood to perform life-saving procedures at the local hospital. Inspired by her experience as a 4‑H leader in...

Paying Opportunity Forward

Nalia Warmack, Illinois

From an early age, Nalia Warmack recognized that learning something new could be a life-changing opportunity. In her Illinois hometown, these opportunities came in the form of 4-H, which she joined at the age of four.

For Nalia, having access to small opportunities throughout her childhood had a snowball effect that made a profound impact on her life. She vividly remembers the first time she participated in a public speaking workshop. It was there that she found her voice and gained confidence in being herself around other people. This experience ignited within her a desire to seek out new experiences and opportunities to learn new things. “The inspiration I got from taking that public speaking workshop gave me the confidence to take another training, which inspired me to take another opportunity, and the next one, and so on, until I realized my life had taken a different trajectory thanks to the skills I had learned and the people I had met along my journey,” she said.

As Nalia began to reflect on what opportunity means—and the idea that a small experience can have a profound effect on a young person’s life—she began to wonder if she could help replicate the same types of opportunities she had as a kid for more young people. “When I looked back to my starting point, I was able to recognize the opportunities that led me to where I am today, and I am so thankful to have had them. But it occurred to me that not everyone has opportunities like that. That led me to start Mission: Opportunity. I know that every kid can achieve so much if given the chance – but unfortunately, not everyone has those chances,” she explains.

With the help of her 4-H mentors and friends, Nalia has already reached more than 500 youth throughout Illinois with workshops, camps, demonstrations, programs, and other learning opportunities. Drawing on her own experience, she’s been able to teach everything from natural disaster preparedness, to 3D printing, DNA extraction (from strawberries), genealogy and much more. Nalia hopes these experiences will inspire kids in the same way she was inspired growing up. She explains, “I hope these opportunities allow others to discover new passions and find paths that will lead them to take even larger opportunities. Inspiration is contagious, and my hope is to not only inspire kids to take the opportunities they find in front of them-- but to actively create opportunities for others.”

Since the onset of COVID-19, Nalia has been shifting her opportunities to virtual settings. Despite the additional challenge, she hopes to triple her impact by summer 2021. She encourages those who wish to get involved to share their own skills and passions with the people around them.

Paying opportunity forward

Giving All Kids Access to 4‑H Camp

Amelia Sale, Georgia

Amelia Sale, an 18-year-old from Oconee County, GA, found something at 4-H camp that has had a profound effect on her life: a sense of confidence, purpose and belonging. “It’s really where I feel as if I am loved and celebrated for being myself,” she explains.

Through her local 4-H club, Amelia has been working with kids with special needs since she was in fourth grade. From an early age, she recognized that while these young people have unique skills, interest and personalities, they often don’t have access to the same types of opportunities that other kids do. So, she decided that the best way to help would be to give kids with special needs access to the same opportunity that had changed her life: 4-H summer camp. To make it happen, she launched an online jewelry business to raise money for 4-H camp scholarships.

“I wanted to take my hobby of arts and crafts and use that skill to bring kids with disabilities into 4-H. Summer camp is the reason I fell in love with 4-H and I love working with kids with special needs, so I wanted to give all kids the chance to go to camp. Jewelry making is my favorite hobby so I decided to combine all of these passions into a small business,” says Amelia.

To date, Amelia has sold over 500 pieces of jewelry, raising about $800—enough for three camp scholarships. Since COVID-19 hit, many summer camps have been cancelled in 2020—but Amelia is undeterred. She is using the extra time to sell more jewelry so she can expand her scholarship initiative in 2021. Amelia also engages in advocacy to help more kids find out about the opportunity to participate in 4-H locally. So far, through a combination of social media, speeches, and word-of-mouth communication she has reached around 5,000 individuals with her message of equality and opportunity.

Giving all kids access to 4‑H camp

Amelia Sale, an 18-year-old from Oconee County, GA, found something at 4‑H camp that has had a profound effect on her life: a sense of confidence, purpose and belonging. “It’s really where I feel as if I am loved and celebrated for...

Providing Supplies to Elderly Community Members

Amanda Hibbard, New Mexico

Amanda Hibbard lives in a rural ranching community in New Mexico, where elderly neighbors were running low on household staples due to stay-at-home orders during COVID-19 times. Using access to her family owned grocery store, Amanda, along with her siblings and parents, saw the opportunity to help pick-up and deliver necessary supplies for 11 other families, each week.

In fact, her family has been doing this since 2016, and now she can make sure the older population in her community stays comfortable, healthy and safe.

“It can be very hard to find what we need, both for our store and the people we shop for. The biggest problem we’ve come across is not always being able to find basic necessities,” says Amanda.

It’s harder to find specific items now, but thanks to the lessons in leadership Amanda and her siblings have learned in 4-H, like consumer decision making, they have tracked which stores had the cheapest brand names, as well as regular food items.

Amanda’s family has remained healthy, although she admits the stress occasionally impacts them. She says others can “take care of the people around you, especially the people at risk at this time. Show them love and appreciation, just be a friend.”

If others want to get involved, Amanda suggests they can offer to pick up basics like milk or a pack of toilet paper for high risk neighbors and that being willing can go a long way.

Providing supplies to elderly community members

Battling the Opioid Crisis

Dani Jo Thatcher, Elmo, Utah

Dani Jo’s personal mission is to encourage all residents in her hometown to clean out their medicine cabinets. Dani Jo is from Emery County, Utah, a rural area that has been heavily affected by the opioid crisis. She has been working to personally battle the crisis in her local community since she lost an uncle to an accidental overdose.

Through her involvement in the Well Connected Communities initiative, she is working with other youth and adults to build a community coalition to help solve the opioid epidemic facing Emery County. She has met with the local sheriff and local pharmacists to help grow awareness and serve community members. Through presentations and efforts to encourage community members to discard unused medications at the county drop box, Dani Jo is making a positive impact in Emery County.

Battling the opioid crisis

Fighting Mental Health Stigmas

Florencia Tellechea, Davis County, Utah

Florencia has always loved living in Davis County – from the gorgeous landscapes, great people and unique culture, she loves the sense of community. When suicide rates in the county began to increase and mental health became an issue in the local high school, she knew she had to help. Florencia got involved in the Well Connected Communities initiative and the Mentes Sanas youth team where she joined other youth and adults to help erase the stigma around mental health in the Latino community and grow awareness on resources that are available to help.

Florencia helps lead workshops that address mental health topics, including providing resources to train community members on how to recognize mental health issues and coping skills. Florencia loves being a part of Well Connected Communities and hopes to see it continue to grow and make a positive impact on the community that she loves. She believes her involvement has not only helped her become a better leader, but a better person overall.

Fighting mental health stigmas

Providing Food to a Community in Need

Pearl Daskam, Ubly, Michigan

Pearl Daskam is the co-founder of a project called “Meating” the Need for Our Village. The project is the result of a group of youth realizing a need in their community -- a lack of protein options at the local food pantry. Although at 12 years old, the kids were too young to drive, did not have jobs, and did know how to grow food, they decided to start raising chickens and donating the meat to the food pantry.

Four years later, the project has grown significantly with guidance from community organizations, Michigan State University Extension Specialists, area farmers, egg and dairy producers, large and small businesses, and volunteers ranging in age from 8 to 80.

Pearl is the recipient of a 2019 Culture of Health Award. The awards are made possible with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of the Well Connected Communities initiative. Monica Hobbs Vinluan, Senior Program Officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation presented the awards.

Providing food to a community in need

Pearl Daskam is the co-founder of a project called “Meating” the Need for Our Village. The project is the result of a group of youth realizing a need in their community — a lack of protein options at the local food pantry....

Bringing STEM to Diverse Youth

Aja Capel, Illinois

Aja’s passion for STEM was ignited through her frustration with the under-represented minority STEM gap. As a result, she started See Me in STEM with a mission to provide exposure, access, and STEM opportunities to under-represented youth. She impacted 122+ youth in her community.

Bringing STEM to diverse youth

Changing Communities through Data Visualization

Clyde Van Dyke Youth in Action Award National and STEM Pillar Winner

Clyde Van Dyke was told at a young age that he likely would not graduate from high school or ever be successful. Facing many challenges, he didn’t have the support he needed and lacked the confidence to get out of his comfort zone. But when his friend brought him to the 4-H Tech Wizards After-School program, his life changed in a drastic way. In 4-H, he learned to communicate, collaborate and be a leader and was introduced to a geospatial program that allows him to create maps that visualize data to help spark action in the community. He has created geospatial maps to visualize costs of attending 4-H camp for low-income families, drug overdose deaths and the factors that may contribute to their increase, and more. Clyde plans to attend the State University of New York, Delhi, and pursue a career in digital forensics.

Changing communities through data visualization

Clyde Van Dyke was told at a young age that he likely would not graduate from high school or ever be successful. Facing many challenges, he didn’t have the support he needed...

Teaching Youth Valuable Coding Skills

Decklan Thomas, West Virginia

Following the footsteps of three generations of his family in the trucking industry, Decklan, a high schooler in West Virginia, planned on becoming a diesel mechanic. The field was appealing not only because of family tradition, but also because it allowed him to do something he liked: identifying problems and fixing them. Through his local 4-H club, he was introduced to computer science.

Decklan didn’t realize he was coding at first—it just felt like solving a puzzle on the computer. As he began to code more, he quickly saw the parallels between the skills needed to be a mechanic and the computer science he was learning at 4-H and now sees a range of possibilities for his future, including his first interest, diesel mechanic. Now, as a 4-H teen computer science ambassador, Decklan helps other youth learn computer science, creating opportunities for himself and others in his community.

Teaching youth valuable coding skills

Helping Kids through Coding

Ethan Auyeung, California

At nine years old after playing video games with a friend, Ethan Auyeung discovered Scratch, an introductory coding program that allowed young people to create their own games. Over the next three years, Ethan worked to learn Javascript, Python, C++, and Java. Later on, Ethan created Three Helping Hands to solicit donations for the homeless population in his community. After realizing that Ethan wanted to do more to help his community than only give donations, he started teaching coding classes to kids in an afterschool program.

Learn more about Scratch and how its being used for 4-H STEM Challenge.

Helping kids through coding

Growing Online Learning in Rural Areas

Emily, Catoosa County, Georgia

Emily joined the Microsoft Tech Changemakers program when she learned how many people in Georgia still lack broadband access. Emily has always had access to the internet and she grew up learning digital skills from her parents. It was a way for her family to spend time together and it had a huge impact on her. She is training parents of children at the local elementary schools to help them foster their own children’s online learning and bring their families together.

Growing online learning in rural areas

Helping Adults Learn Digital Skills

Cameron, Dodge County, Wisconsin

Cameron was inspired to join the Microsoft Tech Changemakers program because of his own trouble accessing the internet at home. With 30% of residents in his community being over age 55 he realized the impact they can have on creating more local opportunities. He is focused on educating adults about digital skills and broadband to help them improve their lives and create more demand for broadband locally.

Helping adults learn digital skills

Community & civic engagement

Fighting for LGBTQ+ and Racial Equity and Inclusion

Mayyadah Zagelow, Washington True Leaders in Equity Ambassador

Mayyadah Zagelow’s 4-H experiences connected her with youth from vastly different backgrounds and life experiences from her own. Mayyadah is an advocate who works for social change in 4-H and her community. She is a senior in high school and very active in leadership and citizenship activities.

Passionate about LGBTQ+ rights and addressing racial inequities, Mayyadah is a founding member of a grassroots youth movement in Washington state called the Equity and Inclusion Teen Taskforce. Through this taskforce, Mayyadah is working with fellow 4-H’ers to educate adults and teens about gender identities, expression, orientation and biological sex, as well as the challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community. Mayyadah hopes that through her efforts, we can create a world of inclusion for all 4-H youth.

Fighting for LGBTQ+ and racial equity and inclusion

Mayyadah Zagelow’s 4‑H experiences connected her with youth from vastly different backgrounds and life experiences from her own. Mayyadah is an advocate who works for social change in 4‑H and her community. She is a senior in...

Creating Opportunities for Youth

Stanley Celestine, Jr., Louisiana

Stanley Celestine, Jr., is a nationally recognized education reformer, youth development practitioner, and youngest member of the Avoyelles Parish School Board. He is also the founder and executive director of the Forum for Opportunity Youth, a nonprofit that supports young people who are disconnected from school and work.

Creating opportunities for youth

Helping Refugees in Their New Communities

Mariah Canton, California True Leaders in Equity Ambassador

An 11-year member of California 4-H, Mariah Canton is passionate about education and the positive effect 4-H can have on communities. While traveling to Greece to work with refugees and teach English, Mariah and her team provided refugee teenagers with useful skills for navigating their new communities.

The resilient and vibrant refugee community inspired Mariah to get involved with the refugee community in her hometown, a startup group aiming to prepare refugees to enroll in local schools. The group helped refugees with homework, discuss their experiences in America, and learn to read and speak English. Through her involvement with the True Leaders in Equity Institute, Mariah has worked with county 4-H staff to begin an initiative to reach out to local refugee families. She hopes this initiative provides a welcoming influence and positive learning environment through 4-H for refugee youth.

Helping refugees in their new communities

An 11-year member of California 4‑H, Mariah Canton is passionate about education and the positive effect 4‑H can have on communities. While traveling to Greece to work with refugees and teach English, Mariah and her team...

Fighting LGBTQ+ Discrimination

Emma Newell, Ohio

Emma Newell is an Ohio 4‑H alumna, National 4‑H Council Young Alumni Advisory Committee member, and self-proclaimed ally. Emma joined a committee to assist in educating friends, faculty, and staff in 4‑H about the LGBTQ+ community, which led to the creation of the Ohio 4‑H LGBTQ+ Summit. Through her work, she has learned how to best advocate for this group, create a safe space for them and join the fight for equal rights.

Fighting LGBTQ+ discrimination

Educating about the Importance of Honey Bees

Jacob Shuman, Ohio Youth in Action Agriculture Pillar Winner

Jacob Shuman became an advocate for bees through Ohio State University Cooperative Extension after finding out that Ross County was one of the unhealthiest counties in Ohio. In response to these findings , he developed Teens Educating Adults and Children about Honey Bees (TEACH B) program. Through the TEACH B program, Shuman leads live bee education, demonstrations and lessons on the importance of bees to agriculture and the economy. He is an Ohio State ambassador and the recipient of the National 4-H Council Merck Y outh Agriculture Advocacy Award, and he has the honor of being recognized by Ohio Senator Bob Peterson for his work in environmental sciences. The 2016 4-H Youth in Action Agriculture Pillar Winner, Jacob is now studying at the Ohio State University - Agriculture Technical Institute in Wooster, OH, specializing in Extension Education with a minor in entomology. Jacob is furthering his TEACH B working with honey bees as a research assistant and is the current president of the Ohio State University – ATI Bee Club.

Educating about the importance of honey bees

Jacob Shuman became an advocate for bees through Ohio State University Cooperative Extension after finding out that...

Fighting Food Waste

4‑H Science Matters Team, Johnson County, Kansas

4-Hers involved in the Science Matters program not only participate in hands-on activities that broaden their perspectives about today’s science and agriculture, but they are also challenged to develop action plans and create long-term solutions for challenges facing their local communities.

Teens in Johnson County, Kansas, saw a big issue with the large amount of food waste in their community. In their county alone, they found that an estimated 162 million pounds of food is wasted annually. The team was inspired to create a policy to encourage school districts, businesses and homeowners to reduce food waste. They began with a local school and reached out to all 8th graders to push for food waste prevention measures within their school district.

After looking into additional ways to influence policy change on this issue, they worked with their Board of County Commissioners to proclaim May 23 as Johnson County Food Waste Prevention Day to help bring additional awareness to this important issue.

Fighting food waste

4‑Hers involved in the Science Matters program not only participate in hands-on activities that broaden their perspectives about today’s science and agriculture, but they are also challenged to develop action plans and create long-term solutions for challenges facing...

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Confident-woman-giving-a-conference-with-a-digital-presentation-how-to-give-a-speech

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking .

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage.
A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points.
It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message.
Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels.

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

Man-holding-microphone-at-panel-while-talking--how-to-give-a-speech

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it.

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

Explanation 1
Explanation 2
Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade.

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening.

Here’s what to include for each of these points:

Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech.
Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on.
Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout.

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain.

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes.

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

People-clapping-after-coworker-gave-a-speech-how-to-give-a-speech

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic.

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking :

What purpose do I want my speech to achieve?
What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
What audience am I writing for?
What do I know about my audience?
What values do I want to transmit?
If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be?
What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking?
What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests.

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Woman-at-home-doing-research-in-her-laptop-how-to-give-a-speech

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

Man-holding-microphone-while-speaking-in-public-how-to-give-a-speech

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes.

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable.

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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If You Want to Write a Great Speech, Here’s How to Do It

Writing a speech isn’t all that different than writing for other mediums. You need to know your audience, the required length, and the purpose or topic. This is true whether your speech is for a business conference, a wedding, a school project, or any other scenario.

But there’s something about speech writing that’s especially nerve-wracking .

If you write and deliver a speech that doesn’t go over well, you’ll get feedback in real time. The people sitting in front of you could lose interest, start talking, doze off, or even wander out of the room. (Don’t worry, only audiences in movies throw tomatoes).

Of course, a poor speech is not the end of the world. You can give plenty of crummy speeches and live to tell the tale.

But we also know that a great speech is capable of changing the world. Or at least sparking an audience’s imagination, catapulting your business into success, earning an A+ on your assignment, or ensuring that the bride and groom are still friends with you after the wedding.

So if you’re feeling stressed over your impending speech writing duties, fret no more! Today we’re breaking down for you the step-by-step process of exactly how to write a great speech.

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly

1 Tips to write (and live) by

Let’s start with the 30,000 foot, big-picture view. These are the tenets that will guide you in your speech writing process (and pretty much anything else you want to write).

Know the purpose: What are you trying to accomplish with your speech? Educate, inspire, entertain, argue a point? Your goals will dictate the tone and structure, and result in dramatically different speeches.
Know your audience: Your speech should be tailored for your audience, both in terms of ideas and language. If you’re speaking at a sound healer convention, you won’t need to explain the concept of energetic blocks. And if you’re speaking to an octogenarians-only quilting circle, you probably shouldn’t drop as many F-bombs as you would with your local biker gang.
Know the length: You don’t want to underwhelm or overwhelm your audience.Ten minutes may be too short for your keynote address, but it’s probably too long for your best man speech. Don’t leave things up to chance. Your writing process will be much easier if you keep your eye on your target length.
Write, revise, practice, revise, practice…: MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech wasn’t written in a day. Give yourself the time you need to practice your material and work through multiple drafts. Don’t expect to nail everything on the first try.

2 The step-by-step process

Still feeling stressed over how to get started? Here’s how to write your speech from concept to completion.

Step 1: Outline your speech’s structure. What are the main ideas for each section?

Step 2: Flesh out the main ideas in your outline. Don’t worry about finding the perfect words. Just let your creativity flow and get it all out!

Step 3: Edit and polish what you’ve written until you have a cohesive first draft of your speech

Step 4: Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice your speech the more you’ll discover which sections need reworked, which transitions should be improved, and which sentences are hard to say. You’ll also find out how you’re doing on length.

Step 5: Update, practice, and revise your speech until it has a great flow and you feel it’s ready to accomplish its purpose.

3 The universal structure

Getting hung up on Step 1? Here’s a structure you can follow for any type of speech.

Introduction

Who are you, why are are you giving this speech, what is your main thesis?

The “who” and “why” can be longer or shorter depending on the context. For example, if you’re speaking at a wedding, you’ll want to explain your relationship to the bride and groom and why they mean so much to you. But if you’re presenting to your class at school, you may be able to head straight into your thesis.

If you’re presenting in a business or motivational setting, this is a crucial time to hook your audience’s attention and pique their curiosity. Typically someone else will have already introduced you and your accolades, so use this to your advantage and dive straight in.

“Hi everyone, it’s great to be here! As Kevin just said, I’ve been an urban beet farmer for 30 years, and a couple years back I got this absolutely crazy idea. What if…”

Main message

Idea 1, Idea 2, Idea 3…

The majority of your speech should be spent presenting your thesis and supporting material in a simple, organized way.

Whether you’re giving an inspirational talk or a business presentation, rambling is a sure-fire way to lose your audience’s attention. Don’t try to share absolutely everything you know on your topic, instead pick a few (two to five) key points to present to your audience.

Stick to one point at a time and finish the thought before you move on to the next. Build in clear, logical transitions from idea to idea.

Want to make your speech memorable? Studies have shown our brains are great at remember stories! As much as is appropriate, make your speech personal and include your own anecdotes and thoughts.

We’re also better at remembering big ideas if they’re condensed into a few memorable words, so do your best to sum up your thesis.

“I have a dream.”

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

“Make good art.”

What do you want your audience to walk out of the room remembering?

Wrap everything up and drive home your main idea, whether that’s through providing a few (one to three) key takeaways, or telling one last story that perfectly illustrates your point.

Here are some examples of how your outline might look

As a researcher presenting your findings…

Introduction: Explain the key problem or question of your research.

Main message: Describe the research process, then describe your three key findings.

Takeaway: Present your conclusions and their implications, then your next steps for moving forward.

As the maid of honor giving a speech at your best friend’s wedding…

Introduction: Explain who you are and how you met the bride.

Main message: Recount three funny and heartwarming stories about your decades-long friendship with her, plus your first impressions of the groom.

Takeaway: Wrap things up by expounding on how amazing the bride and groom’s love for each other is, how they’re meant to be together, and how you know their love will last a lifetime. …L’chaim!

What are your favorite tips for writing a great speech?

Here’s a tip: Grammarly’s Citation Generator ensures your essays have flawless citations and no plagiarism. Try it for citing speeches in Chicago , MLA , and APA styles.

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Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on 16 March, at which he predicted there would be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election.

Trump’s bizarre, vindictive incoherence has to be heard in full to be believed

Excerpts from his speeches do not do justice to Trump’s smorgasbord of vendettas, non sequiturs and comparisons to famous people

Donald Trump’s speeches on the 2024 campaign trail so far have been focused on a laundry list of complaints, largely personal, and an increasingly menacing tone.

He’s on the campaign trail less these days than he was in previous cycles – and less than you’d expect from a guy with dedicated superfans who brags about the size of his crowds every chance he gets. But when he has held rallies, he speaks in dark, dehumanizing terms about migrants, promising to vanquish people crossing the border. He rails about the legal battles he faces and how they’re a sign he’s winning, actually. He tells lies and invents fictions. He calls his opponent a threat to democracy and claims this election could be the last one.

Trump’s tone, as many have noted, is decidedly more vengeful this time around, as he seeks to reclaim the White House after a bruising loss that he insists was a steal. This alone is a cause for concern, foreshadowing what the Trump presidency redux could look like. But he’s also, quite frequently, rambling and incoherent, running off on tangents that would grab headlines for their oddness should any other candidate say them.

Journalists rightly chose not to broadcast Trump’s entire speeches after 2016, believing that the free coverage helped boost the former president and spread lies unchecked. But now there’s the possibility that stories about his speeches often make his ideas appear more cogent than they are – making the case that, this time around, people should hear the full speeches to understand how Trump would govern again.

Watching a Trump speech in full better shows what it’s like inside his head: a smorgasbord of falsehoods, personal and professional vendettas, frequent comparisons to other famous people, a couple of handfuls of simple policy ideas, and a lot of non sequiturs that veer into barely intelligible stories.

Curiously, Trump tucks the most tangible policy implications in at the end. His speeches often finish with a rundown of what his second term in office could bring, in a meditation-like recitation the New York Times recently compared to a sermon. Since these policies could become reality, here’s a few of those ideas:

Instituting the death penalty for drug dealers.

Creating the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act”: “If China or any other country makes us pay 100% or 200% tariff, which they do, we will make them pay a reciprocal tariff of 100% or 200%. In other words, you screw us and we’ll screw you.”

Indemnifying all police officers and law enforcement officials.

Rebuilding cities and taking over Washington DC, where, he said in a recent speech, there are “beautiful columns” put together “through force of will” because there were no “Caterpillar tractors” and now those columns have graffiti on them.

Issuing an executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content.

Moving to one-day voting with paper ballots and voter ID.

This conclusion is the most straightforward part of a Trump speech and is typically the extent of what a candidate for office would say on the campaign trail, perhaps with some personal storytelling or mild joking added in.

But it’s also often the shortest part.

Trump’s tangents aren’t new, nor is Trump’s penchant for elevating baseless ideas that most other presidential candidates wouldn’t, like his promotion of injecting bleach during the pandemic.

But in a presidential race among two old men that’s often focused on the age of the one who’s slightly older, these campaign trail antics shed light on Trump’s mental acuity, even if people tend to characterize them differently than Joe Biden’s. While Biden’s gaffes elicit serious scrutiny, as writers in the New Yorker and the New York Times recently noted, we’ve seemingly become inured to Trump’s brand of speaking, either skimming over it or giving him leeway because this has always been his shtick.

Trump, like Biden, has confused names of world leaders (but then claims it’s on purpose ). He has also stumbled and slurred his words. But beyond that, Trump’s can take a different turn. Trump has described using an “iron dome” missile defense system as “ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out. Boom. OK. Missile launch. Whoosh. Boom.”

These tangents can be part of a tirade, or they can be what one can only describe as complete nonsense.

During this week’s Wisconsin speech, which was more coherent than usual, Trump pulled out a few frequent refrains: comparing himself, incorrectly , to Al Capone, saying he was indicted more than the notorious gangster; making fun of the Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis’s first name (“It’s spelled fanny like your ass, right? Fanny. But when she became DA, she decided to add a little French, a little fancy”).

Trump attends a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on 2 April.

He made fun of Biden’s golfing game, miming how Biden golfs, perhaps a ding back at Biden for poking Trump about his golf game. Later, he called Biden a “lost soul” and lamented that he gets to sit at the president’s desk. “Can you imagine him sitting at the Resolute Desk? What a great desk,” Trump said.

One muddled addition in Wisconsin involved squatters’ rights, a hot topic related to immigration now: “If you have illegal aliens invading your home, we will deport you,” presumably meaning the migrant would be deported instead of the homeowner. He wanted to create a federal taskforce to end squatting, he said.

“Sounds like a little bit of a weird topic but it’s not, it’s a very bad thing,” he said.

These half-cocked remarks aren’t new; they are a feature of who Trump is and how he communicates that to the public, and that’s key to understanding how he is as a leader.

The New York Times opinion writer Jamelle Bouie described it as “something akin to the soft bigotry of low expectations”, whereby no one expected him to behave in an orderly fashion or communicate well.

Some of these bizarre asides are best seen in full, like this one about Biden at the beach in Trump’s Georgia response to the State of the Union:

“Somebody said he looks great in a bathing suit, right? And you know, when he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know sand is heavy, they figured three solid ounces per foot, but sand is a little heavy, and he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant, he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today. We used to have Cary Grant and Clark Gable and all these people. Today we have, I won’t say names, because I don’t need enemies. I don’t need enemies. I got enough enemies. But Cary Grant was, like – Michael Jackson once told me, ‘The most handsome man, Trump, in the world.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Cary Grant.’ Well, we don’t have that any more, but Cary Grant at 81 or 82, going on 100. This guy, he’s 81, going on 100. Cary Grant wouldn’t look too good in a bathing suit, either. And he was pretty good-looking, right?”

Or another Hollywood-related bop, inspired by a rant about Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s romantic relationship:

“It’s a magnificent love story, like Gone With the Wind. You know Gone With the Wind, you’re not allowed to watch it any more. You know that, right? It’s politically incorrect to watch Gone With the Wind. They have a list. What were the greatest movies ever made? Well, Gone With the Wind is usually number one or two or three. And then they have another list you’re not allowed to watch any more, Gone With the Wind. You tell me, is our country screwed up?”

He still claims to have “done more for Black people than any president other than Abraham Lincoln” and also now says he’s being persecuted more than Lincoln and Andrew Jackson:

“ All my life you’ve heard of Andrew Jackson, he was actually a great general and a very good president. They say that he was persecuted as president more than anybody else, second was Abraham Lincoln. This is just what they said. This is in the history books. They were brutal, Andrew Jackson’s wife actually died over it.”

You not only see the truly bizarre nature of Trump’s speeches when viewing them in full, but you see the sheer breadth of his menace and animus toward those who disagree with him.

His comments especially toward migrants have grown more dehumanizing. He has said they are “poisoning the blood” of the US – a nod at Great Replacement Theory, the far-right conspiracy that the left is orchestrating migration to replace white people. Trump claimed the people coming in were “prisoners, murderers, drug dealers, mental patients and terrorists, the worst they have”. He has repeatedly called migrants “animals”.

Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“Democrats said please don’t call them ‘animals’. I said, no, they’re not humans, they’re animals,” he said during a speech in Michigan this week.

“In some cases they’re not people, in my opinion,” he said during his March appearance in Ohio. “But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say. “These are animals, OK, and we have to stop it,” he said.

And he has turned more authoritarian in his language, saying he would be a “dictator on day one” but then later said it would only be for a day. He’s called his political enemies “vermin”: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” he said in New Hampshire in late 2023.

At a speech in March in Ohio about the US auto industry he claimed there would be a “bloodbath” if he lost, which some interpreted as him claiming there would be violence if he loses the election.

Trump’s campaign said later that he meant the comment to be specific to the auto industry, but now the former president has started saying Biden created a “border bloodbath” and the Republican National Committee created a website to that effect as well.

It’s tempting to find a coherent line of attack in Trump speeches to try to distill the meaning of a rambling story. And it’s sometimes hard to even figure out the full context of what he’s saying, either in text or subtext and perhaps by design, like the “bloodbath” comment or him saying there wouldn’t be another election if he doesn’t win this one.

But it’s only in seeing the full breadth of the 2024 Trump speech that one can truly understand what kind of president he could become if he won the election.

“It’s easiest to understand the threat that Trump poses to American democracy most clearly when you see it for yourself,” Susan B Glasser wrote in the New Yorker. “Small clips of his craziness can be too easily dismissed as the background noise of our times.”

If you ask Trump himself, of course, these are just examples that Trump is smart.

“The fake news will say, ‘Oh, he goes from subject to subject.’ No, you have to be very smart to do that. You got to be very smart. You know what it is? It’s called spot-checking. You’re thinking about something when you’re talking about something else, and then you get back to the original. And they go, ‘Holy shit. Did you see what he did?’ It’s called intelligence.”

Donald Trump
US elections 2024
Republicans
US politics

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Biden Announces Student Debt Relief for Millions in Swing-State Pitch

During an appearance in Wisconsin, President Biden said 10 million borrowers could see debt relief of at least $5,000. The plan could help rally support among young voters.

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Biden Announces New Plan for Student Debt Relief

President biden announced a large-scale effort to help pay off federal student loans for more than 20 million borrowers..

Today, I’m proud to announce five major actions to continue to relieve student debt for more than 30 million Americans since I started my administration. And starting this fall, we plan to deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers and full forgiveness for millions more. [applause] I will never stop to deliver student debt relief and hardworking Americans. And it’s only in the interest of America that we do it. And again, it’s for the good of our economy that’s growing stronger and stronger, and it is, by freeing millions of Americans from this crushing debt of student debt. It means they can finally get on with their lives instead of being put — their lives being put on hold.

By Michael D. Shear

Reporting from Madison, Wis.

President Biden on Monday announced a large-scale effort to help pay off federal student loans for tens of millions of American borrowers, seeking an election-year boost by returning to a 2020 campaign promise that was blocked by the Supreme Court last year.

Mr. Biden’s new plan would reduce the amount that 25 million borrowers still owe on their undergraduate and graduate loans. It would wipe away the entire amount for more than four million Americans. Altogether, White House officials said, 10 million borrowers would see debt relief of $5,000 or more.

“While a college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive,” Mr. Biden said during a speech to a small but enthusiastic audience filled with supporters. “Today, too many Americans, especially young people, are saddled with too much debt.”

Mr. Biden announced the plan in Madison, Wis., the capital of a critical swing state and a college town that symbolizes the president’s promise to make higher-education affordability a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

But it is a promise he has so far failed to achieve, largely because of legal challenges from Republicans and other critics. They accuse Mr. Biden of unlawfully using his executive authority to enact a costly transfer of wealth from taxpayers who have not taken out federal student loans to those who have.

Officials did not say how much the new plan would cost in coming years, but critics have said it could increase inflation and add to the federal debt by billions of dollars.

Mr. Biden said his new effort would help the economy by removing the drag of enormous debt from people who would otherwise not be able to buy a home or pursue a more economically sound future.

“We’re giving people a chance to make it,” Mr. Biden said. “Not a guarantee. Just a chance to make it.”

Mr. Biden’s announcement was a presidential do-over. In the summer of 2022, he put in motion a plan to wipe out $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers. That was blocked by the Supreme Court , which said he exceeded his authority. In the months since, Mr. Biden has waived small amounts of debt using existing programs. But now he is attempting a larger effort closer to the scale of his first try.

The original plan relied on a law called the HEROES Act, which the administration argued allowed the government to waive student debt during a national emergency like the Covid pandemic. The justices disagreed after Republican attorneys general and others challenged the debt waiver plan.

The new approach is different.

For months, Mr. Biden’s Education Department has been developing regulations using a long process authorized by the Higher Education Act. Instead of an across-the-board waiver of debt, the new approach targets five groups of borrowers: those whose loans have ballooned because of interest; borrowers who have been paying for decades; those who have economic hardship; people who qualify for existing debt relief programs but have not applied; and people whose loans come from schools that have since been denied certification or have lost eligibility for federal student aid programs.

Administration officials said because the new approach is based on a different law, it is more likely to survive the expected challenges. They said lawyers for the White House and the Education Department have studied the Supreme Court ruling and have designed the new program to make sure it does not violate the principles laid out by the justices.

But lawyers for those who oppose the approach are likely to argue that waiving the debt is unfair to those who already paid back their loans or never took out college loans in the first place. That argument helped sway the justices in the last case.

Neal McCluskey, the director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, called the new plan “dangerous policy” that is unfair to taxpayers and would cause colleges and universities to raise their prices.

“The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to enact law, and the Supreme Court has already struck down a unilateral, mass student debt cancellation scheme by the Biden administration,” he said. “It would stick taxpayers with bills for debts other people chose for their own financial advancement.”

The legal challenges will likely take months to resolve, and that could leave the debt relief plan in limbo as voters go to the polls in November to choose between Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump.

Members of Mr. Biden’s administration fanned out across the country on Monday to talk about the new plan, betting that it will rally support among voters who were disappointed that the court blocked the first one, which would have eliminated up to $20,000 in debt for tens of millions of borrowers. Vice President Kamala Harris held a round-table discussion with a teacher, a nurse and a social worker in Philadelphia. Miguel A. Cardona, the education secretary, spoke in New York City.

“We need you to stay in these jobs doing this work,” Ms. Harris said in the library of an elementary school. “And you shouldn’t have to make a decision about whether you serve or are able to pay your bills.”

But beyond the threat of legal action, the president faces steep obstacles just because of the calendar. The new plan has not yet been published in the Federal Register, which will kick off a required, monthslong public comment period before it can take effect. Officials said on Sunday only that they hoped some of the provisions would begin going into effect in “early fall” of this year.

Administration officials hope that the president’s supporters will give him credit for trying, even if many of the borrowers do not end up seeing any relief before they go to the ballot box. Andrew O’Neill, the legislative director for Indivisible, a liberal advocacy organization, praised Mr. Biden’s announcement.

“Progressives have led the fight for student debt cancellation, and Joe Biden has responded,” he said in a statement. “More than 30 million folks will now get relief from Biden’s programs. That’s a huge deal.”

White House officials have been scrambling for months to respond to the anger about student loans among the president’s base. In one poll released last month, more than 70 percent of young people said the issue of student loan forgiveness was “important” or “very important” to them as they make their decision in the 2024 election campaign.

Officials said the five groups of people targeted in the new plan will address most of the egregious issues that some borrowers have with their student loans.

People whose loans have grown beyond the amount they originally borrowed because of interest would have up to $20,000 of that interest wiped away, leaving them to repay only the amount they originally borrowed. People making less than $120,000 a year, or couples making less than $240,000, would qualify to have all of their interest forgiven.

Officials said that 23 million people would most likely have all of their interest-related balances waived from that provision.

About two million borrowers who already qualify to have their student loans waived under existing programs have not applied for relief. Under the new rules, the Education Department would be authorized to cancel the debt for those people without their having to apply.

People who took out federal student loans for undergraduate degrees and began repaying them more than 20 years ago would automatically have the debt canceled under the new plan. Graduate students who borrowed money and began repaying 25 years ago would have their debt canceled.

Officials said that about 2.5 million people would qualify under that rule.

People who borrowed money to attend colleges that have since lost their certification or their eligibility to participate in the federal student aid program would have their debt canceled. Officials did not say how many people that would affect. And people who are especially burdened with other expenses — such as high medical debt or child care — could apply to have their student loans forgiven.

Officials did not estimate how many people might qualify for what they called the “hardship” programs.

Nicholas Nehamas contributed reporting from Philadelphia.

Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear

International

April 12, 2024 - The latest on the 2024 campaign

By Aditi Sangal , CNN

Trump says he would testify in his New York criminal hush money trial

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

Former President Donald Trump said Friday he would testify at his New York criminal hush money trial that is set to begin next week.

“Yeah, I would testify,” Trump said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago as he continued railing against the charges against him.

“I’m testifying. I tell the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there’s no case, they have no case,” he added.

Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over the reimbursement of hush money payments made before the 2016 election. The former president has pleaded not guilty.

"A second Trump term would be even worse," Harris says as she blames him for recent Arizona abortion ruling

From CNN's Donald Judd

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom at El Rio Neighborhood Center in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump for his role in rolling back abortion protections across the country and issued a stark warning of what a second Trump term would look like if the former president is reelected in November.

“As much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse,” she told supporters in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday.

“Donald Trump's friends in the United States Congress are trying to pass a national ban,” she warned. “And understand, a national ban would outlaw abortion in every state, even states like New York and California. And now, Trump wants us to believe he will not sign a national ban ? Enough with the gaslighting. Enough with the gaslighting.”

The vice president touched on an Arizona Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that reverted the state to an 1864 abortion ban with no exceptions save for the life of the mother, telling the crowd the law now means “the women here live under one of the most extreme abortion bans in our nation.”

“What has happened here in Arizona is a new inflection point — it has demonstrated once and for all that overturning Roe was just the opening act, just the opening act of a larger strategy to take women's rights and freedoms,” she continued. “Part of a full-on attack, state by state on reproductive freedom — and we all must understand who is to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this.”

All that, she said, stands in contrast to the Biden administration, which she pledged would sign a law codifying abortion protections into law if passed by Congress.

Judge rejects Trump's latest attempt to delay hush money trial over pretrial publicity

From CNN’s Jeremy Herb

Judge Juan Merchan sits in his chambers in New York on March 14.

Judge Juan Merchan has rejected yet another attempt by Donald Trump to delay his criminal hush money trial set to begin in New York on Monday.

Merchan issued an order Friday denying a motion from the former president's attorneys to delay the trial due to excessive pretrial publicity.

The ruling is hardly a surprise, and the latest in a series of decisions by the court this week rejecting Trump's 11th-hour attempts to stop his first criminal trial.

Trump's attorneys had made the request to file the motion at a pretrial hearing last month. Merchan has already denied a similar attempt, but allowed them to file the motion anyway.

"The remedy that Defendant seeks is an indefinite adjournment. This is not tenable," Merchan wrote Friday.

"The situation Defendant finds himself in now is not new to him and at least in part, of his own doing," the judge also wrote.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over the reimbursement of hush money payments made before the 2016 election to an adult film star alleging an affair a decade earlier. Trump had pleaded not guilty and denied the affair.

Jury selection in the trial begins Monday.

Trump endorses primary challenger to GOP House member who voted to impeach him

From CNN's Melanie Zanona and Kate Sullivan

Former President Donald Trump endorsed a Republican opponent to GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, one of the only remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection.

Trump’s endorsement of Jerrod Sessler came moments before Trump took the stage at Mar-a-Lago with Speaker Mike Johnson, who has previously lobbied the former president to support Republican incumbents facing MAGA-fueled primary challenges.

Of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, only Newhouse and Rep. David Valadao of California are still in Congress.

In a social media post , Trump called Newhouse a “weak and pathetic RINO” and said he has “to go.”

Trump asks judge to amend jury questions ahead of Manhattan hush money trial

From CNN’s Kara Scannell

Lawyers for Donald Trump asked the judge overseeing the criminal hush money case to alter his plans for handling jury selection days before the historic trial is set to get underway next week.

On Monday, Judge Juan Merchan outlined how he would handle jury selection, advising that he would ask the pool of jurors whether anyone felt they couldn’t be fair or impartial or otherwise serve in the case and then excuse those who raised their hands without inquiring further. Trump’s lawyers initially asked the judge for the ability to question each of the jurors, but the judge said that is “unnecessary, time-consuming, and of no benefit.”

In a letter Friday afternoon, Trump’s attorneys said that approach is “inadequate because the plan would not create a sufficient record for the purpose of any necessary appellate review, or a venue-change motion.”

Instead, they are asking the judge to distinguish between jurors who said they can’t be fair and those who are otherwise unable to serve. “That clarity is necessary so that President Trump can present arguments to the First Department, if and when necessary, regarding the number of potential jurors who believed they harbored a disqualifying bias before questioning, as well as the number of additional potential jurors who reveal a disqualifying bias during questioning.”

The filing comes as Trump is continuing to attempt to build a case for his appeals. Earlier this week Trump’s lawyers tried to stop the trial arguing the former president can’t get a fair trial in Manhattan and have appealed seeking a venue change. Briefs are due later this month.

On Friday Trump’s lawyers also argued the jury questionnaire lacks a question to “identify potential jurors who align with rival political parties that are not necessarily ‘anti-Trump’ but could still support a disqualifying bias that is worth of follow-up inquiry by the defense.”

If the judge doesn’t amend the questions, Trump’s lawyers ask that they be allowed to ask questions to explore any affiliations.

Trump on the motion to vacate procedural tool in the House: "It's unfortunate that people bring it up"

Former President Donald Trump on Friday said he thought it was “unfortunate that people bring it up” when asked about the procedural tool in the House of Representatives known as the motion to vacate that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to use to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“Well, it’s unfortunate that people bring it up because right now we have much bigger problems. The country is a, we’re a nation in decline,” Trump said standing alongside Johnson at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

What to know: The motion to vacate the speaker’s chair can trigger a House floor vote to oust the speaker.

As Rep. Kevin McCarthy was trying to secure the speaker’s gavel last year, he and his allies made a series of concessions to conservatives. One major concession was to restore the ability of any one member to offer a motion to vacate. Greene filed a motion to oust Johnson from the speakership last month amid anger about the government funding bill from the House Republican Conference’s right flank.

Fact Check: Trump says 15 million migrants have entered the US under Biden

From CNN’s Danya Gainor

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.

While raising concerns about the security of the border under President Joe Biden's administration, former President Donald Trump said "millions and millions of people are pouring in" to the US, and that "we probably have 15 million" migrants.

He made the comments during his joint news conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday.

Facts First: Trump’s figure about how many migrants have crossed the border under the Biden administration is inflated.

As of March, US Customs and Border Protection has recorded nearly 9.4 million border encounters nationwide since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

While millions of people are not “pouring” into the US at one time, the nation continues to grapple with a migrant surge at the southern border.

Trump says he no longer backs federal abortion ban because "we don’t need it any longer"

Former President Donald Trump on Friday said the reason he reversed his position from when he was in office and would no longer sign a federal abortion ban was because in the wake of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, “we don’t need it any longer.”

“And the states are working very brilliantly, in some cases conservative and some cases not conservative, but they’re working and it’s working the way it’s supposed to,” Trump said.

As a 2016 presidential candidate, Trump sent a letter to anti-abortion leaders committing to signing legislation that would have criminalized abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for instances in which the life of the mother is at risk or cases involving rape or incest. Trump reiterated his support for the bill in 2018 when he was president.

Trump said Wednesday he would not sign a national abortion ban if elected to the White House again after saying he thought states and voters should decide how and when to restrict abortion.

Judge appears skeptical as Trump co-defendants seek to get some charges dismissed in classified documents case

By CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz, Tierney Sneed and Holmes Lybrand

A federal judge appeared dubious of efforts by former President Donald Trump’s two co-defendants in the classified documents case to get the charges against them thrown out and to get more information from prosecutors about the charges.

The hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, in front of US District Judge Aileen Cannon was the first major test of the obstruction case that special counsel Jack Smith has brought against two Trump employees, his valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

Even though Cannon wasn’t considering any of Trump’s requests for the case’s dismissal Friday, how she responds to his co-defendants’ arguments about the obstruction charges will likely shape how the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election moves forward with his defense.

During the hearing, Cannon grilled attorneys for Nauta and De Oliveira about their arguments that the charges against their clients lacked adequate clarity. The Trump employees are accused of conspiring to help Trump hide documents at the Florida estate after he left the White House and lying to the FBI in interviews about their alleged involvement in moving the documents. They have pleaded not guilty.

Read more here about today's hearing in Florida.

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International

Parents of Michigan school shooter sentenced

By Antoinette Radford and Maureen Chowdhury , CNN

Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Here's what happened in court today

From CNN staff

The parents of the teenager who killed four students in the 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison Tuesday, weeks after being convicted of manslaughter.

James and Jennifer Crumbley, who each had faced up to 15 years in prison, have already been imprisoned for more than two years since their arrest in a Detroit warehouse days after the shooting. Though they were tried separately, their sentencing took place together in an Oakland County courtroom.

They are the first parents to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by their child as the nation continues to grapple with the scourge of gunfire on campus and mass shootings.

Here's what everyone said in court today:

Several family members of the four students killed in the shooting delivered emotional victim impact statements before the judge handed down the sentencing. The mother of Justin Shilling said "the ripple effects of both James and Jennifer's failures to act" to prevent their son from carrying out the deadly shooting " have devastated us all ." The father of Hana St. Juliana said the Crumbleys continue to deflect blame , adding his daughter's death "destroyed a large portion of my very soul."
Jennifer Crumbley began her statement to the court on Tuesday by expressing her condolences to the victims and their families. She also said a previous statement that she made on the stand in her own defense during her trial in Februar y was "completely misunderstood." Jennifer Crumbley previously said, “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have.” Now, before sentencing, she said if she knew her son was capable of the crimes committed, her answer would have "absolutely been different."
James Crumbley apologized to the victims , something he said he had not been able to do yet. He said he was not aware his son was planning a school shooting, and he asked the judge, "sentence me in a fair way."
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald urged the judge to exceed the sentencing guidelines for the Crumbleys and to consider the "devastating impact of their gross negligence that was foreseeable." In separate pre-sentencing memos, the attorneys for the parents asked for them to be sentenced to less than five years in prison.
Judge Cheryl Matthews said the decision should be a deterrent to try to stop school shootings in the future. She pointed to James and Jennifer Crumbley's lack of action, saying, “These convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train."

Crumbley case sets a precedent on who can be held accountable for a mass shooting

From CNN's Celina Tebor

The historic trials, and stunning verdicts, of James and Jennifer Crumbley tested the limits of who can be held responsible for a mass shooting.

The prosecution of both parents, and an uptick in other criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits tied to mass shootings, indicates attorneys are increasingly seeking to hold responsible people — and companies — who didn’t pull the trigger .

Prosecutors over the past few years have been slowly, but steadily, expanding the notion of who can be held accountable for a mass shooting, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor, said last month.

While he cautioned each case rests on its own merits, "we’ve seen groundbreaking prosecutions of parents and security personnel," he said, "and I’d expect that trend to continue."

The question remains whether prosecution of non-shooters will be effective in reducing the number of mass shootings in the United States. But undoubtedly, it has expanded prosecutors’ tool boxes, according to Ekow Yankah, law professor at the University of Michigan.

“It gives different prosecutors something to aim at – it gives them a new theory, it gives them something to try,” he told CNN. “It gives prosecutors who are frustrated, are facing a devastating crime, a mass shooting that’s hurt their community, some set of actions that they can take.”

Read about some other high-profile prosecutions of non-shooters in recent years.

Prosecutor says she is disappointed James and Jennifer Crumbley did not express remorse

From CNN’s Nicki Brown

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald speaks in court on Tuesday.

The lead prosecutor in James and Jennifer Crumbley's criminal trials said it was "disappointing" that the parents didn't express remorse.

"Feeling bad is natural, and we don't dispute that they feel bad ... that's not what's important to victims of crime," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said to reporters after the Crumbleys' sentencing Tuesday. "What they want and need most of all is remorse, which means acknowledgment of the wrongdoing and some sort of reconciliation or apology for that — and that didn't come."

The prosecutor said she didn't think that the case would set a precedent for parents of other school shooters.

"There's a difference between precedent-setting and rare, and this is really a rare set of facts, it really is," McDonald said.

"Most of us know that you have to exercise reasonable care at least to prevent other people from the dangers that you know are foreseeable," she added.

She said her team did the "absolute best" they could, and the victim's families know that.

"It's really hard ... to remark about how hard we work and how hard it's been when you're looking in the eyes of these parents every day, who get up in unbelievable pain and grief and see this play out every day and they still go on," she said. "And so, my focus is there."

James and Jennifer Crumbley each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison

James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teenager who killed four students in a 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, were each sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 15 years in prison, respectively, weeks after they were convicted of manslaughter.

They will receive credit for 858 days already served.

Sentence for Crumbleys should be a deterrent, judge says

From CNN's Elise Hammond

Judge Cheryl Matthews speaks in court during the Crumbleys sentencing hearing on Tuesday.

The judge presiding over the sentencing of James and Jennifer Crumbley said the decision should be a deterrent to try to stop school shootings in the future.

"Opportunity knocked over and over again, louder and louder, and was ignored," Judge Cheryl Matthews said. "No one answered and these two people should have and sure didn’t."

She said she is "aware of my job in this situation” and promised not to be “swayed by public opinion” when handing down the sentencing decision.

Talking to the families in the courtroom, Matthews said she could never understand the pain they are experiencing, but reassured them, “I saw what you saw and I heard what you heard” during the trials.

Prosecutor urges judge to consider the "devastating impact" of the Crumbleys' "gross negligence"

From CNN's Nicki Brown

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald urged Judge Cheryl Matthews to exceed the sentencing guidelines for James and Jennifer Crumbley, asking the judge to consider the "devastating impact of their gross negligence that was foreseeable."

"I want to be clear, remorse does not sound like, 'I feel really bad.' I'm sure they do. I don't dispute they feel bad, I don't dispute they have grief. That's not the kind of remorse and accountability these victims are looking for," McDonald said in court Tuesday.

She continued, addressing the judge:

"When fashioning a sentence, it is absolutely critical that you listen and consider the impact of what that gross negligence caused. So we're asking you to exceed the guidelines because I believe all of the factors pursuant to the case law, with the necessary consideration of the impact of these crimes, justifies you to do. We're asking you, the people are asking you, to consider the devastating impact of their gross negligence that was foreseeable."

James Crumbley apologizes to the families of his son's victims

From CNN's Antoinette Radford

James Crumbley addresses the court on Tuesday.

James Crumbley, the father of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, addressed the courtroom, opening his statement by apologizing to the victims, something he said he had not been able to do yet.

"I want to say I can't imagine the pain and agony ... for the families that have lost their children and what they are experiencing and what they are going through. As a parent, our biggest fear is losing our child or our children, and to lose a child is unimaginable. My heart is really broken for everybody involved," he said.

"I really want the families of Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St Juliana, Tate Myre and Justin Shilling to know how truly sorry I am, and how devastated I was when I heard what happened to them," Crumbley said.

Crumbley added that he was not aware his son was planning a school shooting, and he asked Judge Cheryl Matthews to "sentence me in a fair way."

Jennifer Crumbley says previous statement made in court was misinterpreted

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

Jennifer Crumbley delivers a statement to the court on Tuesday.

Jennifer Crumbley began her statement to the court by expressing her condolences to the victims and their families.

"I sit here today to express my deepest sorrows for the families of Hana, Tate, Madisyn, Justin and to all those affected on November 30, 2021," she said.

Crumbley said that a previous statement made on the stand was "completely misunderstood."

When she took the stand in her own defense during her trial in Februar y, she had said, “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have.”

On Tuesday, Crumbley said that she did not foresee the actions of her son and therefore would not have done anything different, and that is how she interpreted the question.

"With the benefit of hindsight and information I have now, my answer would be drastically different," she said.

Crumbley added that if she knew her son was capable of the crimes committed, her answer would have "absolutely been different."

Father of Hana St. Juliana says Crumbleys "choose to blame everyone but themselves"

Steve St. Juliana, the father of Hana St. Juliana, speaks during a victim impact statement in court on Tuesday.

James and Jennifer Crumbley continue to deflect blame, the father of a victim of the 2021 Oxford High School shooting said at the Crumbleys' sentencing Tuesday.

"The defendants, through their choices, through their indifference and gross negligence, enabled their son to murder my daughter Hana and three other children," Steve St. Juliana, the father of Hana St. Juliana, said in a victim impact statement Tuesday.

"They chose to stay quiet. They chose to ignore the warning signs. And now, as we've heard through all of the objections, they continue to choose to blame everyone but themselves," he said.

Steve St. Juliana said his daughter's death "destroyed a large portion of my very soul."

"I will never think back fondly on her high school and college graduations. I will never walk her down the aisle as she begins the journey of starting her own family. I am forever denied the chance to hold her or her future children in my arms," he added.

St. Juliana said his position on the Crumbleys' sentencing evolved throughout the trial as the defendants' "defiance" increased. "Hana, Madisyn, Tate, and Justin are the ones who have lost everything — not the defendants," he said before requesting the parents receive the maximum possible sentence.

Buck Myre, the father of victim Tate Myre, gave his impact statement following Steve St. Juliana. He was the last person to give an impact statement.

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Kishida cracks jokes and invokes ‘Star Trek’ as he and Biden toast US-Japan alliance at state dinner

President Joe Biden listens as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks ahead of a toast during a State Dinner at the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Joe Biden makes a toast with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a State Dinner at the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Joe Biden, center right, and first lady Jill Biden, right, welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center left, and his wife Yuko Kishida for a State Dinner at the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Kristi Yamaguchi, right, and Yukiko Saegusa arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House for the State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and wife Kishida Yuko, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House for the State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and wife Kishida Yuko, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pose for a photo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife Yuko Kishida by the Grand Staircase in the Cross Hall of the White House during a State Dinner at the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Evan Ryan, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House for the State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and wife Kishida Yuko, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House for the State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and wife Kishida Yuko, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Tables are decorated during a press preview at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, for the State Dinner for Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - This April 2, 2012 file photo shows singer Paul Simon performing at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, April 2, 2012. Simon will sing for guests at Wednesday’s White House state dinner for Japan. The White House says he’s one of first lady Jill Biden’s favorite musicians. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

Former President Bill Clinton listens to toast by President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a State Dinner at the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida exchanged warm toasts to each other and the close alliance between their nations as top figures from business, sports and politics looked on during Wednesday night’s state dinner.

Top figures from business, sports and politics turned up for a lavish state dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The White House on Wednesday served up a maximum dose of pomp to honor the close U.S. ally.

After a day of wide-ranging talks and a joint news conference, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and wife Yuko Kishida back to the White House Wednesday evening for a lavish state dinner.

US President Joe Biden and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida enjoyed a dinner out in Washington DC on Tuesday evening.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cracked jokes and invoked a touchstone of American culture as he quoted from “Star Trek” at Wednesday’s state dinner , telling guests at the White House that he hoped the “unshakable relationship” between his country and the U.S. would “boldly go where no one had gone before.”

“I would like to propose a toast to our voyage to the frontier of the Japan-U.S. relationship with this word: boldly go,” Kishida said, quoting the iconic opening monologue of the original “Star Trek” series.

Kishida, who spoke in English, and President Joe Biden exchanged warm toasts to each other and the decades-long, alliance between their nations as top figures from business, sports and politics — including an ex-president — looked on. The two leaders, who expressed a genuine friendship, pledged to continue to knit together their countries’ interests in the face of global challenges.

Biden , 81, said he and Kishida, 66, came of age as their countries forged a strong bond in the decades after they were pitted against each other in World War II.

“We both remember the choices that were made to forge a friendship,” Biden said. “We both remember the hard work, what it has done to find healing.”

“Tonight,” Biden continued, “We pledge to keep going.”

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida participate in a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

As the White House served up a maximum dose of pomp to honor its close U.S. ally, notable guests included Bill and Hillary Clinton, who were on familiar turf for the event. The former president declared it “feels great” to be back before casting an appreciative eye at a portrait of his wife from her first lady days that was on display nearby.

Guests in bright spring colors and lots of shimmery gowns chatted politics and talked shop as they strolled in — that meant eclipse chatter from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (“fabulous” view in Ohio!) and an assessment of Biden’s electoral prospects in Wisconsin from Gov. Tony Evers (looking good!).

But on a day when the inflation news from Washington was less than encouraging, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell shot past reporters without stopping to chat. Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, in a purple gown, said she didn’t expect to be out campaigning for Biden but nonetheless seemed bullish on his reelection. Actor Robert De Niro supplied the night’s Hollywood quotient and seemed to channel one of his tough-talking characters when he was asked for his thoughts about the 2024 election.

“What do you think?” he retorted.

On a warm spring evening, the Bidens came stepped onto the North Portico to welcome Kishida and his wife, Yuko, who stood out in a flowing royal blue gown on the red carpet.

Inside, Jill Biden , wearing a beaded sapphire gown, had transformed the State Floor of the White House into what she called a “vibrant spring garden” for the evening. The floor of the famous Cross Hall was decorated with images giving the nearly 230 guests the feel of walking over a koi pond, a nod to fish that symbolize “friendship, peace, luck and perseverance,” the first lady said at a media preview Tuesday.

Guests at the head table with the Bidens and Kishidas included the Clintons, De Niro and Japanese pop duo Yoasobi.

Kishida, in his toast at the dinner, enthused over the splendor.

“First and foremost, to be honest my breath is taken and I’m speechless in front of such a huge number of prominent American and Japanese guests,” he said.

A state dinner is a tool of U.S. diplomacy, an honor doled out sparingly and only to America’s closest allies. In the case of Japan, the president has granted that honor for just the fifth time to an ally that he sees as a cornerstone of his policy toward the Indo-Pacific region.

Kishida is on an official visit to the United States this week. The state dinner is Biden’s first this year.

The guests included plenty of Biden family members, including granddaughter Naomi and her husband, Peter Neal. Business moguls also were in force, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Labor luminaries United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and United Steelworkers President David McCall were also in attenddance. Both unions have endorsed Biden for reelection.

Dry-aged rib eye steak, cherry blossoms and the music of Paul Simon were also part of the evening. Simon opened his after-dinner performance by playing guitar and singing two of his major hits, “Graceland” and “Slip Slidin’ Away.”

Guests dined on a meal that was designed to highlight the “bounty of spring” in Japan and the United States: a first course of house-cured salmon that was inspired by a California roll and an entree of rib eye with shishito pepper butter, fava beans, mushrooms and onions. Dessert was salted caramel pistachio cake with a matcha ganache and cherry ice cream.

Some of Jill Biden’s favorite flowers, including sweet peas, roses and peonies, were arranged alongside imported cherry blossoms to decorate a mix of round and rectangular dinner tables in the East Room in shades of pink. A few floral centerpieces topped out at 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall.

Tables were set with a mix of place settings representing the administrations of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush. Glass and silk butterflies danced over the tables.

Simon is one of Jill Biden’s favorite artists, the White House said, adding that she chose him as a special tribute to Kishida because the prime minister also admires his music.

Simon’s career spans six decades, including performing as part of a duo with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel. The 82-year-old New Jersey native has earned numerous accolades, including multiple Grammys and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Kishida is the fifth world leader Biden has honored with a state dinner following counterparts from France , South Korea , India and Australia .

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PDF a guide to making great speeches final 2010
There are approximately 150 words in each speaking minute. If you have seven minutes for a speech, you will prepare approximately 1,050 words. Consider this time schedule as a guide: 5-10% Introduction (50-115 words) 80% Body (850 words) 10-15% Conclusion (115-150 words) Tips for Writing Your Speech.
PDF 4 Steps for a Good 4-H Speech
4 Steps for a Good 4-H Speech . Step 1 -- Getting It All Together *Brainstorm Ideas - visit the library, research online, ask family members *Decide on a Topic - select something you like or you know about *Decide on a Purpose - will your speech be Informative, Persuasive, or Entertaining . Step 2 -- Organization
PDF Kentucky 4-H Communications Program 4-H Speeches
4-Her is expected to choose a topic, research and write their own speech. A participant may have help with practicing the speech. Junior Level: The 4-Her may have assistance in writing and preparation based on age level. 4. A penalty of three points will be subtracted from the speaker's total score for time errors (under/over time).
PDF 4-H Public Presentations, Demonstrations, and Illustrated Talks
Encourage 4-H members who have given a number of successful presentations to work more on their own. Seasoned 4-H presenters: • choose topics that interest them • relate topics to their own experiences • challenge their capabilities • design presentations for different types of audiences You can help older 4-H members retain their ...
Giving a 4-H Presentation and Demonstration
Video: Top 4 things to avoid while giving a speech (YouTube) For more resources about choosing, writing, and giving a 4-H presentation, visit Public Presentations from University of Illinois Extension page. Let's try a speech. Write a 30-second speech that has an introduction, body, and conclusion. Make it a persuasive speech.
PDF 4-H Speech Guide
This will make it easier for you to focus on your speech. ♦ Don't be too stiff. Do NOT put hands in pockets or pace. ♦ Enunciate (or pronounce words very clearly). ♦ Speak loudly so everyone can hear you. ♦ MEMORIZE the main points of your speech. ♦ Use index cards to help you remember your speech but don't read your speech from them.
PDF 4KA-04PO: 4-H Speeches
A speech or talk is 3 to 5 minutes long for junior 4-H members (9-13 years old) and 5 to 7 minutes for senior 4-H members (14-18 years old). No visual aids may be used. Preparation. The following steps will help you prepare to give a speech or demonstration. y Choose a topic.
PDF 4-H Member Guide
4-H public presentations are divided into four general categories—demonstrations, illustrated talks, formal speech, and performing arts. All offer excellent opportunities for you to learn to speak effectively before groups. If you intend to have your presentation judged at a 4-H evet, look over the attached 4-H presentations
PDF Public Speaking4-H Style
COM 1-2.050. 6-99. Public Speaking ...4-H Style. Dear 4-H Member: The purpose of this publication is not only to provide you with knowledge and experience in communication, but also to help you reflect on why you are a member of 4-H. It is hoped that, in your speaking, you will help carry the message that 4-H is the finest youth development ...
PDF 4-H Public Speaking 4 -5 Grade
Fifth grade speeches should be between 3-5 minutes. Note Cards: You are encouraged to use 3 x 5 note cards. Put a good outline of your speech on the cards plus any poems, quotes, and numbers to remember. Learn your speech by heart. Try not to just read from your cards. The cards are to use if you forget. 4-H Public Speaking 4th-5th Grade
4-H Public Speaking/Writing Project
Public speaking/presentation. Write a narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive paper. Poetry: collection of three or more short poems or one long poem. Fiction or non-fiction prose: short story. National 4-H communications curriculum.
4-H Speech Creator Project
This website was designed to support Henry County 4-H staff teaching 4-H'ers how to write 4-6 minute speeches on a topic of their choice. Overall, the project helps to write both the ...
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PDF PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME
contests if 4-H is included in your speech. 3. The length of speeches should be: 4th grade 1-3 minutes 5th & 6th grades 2-4 minutes 7th & 8th grades ... -Write out ideas on notebook paper.-Research info from 4-H office, libraries, internet, interviews, etc. Step 2 — Organization
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Kim Merritt-Butler. This slideshow tells youth how to give a 4-H speech. Rules are based on MD 4-H Public Speaking. Lists parts of speech, different kinds of speeches, how to write a speech, how to practice, and what 4-H speeches are judged on. Read more.
PDF A Guide to Making Great 4-h Speeches
4-H SPEECHES Communication and public speaking are important life skills gained through 4-H participation. Speaking face-to-face is one of the oldest forms of communication and is still the most effective. The listener hears your words, but more than that, he/she watches your face and your hands. They catch your enthusiasm or your concern.
PDF Speaking Your Way to Success
In Alberta 4-H, the word 'communications' is used to refer to two categories of activities, speeches and presentations. Speeches In a speech you convey your thoughts without visual aids. In a 4-H public speaking competition you are required to give a prepared and an impromptu talk. Presentations In a presentation, you show how while telling ...
PDF 4-H Communications: SPEECHES
to evaluate how the speech was developed and delivered. The 4-H motto "Learn To Do y Doing" is the basis of the 4-H communications program. Through participating in public speaking and visual presentations, members actively learn how to communicate ideas and information with confidence. 4-H members may compete at various levels
4-H Public Speaking
Get ready to write and give a 4-H Speech for the Local Speaking Congest that will be held in November! To have a great speech, you need an Introduction, a Body and a Conclusion. Entire rule/scorecard for all grades can be viewed online on the Eastern Region website. - look under "Eastern Region Public Speaking" The topics are OPEN this year!
Youth Voices
"In 4 H, we learned about the importance of community service, how to write a business plan, how to fund raise to reach our goals, and how to manage projects on tight timelines," explained Cade. ... through a combination of social media, speeches, and word-of-mouth communication she has reached around 5,000 individuals with her message of ...
How to Write a Good Speech: 10 Steps and Tips
Create an outline: Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval. Write in the speaker's voice: While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style.
Here's How to Write a Perfect Speech
Step 3: Edit and polish what you've written until you have a cohesive first draft of your speech. Step 4: Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice your speech the more you'll discover which sections need reworked, which transitions should be improved, and which sentences are hard to say. You'll also find out how you're doing ...
Trump's bizarre, vindictive incoherence has to be heard in full to be
Watching a Trump speech in full better shows what it's like inside his head: a smorgasbord of falsehoods, personal and professional vendettas, frequent comparisons to other famous people, a ...
Premier Communication Event Includes Impromptu Speech and Video
If you are interested in participating in Impromptu Speech or Video Communication, contact the Extension office at 402-441-7180 or [email protected] by Wednesday, May 22. Lancaster County 4-H Council will submit entries and pay contest entry fees for Lancaster County 4-H'ers.
Interpret Scores for the TOEFL iBT Test
Scoring Guides (Rubrics) for TOEFL iBT Writing Responses; For related research, see Score Use Research. Test forms with omitted sections. ETS administers some TOEFL iBT test forms with one or more sections omitted. When one of these forms is administered, scores are given only for the sections that were taken, and no total test score appears on ...
Biden Announces Student Loan Debt Relief Plans for Millions
transcript. Biden Announces New Plan for Student Debt Relief President Biden announced a large-scale effort to help pay off federal student loans for more than 20 million borrowers.
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Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling that banned abortions in almost all cases an "inflection point" in the fight over abortion rights and blamed at ...
James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Michigan school shooter, sentencing
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Kishida's state dinner with Biden included jokes and 'Star Trek' quotes
4 On Now 1:53. Japan's Kishida invokes 'Star Trek' as he and Biden toast US-Japan relations at state dinner. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida exchanged warm toasts to each other and the close alliance between their nations as top figures from business, sports and politics looked on during Wednesday night's ...

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