By Angie Rolheiser

Saskatchewan 4-H public speaking competition held over the weekend

May 18, 2021 | 2:50 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The Saskatchewan 4-H Provincial Public Speaking Competition was held over the weekend.

The competition that has been happening for decades took place virtually on Zoom for the first time.

The executive director of 4-H Saskatchewan Cera Youngson said it was a different event this year, but it went well.

“Normally it is held in a community hall, or a school library in one of the great communities that is playing host,” Youngson said. “It was set to be held Middle Lake but with the pandemic we had to transition it to an online environment.”

There were 32 participants from four age groups including cloverbuds age six to eight, juniors nine-12, intermediates 13 to 15, and seniors between the ages of 16 and 21.

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“One of the biggest challenges was making sure that all members that had advanced would be able to attend virtually live,” Youngson said. “Rural internet is not always reliable so that was quite the challenge to ensure everyone could attend.”

There were a few technical hiccups according to Youngson.

“We made sure that if there were difficulties, we were able to go back to them at the end of the program so they could present their speech,” Youngson said.

In a normal year, speeches would be presented to an audience of over 100 people.

“At home in your living room speaking to a camera is a much different environment,” Youngson said. “Maybe not as nervous with an audience but you don’t have that same feedback of how the audience is responding.”

There were a few winners from the northeast area.

Third place in the cloverbud category was awarded to Teslyn Kajner from St. Brieux with the Meskanaw-Ethelton 4-H Beef Club

Third place in the junior category went to Kain Fidelack from Margo, a member of the Kelvington 4-H Grain Club.

In the senior category, third place went to Makenna Heidecker from Saskatoon. Heidecker is a member of the Three Lakes 4-H Beef Club at Middle Lake.

Topics were varied and Youngson said it’s quite easy to learn something new during the speeches.

“They are sharing something they are so passionate about or telling a personal story and it is just such a treat to hear from them,” Youngson said.

Public speaking is something that proves its benefits throughout the years beyond the competition, Youngson said.

“The new chair of our board of directors joined us as a keynote speaker for the awards on Sunday and he himself had been part of the program and had advanced to provincials not too many years ago,” Youngson said.

The message from the speaker was that the competition and program will only help with bringing a voice to important conversations over the years to come.

The hope is to host the 2022 event in Middle Lake.

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angie.rolheiser@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser