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Plant Science Prepared Public Speaking

Purpose

The Plant Science Prepared Public Speaking Leadership Development Event is designed to develop leadership and communication skills, and promote specific interest in agricultural leadership and career exploration by providing members participation in agricultural related public speaking activities.

 

Objectives

  1. Develop and practice great communication skills. 
  2. Gain knowledge of current agricultural topics and issues. 
  3. Explore career interests in the diverse field of agriculture. 

 

Event Rules

  1. The event is open to students who are regularly enrolled in high school agricultural education and who are active members of FFA chapters in good standing with the state association and national organization. Dual members speaking in 4‐H public speaking are ineligible to speak in FFA public speaking during the same school year.
  2. The event is structured in four levels of advanced participation: Regional, Area, State, and National Qualifying. The state event will be limited to participation by two students in each division who have been determined winners in an area event.
  3. Members may participate in more than one division if they give a different speech. A different speech is defined as follows: “All speech material in each manuscript must be entirely different, including the introduction, body, and conclusion, which also includes all facts, figures, quotes, titles, etc.” Any member violating this rule will automatically be disqualified in all speech divisions entered.
  4. A member that wins a state speaking division is ineligible to speak again in that division. The speech manuscript is retired, and a copy is kept on file in the state office. 
  5. Each manuscript will be the result of the student’s own effort.
  6. Any speech participant not in Official FFA Dress will receive a five‐point deduction.
  7. Official FFA dress for FFA members is an official FFA jacket zipped to the top. Black slacks and black socks or black skirt and black nylons. White collared blouse or white collared shirt. Official FFA tie or official FFA scarf. Black dress shoes with closed heel and toe. Note: Official garb of recognized religions may be worn with Official Dress. See okffa.org /About Us /Official Dress Standards for additional recommendations.
  8. The use of props in FFA public speaking is not acceptable. Any member violating this rule will automatically be disqualified. 

     

Event Format

Team Make-Up

Individual

 

Manuscript

Each participant must provide the following items to the State FFA Office on or before 5:00 p.m., Thursday, the day before the state event: 

  • Three double-spaced, typewritten copies of the speech on 8½ x 11 white paper. It is recommended all speech contest manuscripts be bound by a coil, comb, or zip bind type of GBC or similar brand of binding
  • The manuscripts must adhere to the following specific requirements or the participant will be DISQUALIFIED at the state event: 
    • The manuscripts may have a cover provided the cover is CLEAR. The manuscript may also have a back cover in any color. No pictures, artwork, words, logos or any image may be on either the clear front cover or the back cover. 
    • It is required that the first visible page of each manuscript is the TITLE PAGE. The Title Page must include the following information (*nothing else) and IN THIS ORDER FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: 
      • Speech Title 
      • Speech Division
      • Official FFA Emblem, not to exceed 4” in Height 
      • Contestant’s Name 
      • Name of the FFA Chapter
    • It is recommended the Title Page be generated from the fillable form generated from the CDE tab at www.okffa.org
    • *Note: No word art, pictures, artwork, additional words or additional logos, or any other image may be on the Title Page. 
  • It is required that a complete and accurate bibliography used in writing the speech be included at the back of EACH manuscript. (It is recommended to use an online bibliography generator like www.bibme.org orwww.easybib.com utilizing the APA bibliography format.) 
  • It is required that the Certification Sheet (statement of originality signed by the contestant and advisor) must be included at the back of EACH manuscript. (It is recommended the Speech Certification form be generated from the CDE tab at www.okffa.org.)

 

Speech

  1. In the Plant Science speaking division, participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with any aspect of the horticulture and/or agronomy industries. This may include such areas as floriculture, fruit and/or vegetable production, nursery operations, turf and landscape management, crop production, specialty crop production, etc.
  2. All subject matter should have ties to the agriculture industry. In all speech divisions it is desired, but not required, to tie “FFA” in as a part of your speech in an appropriate way. Career opportunities should also be considered. Historical aspects should be avoided.
  3. Each speech shall be a minimum of six minutes in length and a maximum of eight minutes. Participants are penalized one point per ten seconds for under six minutes or over eight minutes. Examples: 8:01 to 8:10 would cost a one‐point deduction; 8:11 to 8:20 would cost a two‐point deduction, etc.
 

 

Questions

Immediately following the speech, participants will be allowed five minutes additional time to be asked questions from the judges relating to their speech. 

 

Judging 

  1. It is recommended that three competent and impartial persons judge each division. A timekeeper will be designated to record the time used by each participant. 
  2. Each judge will be provided with a typewritten manuscript of each participant’s speech that must contain a bibliography and contestant certification form. Failure to comply will mean automatic disqualification of the participant. 
  3. Judges should be seated in different sections of the room in which the event is held. Each judge will score each participant based on the criteria of the judge’s score sheet provided. 
  4. Following the presentation, each judge will formulate and ask questions. Questions will pertain directly to the material presented by the speaker. The full five minutes allotted for questions should be used. Judges will score each participant on the ability to answer all questions asked by all judges. 
  5. Judges will return two copies of the manuscript to each contestant as they exit the contest room. The third copy will be kept on file in the state FFA office. 
  6. No tape recorders or video machines will be allowed in the contest room.
  7. When all participants have finished speaking, each judge will total the score for each participant. The timekeeper’s record will be used in computing deductions for over/under time. On the bottom line of the score sheet, each judge will rank each participant in numerical order based on the final score. Judges will complete the judging process without consultation with each other. 
  8. Each judge’s score sheet will be submitted to the designated event superintendent to determine the final ranking of participants. The lowest total of the final ranking is the winner. In the event two judges place a participant first, he/she is automatically first. In the event of a tie in the final ranking, the participant that two judges place highest will be determined the winner.
  9. No props are to be used. Failure to comply will mean automatic disqualification of the participant. 
  10. Applause shall be with held until all participants have spoken. 

 

Scoring

Manuscript............................................................................. 25
Speech.................................................................................... 50
Questions................................................................................ 25

 

Total Points
Individual............................................................................... 100

 

National Qualifying Rules

  1. The state winner in each of the six designated prepared divisions will compete during the state FFA convention to determine Oklahoma’s representative in the National Prepared Public Speaking Event.
  2. A student who wins more than one designated prepared division at the state event must choose one division to participate in at the national qualifying event during the state convention. The division(s) not selected will be filled by the second‐place state winner who will advance to the national qualifying event at the state convention.
  3. The speech manuscripts of all six participants in the national qualifying event at the state convention will be retired, and these participants cannot participate in the same division in future years.
  4. Any member who has represented Oklahoma in a national career development event or national awards area as a 4‐H or FFA member is ineligible to participate again in the National Qualifying Event for that area as an FFA member. Therefore, a member who has represented Oklahoma in the National Prepared Public Speaking Event is ineligible to participate again in any prepared division at the OSU State FFA Interscholastics.
  5. A member can participate in only one national career development event in a giveny ear. A member speaking in the state event in both prepared and extemporaneous public speaking must declare in which division the speaker would represent Oklahoma in the national event in the event the speaker won both divisions. This must be done prior to the national qualifying event for the prepared division.
  6. A member who wins both extemporaneous and prepared divisions but chooses to participate in the prepared division at the national event may compete again in the extemporaneous division for the right to represent Oklahoma in the national event. The reverse of this does not apply. 

 

Awards

The division winners at the OSU State FFA Interscholastics in Stillwater will receive all cash awards, plaques and scholarships provided by sponsors for that division. 

 

References

This list of resources is not intended to be all inclusive. Other sources may be utilized, and teachers are encouraged to make use of the very best instructional materials available. The following list contains references that may prove helpful during event preparation. 

  • Oklahoma Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center (CIMC), FFA Prepared Public Speaking DVD, catalog number AG7301DVD. 
  • Oklahoma FFA web site at www.okffa.org. Click on Career Development Events. Click on Prepared Speech & Extemp Topic Research Links (provided by Rhett Laubach) 
  • National FFA Core Catalog: 
  • APA Style Guide (most current edition) – www.apastyle.org 
  • Factual information pertaining to agriculture is available from: 
    • United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250 
    • State colleges, research centers and/or experiment stations 
    • The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. 
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