Prepared Public Speaking

Individual Event

Important Notice

Please thoroughly read the General CDE Rules Section located on the Oklahoma State University CDE website.

Purpose

The prepared public speaking Leadership Development Event (LDE) is designed to develop agricultural leadership, communication skills and promote interest in leadership and citizenship by providing member participation in agricultural public speaking activities.

Objectives

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

Event Rules

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.
The event is structured in three levels of advanced participation: Regional, Area, and State. The state event will be limited to participation by two students in each division who have been determined winners in an area event.
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.
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.
Each manuscript will be the result of the student’s own effort.
Any speech participant not in Official FFA Dress will receive a five‐point deduction.
- Note: 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 for complete details.
The use of props in FFA public speaking is not acceptable. Any member violating this rule will automatically be disqualified.
Participants may only enter their corresponding judging room during their presentation. Failure to comply will mean automatic disqualification of the participant.

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., 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:
  1. Speech Title
  2. Speech Division
  3. Official FFA Emblem not to exceed 4” in Height
  4. Contestant’s Name
  5. Name of the FFA Chapter
- 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 (It is recommended to use an online bibliography generator like www.bibme.org or www.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

The following description for each speech division is provided as a suggested guideline for that division and is in no way meant to be all-inclusive. Also, there are certainly some subject matter areas that could be appropriate in more than one division.

8th Grade Agriculture Exploration

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with the industry of agriculture as a whole, or any segment of the agricultural industry. This division is for eighth-grade members only. First-year FFA members participating in this division must also be enrolled in eighth grade. This division is 4-6 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

8-9th FFA Opportunities

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with the role of agricultural education and the FFA in the education and motivation of its members. Topics may deal with leadership, personal development and growth, goal setting and teamwork, chapter and community activities, competitive activities, FFA opportunities, etc. This division is for eighth and ninth-grade members only. This division is 4-6 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

8-9-10th Grade General Agriculture

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with any aspect of the agricultural industry, such as animal science, plant science, agribusiness, agricultural policy, agriscience, or natural resources. This division allows for pre-preparation for the FFA Prepared National Qualifying Divisions. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Animal Science

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with any aspect of the industries of dairy, equine, poultry, sheep, swine, beef, specialty animals, etc. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Plant Science

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. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Natural Resources

Participants may choose any current or future agricultural subject that deals with topics such as soil, water, air, rural water, wildlife, forestry, aquaculture, conservation, recreation, recycling, energy, environmental issues, etc. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Agribusiness

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with topics such as cooperatives, sales, service, journalism, communications, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, commodities, futures, hedging, advertising, etc. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Agricultural Policy

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with topics such as domestic farm issues, international trade, rural economic development, politics, animal rights, law, subsidies, price supports, etc. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Agriscience

Participants may choose any current or future subject that deals with topics such as biotechnology, biogenetics, bioengineering, mechanical engineering, farm safety, use of technology, research, laser, satellites, computers, embryo transfer, etc. This division is 6-8 minutes in length, with five minutes for questioning.

Participants are penalized one point per ten seconds for under or over the set time limit. Example: In the Animal Science Division, 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.

Scoring

Scoring
Manuscript	25
Speech	50
Questions	25
Total	100

Judging

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No audio or video recorders will be allowed in the contest room.
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.
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.
Applause shall be withheld until all participants have spoken.

National Qualifying Rules

The state winner in each of the six designated prepared divisions (Animal Science, Plant Science, Natural Resources, Agribusiness, Agricultural Policy, and Agriscience) will compete during the state FFA convention to determine Oklahoma’s representative in the National Prepared Public Speaking Event.
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.
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.
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.
A member can participate in only one national career development event in a given year. 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.
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 also applies.

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.

Supplemental Materials and Forms

Speaker Certification
Judge’s Score Sheet