Heather Haines, 4-H Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County
Fear of public speaking is a common form of anxiety and can range from slight nervousness to panic. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health 75% of people fear public speaking more than death. However, for many people, speaking regularly builds confidence and gets easier over time.
Through Georgia 4-H, youth have the opportunity to begin practicing public speaking early in their academic careers. Youth can begin competing in public speaking contests in 4-H when they are in 4th grade and can continue competing through their senior year of high school. Contests are broken up into age groups: Cloverleafs (4th-6th grade), Juniors (7th and 8th grade), and Seniors (9th-12th grade).
In Forsyth County, our youngest competitors, Cloverleafs, start with County Project Achievement (CPA).
Youth must select a project area of interest, research the topic, write a speech, and present it in front of judges using a poster and prop. From Bicycle to Wildlife, there are over fifty different categories for youth to choose to compete in. Some of the more popular project areas include sports, animals, history, and science.
This year CPA was held at the Forsyth County Extension Office.Youth who competed at the county level earned the opportunity to compete at the District level on February 18, 2023, in their project areas. Extension staff members, volunteer leaders, and 1,173 students from 23 counties across North Georgia attended the contest.
Competitors from Forsyth County included: • Lucas Arnone, Dog Care and Training, 2nd place
• Aakarsha Gangaraju, Marine and Coastal Ecology, 1st place
• Meera Kaushik, General Science, 1st place
• Reyansh Patel, Computer Information Technology, 1st place
• Shaurya Patel, Environmental Science, 1st place
• Ariz Rahman, Housing, 1st place
• Rishabh Sahasrabudhe, Health, honorable mention
• Nirvi Sanam, Human Development, 1st place
• Nikitha Sandeep, Fresh Water Fish and Shell Fish, 1st place The Forsyth County Extension / 4-H staff would like to thank United Way of Forsyth County for their continued support of our public speaking competitions.