Virginia Tech® home

Virginia 4-H Contest Guide - Presentations

ID

4H-420NP

Authors as Published

Prepared By: Kathleen Jamison, 4-H Curriculum and Learning Specialist; Katie Lafon, State 4-H Events Coordinator; Kaci Daniel, Extension Agent, 4-H; Kelly Mallory, Extension Agent, 4-H; Bethany Eigel, Extension Agent, 4-H; Celia Brockway, Extension Agent, 4-H; Mandy Simons, Extension Agent, 4-H; Robbie Morrison, Extension Agent, 4-H; Kathy Alstat, Extension Agent, 4-H; Cathy Howland, Extension Agent, 4-H; Stacey Swain, 4-H Youth Educator

Publication 4H-420NP Logo.

Description of Contest

A 4-H Presentation can be a demonstration, which shows how to do something, or an illustrated talk, which provides information through speech and visual aids. Presentations are categorized by subject matter. Contestants should refer to the State 4-H Areas of Competition document (publication 4H-415NP).

Levels of Competition

Unit (county), District, State

Age categories are as follows, using September 30th of the 4-H year as the determining date.

Juniors (ages 9-11)
Intermediates (ages 12-13)
Seniors (ages 14-18)

*Cloverbuds, ages 5-8, are encouraged to give short presentations, or show-and-tell presentations, but they are not judged. Cloverbuds may participate at the club and unit level only.

Awards to be Earned

The Danish awards system will be used at all levels of competition. Blue ribbons will be awarded to competitors earning 90-100 points; red ribbons will be awarded to competitors earning 75-89 points; white ribbons will be awarded to competitors earning 74 points or less.

Certain Extension districts award a purple ribbon to the highest scoring youth in the category. Districts determine the awarding of these ribbons, but they are generally reserved for blue ribbon winners only. At the state contest, the highest scoring youth will be awarded a project medal. Youth who win the state project medal are ineligible to compete in that category in future years.

Rules for this Contest

  1. Presentation categories are divided by subject matter, with awards given in each category.
  2. Time Limits are dependent upon the contestant’s age.
    • Juniors- 2-5 minutes
    • Intermediates- 5- 8 minutes
    • Seniors- 8-15 minutes
  3. Presentations outside the required time limits will incur the following point deductions.
    • Up to one minute outside range (:01-:60) – 2 points deducted from final score
    • More than one minute outside range (1:01+) – 5 points deducted from final score
  4. At least one visual aid such as poster, models, or an electronic slide must be used.
    • PowerPoint or other software may be used, but should remain a visual aid to complement the speaker. The youth speaker is the most important part of the presentation. Electronic presentations should not be recordings of the youth speaker’s voice from a previous presentation.
  5. Judges may ask questions after the speech is presented.

Educational Resources to Help Prepare for this Contest

VCE Publication 388-056 “4-H Presentations” Available: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/4-H/4H-23NP/4H-23NP_pdf.pdf

VCE Publication 388-061 “4-H Presentations Tip Sheet ” Available: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/388/388-061/388-061_pdf.pdf

Score Sheets for this Contest

VCE Publication 388-062 “4-H Presentations Scoring Aid ” Available: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/388/388-062/388-062_pdf.pdf

Sample YouTube Videos of 4-H Youth in This Contest

None available at this time, but this is a goal for Virginia 4-H! If you are interested in creating a how-to video or posting a sample of your work, please contact your unit Extension staff who will work with the State 4-H Office.

Virginia Cooperative Extension materials are available for public use, reprint, or citation without further permission, provided the use includes credit to the author and to Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University.

Publication Date

February 3, 2021

Other resources from

Tags