On Tuesday April 5th, I competed in the 2022 FFA Regional Public Speaking Contest. To get to this level I had to qualify at the Area competition, where I placed 6th and the top 6 qualified for regionals. After I qualified I changed my manuscript to the critiques of the judges from the Area competition. Once I completed that I started to practice presenting my speech. 

I stayed after school a multitude of times to do a mock presentation to a group of “judges.” The judges were just my FFA advisor, Mr. Kreitzer, and a few of my teachers. They had me present my speech and timed me to make sure I stayed within the 3-5 minute time limit. They then asked me a series of questions within the 3 minute time limit.  After all this they gave me tips on how to improve my presentation.

A few weeks went by and it was finally time for the regional competition. The competition was in the same place as the area competition. When I arrived I was escorted to a waiting room with other contestants that were in my category, which was the Junior Prepared Speech. I was assigned to speak 6th and I practiced my speech in the back of the room until it was time for me to speak. 

When it was my turn to present my speech, I went into the room to be greeted by four judges. I introduced myself and I started my speech presentation. Once I was finished speaking I was asked two questions from two different judges, then I was dismissed back into the waiting room. There were eleven participants in the contest so while I waited for everyone else to speak I worked on some homework and talked to the other contestants.

After the last speaker, we all waited about fifteen minutes for the judges to calculate our individual scores and give us our placings. We were all called back into the room to get our placings and the judges gave us constructive criticism to the group as a whole. They then said the rankings from 11th place up to 1st, where I was placed 2nd. This means I qualified for the State competition at Penn State University because the top three get to move on. 

I thanked the judges for everything they did and asked what I could improve on for my next competition. Afterwards, I was allowed to go so I went to tell my FFA advisor the good news. I got some pictures with my friends from other schools and we made our trip back to the school. On the way home, Mr. Kreitzer and I discussed how I can improve for the next level. I hope to improve more and hopefully be able to place well at the State competition.