Devlin 4-H’er attends ‘Future Talk’ course

The 4-H program encourages members to attend personal development opportunities throughout the province and when Jolene Stahn was invited to attend “Future Talk,” she went for it.
“Future Talk” is a 4-H program that provides hands-on training for senior members aimed at improving and providing skills essential for school, as well as volunteer and future work.

The three-day course, held July 21-23 at the University of Guelph’s Kemptville Campus, focused on building verbal and non-verbal communication, presentation, and social skills.
“It was about making an good impression for interviews and public speaking—for introducing people and thanking speakers at banquets, etc.” Stahn explained.
“At the beginning of the course, we were asked to write a one-minute speech and then we learned all about writing speeches—about the different parts of a speech, the introduction and the body and conclusion,” she continued.
Stahn’s speech was about “La Tomatina,” the largest tomato fight in the world held every August in Spain. Stahn told her audience that it’s a messy fight but that she would like to participate in it.
At the end of the course, participants had the chance to give their speech again—this time using the things they had learned.
“I talked louder on the second speech,” Stahn noted. “They [also] taught us how to use hand gestures, that we shouldn’t use our hands too much.
“There were a lot of presentations and speaking in front of the group, learning how to make an effective PowerPoint presentation and a good impression at an interview,” she added, suggesting she would be able to use her new skills at school and at 4-H banquets.
Stahn travelled to Kemptville with fellow 4-H member Katrina Cockle from Dryden.
She wasn’t overly impressed with dorm life and cafeteria food, but Stahn said she highly recommends the course.
“I learned a lot and made many new 4-H friends,” she remarked.
Stahn, 16, who will be going into Grade 11 at Fort Frances High School this fall, has been in 4-H since she was 10 and has completed 40 projects. She lives north of Devlin, where she does baby-sitting.
She had a 4-H bred heifer and market steer—both belted Galloways—at the fall fair in Emo last week and was pleased with the $2.27/pound she received for her steer.