According to most studies, American’s number 1 fear is Public Speaking. Well, 30 Grady County 4-H members took steps to overcoming that fear by competing in the Grady County 4-H Speech Contest. They spoke on a wide variety of subjects from Wild Mustangs and the History of the Colt Revolver to Goat’s Milk and World Hunger.
 The 4-H public speaking program has 3 major categories, Speech, a presentation where youth just present their topic, Illustrated Presentations where youth use Illustrations and props to convey their message and Digital Presentations, where youth create digital Illustrations with technology like PowerPoint, Google Slides and Keynote.
 In the Speech category, Junior Division, 1st place, Ryder Drennan, 2nd place Eastn Witt, and 3rd place, Ava Mitchell. In the Senior Division, 1st place, Sage Payne, 2nd place, Claire Janssen and 3rd place Shelby Kelsey.
 In the Illustrated Presentation Category, Junior Division, 1st place Olivia Evans, 2nd place, Marissa McDermott and 3rd place, Gauge Ratzlaff. In the Intermediate Division, 1st place, Curtis McDermott and 2nd place Matthew Lam. In the Team Illustrated Presentations, Intermediate Division, 1st place, Makenzie Clodfelter and Mesa Payne, in the Senior Division, 1st place, Alexandraya Brown and Charramaiyne Brown.
 In the Digital Presentations Category, Junior Division 1st place, Eastn Witt, 2nd place Rosie Doan. In the Intermediate Division, 1st place, Georgia Nelson, 2nd place Mesa Payne and 3rd place was a tie with Kara Pettijohn and Mckenzie Clodfelter. In the Senior Division, 1st place, Sage Payne, 2nd place, Alexandraya Brown and 3rd place, Hunter Kelsey.
 Grady County Cloverbuds, youth who are 5 to 8 years old, also got involved in giving presentations, Clay Mitchell gave a presentation on Knife Safety, Jace Payne gave a presentation on What Goes in a Survival Bag and Audryannah Brown demonstrated How to Make a Sandwich.
 Liz Taylor is the Grady County Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development & County Extension Director