National FFA Agricultural National FFA Agricultural Communications Career Communications Career
Development EventDevelopment Event
Agricultural Communication Agricultural Communication and Leadershipand Leadership
PurposePurpose
… to provide individuals with basic communications skills
necessary to take advantage of career opportunities in
agricultural communications
PurposePurpose
Public communications about agricultural products, practices and policies are essential to the future of agriculture.
Students who are equipped with strong communication skills and who can use a variety of media to help the public understand issues related to the agricultural industry have a bright future in the job market.
FormatFormat Each team is made up of five members
Each team member must be a member of a chartered FFA chapter
Two team activities– Communications project proposal– Communication project presentation
Two individual activities– Test
Editing Exercise– Practicum
FormatFormat
All team members wear official FFA dress in all events
Students must provide pens and pencils
Specialized equipment for presentation and practicums are provided
Team ActivitiesTeam Activities
Topic is the same for the proposal and Topic is the same for the proposal and presentationpresentation
Themes of topics rotate yearlyThemes of topics rotate yearly– 2006 – Local Environmental Issues2006 – Local Environmental Issues– 2007 – FFA Recruiting and Educational Activities2007 – FFA Recruiting and Educational Activities– 2008 – Safety Issues2008 – Safety Issues– 2009 – FFA Community Involvement2009 – FFA Community Involvement– 2010 – Local Environmental Issues2010 – Local Environmental Issues– 2011 – FFA Recruiting & Educational Activities2011 – FFA Recruiting & Educational Activities
Communications Project Communications Project ProposalProposal
The key is to select a topic specific enough that the team will be able to do a good job
Each team prepares a proposal for their chapter explaining the communications activities planned to publicize and event or issue
Communications Project Communications Project ProposalProposal
Proposal should be a maximum of 12 double-spaced pages, 8 x 11 white paper, 1” margins, Times New Roman or Times font
12 pages does not include reference, appendices or cover pages
Communications Project Communications Project ProposalProposal Submitted with a staple in the upper-left
hand corner
No folders, binders, special covers or other placement of staple
Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual style
Cover page should include– Title of proposal– State– Chapter name– Team members names– Date
Communications Project Communications Project ProposalProposal
Proposal should include the following sections:– Rational for selecting the project, including
background information– Objectives of the project– Audience to be targeted– Key messages or themes– Media selected to accomplish the project– Budget to produce and place communications
materials– Criteria upon which the project will be evaluated
Communications Project Communications Project PresentationPresentation
Each team has 15 minutes to present; – 5 point penalty deducted for each major
fraction of a minute over 15 minutes
Judges will have 5 minutes to ask questions following the presentation
Presentation should follow and cover all sections included in proposal
Communications Project Communications Project PresentationPresentation
Examples of material used in the execution of the proposal should be included
Each member must participate in the presentation
Teams have 10 minutes to set up and take down the presentation
Individual ActivitiesIndividual Activities
TestTest– Editing exerciseEditing exercise
PracticumsPracticums
TestTest
Editing exercise– Each team member will complete and
editing exercise– Printed document contains 25 mistakes– Identify as “Correct” or “Incorrect” with
incorrect items corrected– NOT allowed to use the style manual or
a dictionary during the exercise
PracticumsPracticums Consist of four individual events
Prior to event, each team should assign a member to each activity
Practicums include– Organizing and writing a news story– Organizing and writing a press release– Developing and carrying out a broadcast– Preparing a photo for editing and captioning
PracticumsPracticums
All teams meet for orientation and press conference; seated by practicum group
At press conference, will receive a press packet with background information on the agricultural topic and expert to use during the event
Expert will speak on an agricultural topic for 20 minutes; students may take notes
PracticumsPracticums After the presentation, broadcasters and
graphic designers will be dismissed to compete their tasks
News writers and press release writers will be involved in a 10-minute Q & A with the expert
Tape recorders will not be allowed
Only news writers allowed to ask questions
News WritersNews Writers
Write a news story for an agricultural publication based on information gathered at news conference
250-350 words
12-pt Times New Roman, double spaced
Follow inverted pyramid style
News WritersNews Writers Strong focus and lead, answer who, what, when,
where and why
Also include a headline
Will have 60 minutes to compose story; story then will be word processed by student on computer, printed and scored
Judging based on written communication, skills, accuracy, organization, style, creativity & grammar
Press Release WritersPress Release Writers
Write a press release as if the expert’s company or organization was distributing it
Use the press packet and information gathered in press conference
200-300 words, excluding words in header
12-pt Times New Roman, double spaced
Press Release WritersPress Release Writers
Will have 60 minutes to compose story; story then will be word processed by student on computer, printed and scored
Judging based on written communication, skills, accuracy, organization, style, creativity and grammar
BroadcastersBroadcasters Use the press packet and information gathered in
press conference to write and carry out a two-minute radio broadcast
Message should be suitable to be aired on a radio station or network
Use a standard cassette and tape recorder to record and broadcast the story
Will be allowed to listen to recorded broadcast if time allows
BroadcastersBroadcasters
Cassette with recorded broadcast will be turned in to be evaluated
Also develop and turn in five written questions that she or he would have asked the expert if they were given the opportunity to interview the expert
Will have 60 minutes to complete tasks
Graphic DesignersGraphic Designers
Each will complete exercises in photo editing and photo caption writing
Will have 60 minutes to complete the tasks
Graphic DesignersGraphic Designers
Photo editing exercise– Member will receive a variety of photos and
will select photo for the news story or press release
– Choose one photo and provide three written reasons why it was selected
Graphic DesignersGraphic Designers
Photo caption writing exercise– Write and place a two-line caption
(about 25 words) for one of the photos selected for the layout
– Judged on accuracy of information, grammar, brevity, clarity, style and creativity of captions
Team Project ScoringTeam Project Scoring
Communication Project Proposal– 150 points total– Most important: rational and objectives of
project
Communication Project Presentation– 150 points total– Most important: questions and answers
Test ScoringTest Scoring
Editing Exercise– 25 points per team member– 100 points total
Practicum ScoringPracticum Scoring News Writer Story
– 100 points total– Most important: lead/focus and accuracy of
information and quotes
Press Release Writer– 100 points total– Most important: lead/focus
Practicum ScoringPracticum Scoring Broadcaster’s Recording
– 100 points total– Most important: quality of five written follow-up
questions
Graphic Designer– 100 points total– Most important: photo selection and cropping
Overall ScoringOverall Scoring
Practicum Scores 400 points Communications Project Proposal 150 points Communications Project Presentation 150
points Test Scores 100 points TOTAL 800 points
TiebreakersTiebreakers
Team1. Proposal rank2. Practicum rank3. Presentation rank
Individual1. Practicum rank2. Quiz rank3. Editing exercise score