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