Communication That Transfers: Why FFA’s Speaking Standards Beat Most Public Speaking Courses

What FFA Actually Teaches (Core Leadership Curriculum)

By FFApresident.com Editorial

The headline on this piece is a judgment, not a research finding. No head-to-head study compares FFA speakers with students in other public speaking courses, and this site will not pretend otherwise. What the public record does show is a structure that is hard to match in a single semester: a ladder of speaking events, fixed texts that cannot hide weak delivery, outside judges, parliamentary procedure that teaches listening, and years of repetition.

Key takeaway: FFA’s advantage is structure, meaning repetition, judging and progression, not magic.
Where to start: Creed speaking for early members, then prepared and extemporaneous public speaking.

A Ladder, Not a Single Course

Megan McGrady, manager of educational development at the National FFA Organization, describes the progression this way: the Creed speaking LDE is a good starting point for seventh- through ninth-grade members who want to build confidence in front of an audience, and many students then move on to the prepared public speaking and extemporaneous public speaking events. In her words, what was once fear-inducing becomes a fun experience.

The ladder matters because public speaking is a skill built through exposure, and exposure works best when the next step is only slightly harder than the last. A prepared speech of your own is less intimidating for a member who has already recited a memorized text before a panel.

The Creed: A Fixed Text With No Place to Hide

The FFA Creed was written by E.M. Tiffany and adopted at the Third National FFA Convention in 1930; the organization says it was revised at the 38th and 63rd conventions. In its current form it is a fixed text of 258 words. When every competitor recites the same words, nobody can win on content. Pace, emphasis, eye contact, breath and memory decide the outcome.

That is a useful design choice. Most people who struggle at the podium do not have a content problem; they have a delivery problem. A required, memorized text isolates delivery and forces members to improve it.

Prepared and Extemporaneous Speaking

Prepared speaking trains the opposite skill: building an argument of your own. Mark Jewell, a former Minnesota FFA vice president (2000–01) and now the CEO of a mindset-development company for agribusiness, offered five public speaking tips through FFA New Horizons:

Start small, for example with a presentation to your chapter or an elementary school group during National FFA Week.
Make it personal by including your own experiences.
Practice out loud, not just in your head.
Breathe and pace yourself, with pauses before key points.
Assume the audience is on your side.

Jewell also says nervousness does not necessarily go away, but it can be a gift because it shows you care. That is a realistic standard, and it is more helpful than telling beginners to simply relax.

Parliamentary Procedure: The Listening Half of Communication

Speaking is only half of communication, and FFA’s parliamentary procedure work covers the other half. Kay Crews, a professional parliamentarian who works with National FFA, names five lifelong skills it builds: persuasive speaking, confidence, respect, good listening and effective leadership.

Persuasion: stating a point of view in a structured, concise way.
Confidence: contest team members may practice speaking up hundreds, if not thousands, of times, and gain practical skills like counting votes and taking minutes.
Respect: Crews describes learning to disagree without being disagreeable, with debate kept impersonal.
Listening: you must hear opposing views to evaluate your own and to persuade others.
Leadership: when two-thirds of the group is ready to end discussion, it is time to vote, because a meeting exists to get something done.

Advance CTE’s Career Ready Practices say the same thing in workplace language: communication includes active listening, ensuring diverse perspectives are heard and tailoring a message to a specific audience.

Confidence Is Built, Not Born

The 2017–18 National FFA Officer Team, asked by FFA New Horizons for tips on confidence, gave answers that line up with the speaking ladder. National President Breanna Holbert described setting small goals as a shy freshman, such as meeting three people at a conference and later reciting their names, chapters and a fun fact to her advisor. One regional vice president said preparation is what keeps nerves in check, and another said confidence comes from small steps outside your comfort zone, added up over time.

So Do FFA’s Standards “Beat” a Public Speaking Course?

A fair reading of the evidence is this: a typical single-semester course has limited room for what FFA stacks together. FFA offers repetition across years, a required text that exposes delivery, extemporaneous events that test thinking on your feet, outside judges who give feedback, and a parliamentary track that rewards listening. A strong teacher in any program can build some of this. Few programs combine all of it.

The caveat is participation. Only members who enter the events get the benefit, and quality varies by chapter and coach. The structure is an opportunity, not a guarantee.

The record of the presidents is consistent with the claim without proving it. Mark Sanborn became a leadership author and speaker, Tim Hammerich became a radio reporter and podcast host, and Jackie Mundt built a career in agricultural communications.

Sources

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