FFA member Sydney Kuergeleis, a successful Illinois public speaker

For Sydney Kuergeleis, speech is life.

Kuergeleis, currently serving as the Illinois FFA Section 22 President, has quite an impressive speaking resume. Kuergeleis, a senior at Waterloo High School, has competitively spoken all four years of high school as a member of her school’s speech team and has competed consistently with her FFA chapter in the Prepared Public Speaking Career Development Event.  Along with competing, she’s also served as a mentor to many up-and-coming speakers.

Rooted in Speaking

Kuergeleis is quite familiar with FFA speaking, having competed in all 3 public speaking CDEs Illinois FFA offers: Extemporaneous, Prepared Speech, and Creed Speaking. Not only does she know the ropes of FFA speaking, she’s also an expert in competition speaking.

“I got started with public speaking on the Waterloo High School Speech Team early in 9th grade and then took up Creed Speaking for FFA later that school year,” Kuergeleis said. “I’ve been competing with WHS speech for four years now and have been a captain the last two, mentoring younger members of the speech team.”

Accolades on Accolades

Along with extensive experience in speech, Kuergeleis has the accolades to accompany it.

Kuergeleis mentioned that she, “was the state champion in Creed Speaking my freshman year.” She also mentioned that, “Last year (my junior year), I placed 3rd at state in Prepared Public Speaking. In Extemporaneous Speaking, I’ve won the state qualifier tournament the past two years and qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association national competition last year.”

Kuergeleis at the Illinois High School Association State Speech Tournament

Tips From a Pro

With a lot of success and the awards to show for it, Kuergeleis offered to share her top five tips on how to be successful in speaking, no matter the event.

1. Practice Makes Perfect

Public speaking isn’t something you pick up overnight. It takes time and practice to grow in your abilities, so stick with it.

2. Try, Try, Try!

The best way to improve in public speaking is trial by fire. The more you give speeches and get feedback on them, the better you’ll get.

3. Placings Aren’t Everything

Don’t focus too much on contest placements! Public speaking is a valuable life skill, so the value of practicing it goes beyond just scores.

4. Use Your Voice

Don’t be afraid to have a “speech voice”. You’re going to sound different giving speeches than in day-to-day life, and getting into the habit of good vocal inflection, projection, and cutting out vocalized pauses during speeches is beneficial.

5. Add Your Personal Flair

Make sure to incorporate your personality when giving speeches- no matter what category you compete in. Watching speeches can be boring, so incorporating humor, smiling, and adding other personal elements will help hold the audience’s attention.

Exploring New Heights

Exploring the possibilities that speaking offers has been extremely beneficial to Kuergeleis’ success in speech.  If you are looking for opportunities to get involved with speech, talk to your FFA advisor about getting involved in one of the various Public Speaking CDEs.  Other speaking opportunities through numerous organizations are available as well.  For more information on speech opportunities, visit your state’s 4-H website, the National Speech and Debate Association website, or talk to your guidance counselor for more location-specific events.