Share your learning with a virtual animal science presentation
4-H Stock Talks are virtual animal science presentation experiences for Minnesota 4-H youth. A stock talk is a short video presentation about an animal science topic of your choice (beef, dairy, dog, goat, horse, lama, poultry, rabbit, sheep and swine).
Giving a stock talk is an opportunity for you to share your learning with others, practice for livestock demonstrations and for horseless horse or horse related projects.
How it works
Creating a good 4-H livestock presentation starts with identifying a topic. The best demonstrations are focused, timely, to the point and leave a lasting impression.
As you begin brainstorming on potential topics, take a moment to ask yourself these questions:
- Is my idea focused on one topic?
- Will my topic teach something?
- Will my audience be interested in the topic?
- Am I able to find accurate and reliable information?
- Can I provide adequate information in a short amount of time?
The most important consideration when choosing a topic is whether you are interested and excited about the idea. Your audience will be able to see your facial expressions, your hand gestures, and hear the excitement in your voice. If you are excited, your audience will be too!
Here are some topic ideas:
- How to build and design enrichment activities
- Designing a llama costume
- How to train a service dog
- Showcasing dairy products and how they are made
- Giving a barn tour
- How to cull a flock laying hens
- Building playground equipment for a goat
- How to catch your heifer for the first time
- Checking your horse’s hooves for soundness
When planning your presentation, keep your video to a reasonable length. Research has shown that audiences tend to drop off significantly when videos exceed 4-5 minutes in length. Keeping your video focused and moving will greatly help to keep your audience engaged.
Submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Passion/energy about topic
- Content
- Creativity
- Communication
How to submit your stock talk
Please follow these guidelines when preparing your stock talk:
- Videos must be 5 minutes or less.
- Presentations can be filmed as one continuous shot or can be edited to include slides, music, titles, etc.
- 4-H members may team up in a presentation. The presentation should be entered under the oldest member's age division.
- 4-H members should introduce themselves only by first name and county in the video.
- Videos should use only original material and obey copyright laws.
- Cloverbud live animal entries must follow Cloverbud rules and have an adult or responsible youth leader in control of the animal
For help creating, filming and submitting your stock talk, consult this 4-H Stock Talks resource.
4-H Stock Talk submissions are due by June 30.
The top 10% of entries in each division will receive a special award and may be featured on Minnesota 4-H social media. You can get inspired from last year’s top 10% on Minnesota 4-H’s YouTube Channel.
4-H Stock Talks are open to all Minnesota 4-H members. Entries are limited to one submission per youth. Submitted entries will be divided into the following judging categories:
Judging categories
Virtual presentations including a live animal
- Cloverbud (K-2)
- Junior (3-5)
- Intermediate (6-8)
- Senior (9+)
Virtual presentations without a live animal
- Cloverbud (K-2)
- Junior (3-5)
- Intermediate (6-8)
- Senior (9+)