Approximately 39 students enrolled in COM 110: Introduction to Public Speaking will compete in the fourth annual Wolfpack Speaks competition on Thursday and Friday.

According to Christi Moss, assistant professor of communications, Wolfpack Speaks is an interdisciplinary public speaking contest that stems from basic public speaking classes offered by the Department of Communication. This competition is currently the only one of its kind on campus.

“The contest is meant to celebrate the achievements of students who work to better their skill of public speaking and their persuasive ability to offer policy solutions to current issues in our world,” Moss said.

The competition is a two-day event. The first day will consist of qualifier rounds. Six finalists from the first day will move on to the final round on day two. The top three students will receive cash awards.

Moss, who is also the director of the competition, said she thinks seeing the students’ progress in public speaking is the best part of the program.

“To see students who may have never publicly spoken before put together and present a speech about a problem that is important is great,” Moss said. “It gives them a chance to think about how changes may occur in the world and how public speaking plays a role in those changes.”

Dean Phillips, a visiting lecturer in communication, said he is mostly excited to see the students learn what he thinks is an invaluable life skill.

“The best part is engagement of students in one of the most important skills people need to practice, refine, and master: public speaking,” Phillips said. “They will learn how to make a reasoned, researched, compelling, and stylistically pleasing argument.”

Phillips was responsible for procuring a sponsor for the event, David Young of Edward Jones Investments. Young, along with Phillips, will serve as judges for the final round of the competition.

Both Phillips and Moss agree that there will be many positive results from the competition.

“The students are given an opportunity to use their skills while also gaining feedback from judges as to how to continue to improve,” Moss said.

“I hope [participants] gain a sense that public speaking, when ethical, researched, and moving, can make the world a better place,” Phillips said.

Daniel Alvey, a freshman in agricultural education, is participating in the competition and will be speaking on agricultural literacy.

“I chose to participate in this event because I enjoy developing my communication skills,” Alvey said.

Phillips also stressed the importance of the event for the campus community.

“I hope there is a huge turnout,” Phillips said. “This unique event needs to be supported on this campus.”

Additionally, Moss said, the program is not only to educate students, but also the audience members.

“The audience can also learn from watching these students compete,” Moss said. “We really want this to be educational for all involved.