“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fight of the century,” is how Cannon Falls High School senior, Cameron Addington, started his third-place nationally prepared public speech. Cameron did not skip one beat on his journey as his “Fight of the Century” speech became true for many poultry and dairy farmers. The H5N1 avian influenza variant outbreak was the main focus of his speech, which hit close to home due to his own life experiences and having friends and family affected by it. Cameron Addington is a senior at Cannon Falls High School, who is heavily involved in Future Farmers of America (FFA) and has been since seventh grade. This year he has the opportunity to represent Minnesota for the third consecutive year. Cameron competed in the Prepared Public Speaking Leadership Development Event (LDE) in October of 2024. “Cameron truly did all of the work to create and perfect his speech himself. I just helped guide him from time to time,” said Mr. Pliscott, the Cannon Falls FFA advisor. His journey started almost a year ago in November of 2023.
Cameron has never competed in Prepared Public Speaking before but has competed at the national level of the Creed Speaking event, so he isn’t totally new to the idea of public speaking. Speaking is just one component of the competition. The speeches must be six to eight minutes long and also require intense research. Cameron picked his topic to be H5N1 Avian Influenza. His topic hits close to home due to Cam raising his own poultry. Also, he has many friends and family that are within the poultry and dairy industry. Cameron stated “Through this research process came conversations with many poultry industry professionals who provided data, quotes, and advice for my speech. I placed first at the regional contest in February, and first at the state contest in April, earning me a trip to the National Convention. Over the summer, due to major changes in my topic area, I almost completely rewrote my speech. Various industry professionals and mentors provided feedback on my speech, helping me craft the best manuscript possible. After submitting my national manuscript, I worked intensely on preparing to answer questions related to my topic, which is a component of the contest”. After researching and practicing, his next step was to compete in the regional contest.
Addington competed in the regional contest in February of 2024 placing first. which then brought him to “ Knock out” the competition at state. After placing first at state the rewriting process began. Cameron had to rewrite and make many changes to his speech due to many changes and updates and more research being done about H5N1 Avian Influenza. Addington explained “One of the hardest parts about this contest was the rewriting process over the summer. After H5N1 spread to dairy in the spring, I knew that it was an important detail that couldn’t be left out. Finding new ways to stick to my boxing-themed speech while inserting new information was difficult, but I had a lot of great mentors and supporters that helped me produce a great manuscript for nationals.” With the prepared public speaking contest having various large requirements and being a very big commitment it’s not something that Cameron could do on his own.
Many others helped Cameron with his journey through public speaking and battling the challenges that appeared while on the road to nationals. Cameron notes that “I’d like to thank Mr. Duane Pliscott, Mrs. Erica Sawatzke, Dr. Abby Schuft, Ms. Martha Moenning, Mrs. Holly Winget, Mrs. Natasha Mortenson, Dr. Lavyne Rada, Mr. Steve Olson, Mrs. Kristin Harner, and my parents Matt and Leah Addington for their help, advice, and support through this journey.” With all of this hard work being put into his speech Cameron started with the preliminary round at nationals. Then he advanced to the semi-finals. He did his speech once again and made it to the finals round placing in the top four.
During the final round, Cameron got to do his speech on the big stage. Cameron says “Two of my favorite parts were connecting with other FFA members in the contest who were from other states and delivering my speech on the big stage in the finals round.” After the finals round, Cameron placed third overall in the nation. Placing third at nationals was not just a representation of Cannon Falls, but Region VIII and the great state of Minnesota, and an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and achievement for Cameron Addington. “Competing at the national convention for a third time was a dream come true and a blessing. It was so cool to represent Minnesota FFA in the contest all the way to the finals round,” stated Cameron Addington. Cameron has not only worked hard for his great achievement in Prepared Public Speaking but also had the honor to compete for his third consecutive year at nationals. Addington has done an amazing job of representing Minnesota on the national level while being able to follow his passion for agriculture and achieving and earning amazing things.
