If you spoke to Kyle Junkin over the phone without knowing him, you might assume he’s a 30-something radio announcer.
His deep, resonant voice and relaxed, clear speaking manner make him sound like a long-time professional.
That’s probably what helped Junkin – who turned 18 Aug. 8 and just graduated from high school – win the Manitoba 4-H public speaking contest.
It’s a strength that will help him in the national youth speaking contest at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair in November.
He is also helped by his propensity to think deeply. His speech during the Red River Exhibition was about which direction farmers should go in the future: toward ever greater size and organizational complexity, or back to the traditions that produced generations of farm families on the Prairies.
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“To prosper in the future, we have to look to the past and take what we learn from the past and utilize it for the present and the future,” he said, summing up his main point.
“Large corporations may not be the way to go for the future of farming.”
Junkin said he first learned to enjoy public speaking years ago in elementary school in Ontario, when he took part in a school contest. He spoke about his dog, Sadie, and discovered getting up in front of people and talking didn’t scare him.
“I enjoy it a lot,” said Junkin, who is working on a neighbour’s farm at Erikson, Man., this summer. “It doesn’t give me the willies. It’s very exhilarating.”
Junkin isn’t sure where his speaking ability comes from. His brother competed in the national speaking competition last year, but whether the two of them learned the skill from their parents or just inherited public speaking genes is a mystery.
“My parents are very good speakers, but it also just seems to come naturally,” said Junkin.
His main influence isn’t from other speeches, he said, but from lyricists.
“I’m really into music.”
He sheepishly acknowledges that he prefers “heavy metal musicians, generally,” and quickly rises to the defence of these often-attacked artists.
“There’s as much of a statement there, I believe, as anywhere else.”
Junkin hopes to become an agricultural communicator, perhaps a farm reporter, by attending Red River College in Winnipeg.
Right now, as he works on the farm and prepares for the Royal Winter Fair, he has been running his speech through his head and figuring out what needs to be modified in order to keep it current.
