Communications Merit Badge

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Requirement 1
Requirement 2
Requirement 3
Requirement 4
Requirement 5
Requirement 6
Requirement 7a
Requirement 7b
Requirement 7c
Requirement 8
Requirement 9

  This page was last updated on 04/27/04.

Here are the requirements for Communications merit badge, taken from the 2004 requirements.  After some requirements, I have provided some advice and links to assist you.  I apologize for the disarray of this page.  I've taken some time off from active counseling lately and have just now updated the requirements.  Some information may have been lost during the transition.  If you have any questions or want to make a comment, send me a message.

If you want to see just the requirements, click here.  This will open a new window to Meritbadge.com's Communications page.  Unfortunately, their site is out of date right now, so please use these in the meantime.

1. Do ONE of the following:

   (a) For one day, keep a log in which you describe your communication activities. Keep track of the time and different ways you spend communicating, such as talking person-to-person, listening to teachers or the radio, watching television, reading books and other print media, and communicating online. Discuss with your counselor what your log reveals about the importance of communication in your life. Think of ways to improve your communication skills.

   (b) For three days, keep a journal of your listening experiences. Identify one example of each of the following, and discuss with your counselor when you have listened to:
   (1) Obtain information
   (2) A persuasive argument
   (3) Appreciate or enjoy something
   (4) Understand someone's feelings

   (c) In a small-group setting, meet with other Scouts or with friends. Have them share personal stories about significant events in their lives that affected them in some way. Take note of how each Scout participates in the group discussion and how effective each one is in telling his story. Report what you have learned to your counselor about the differences you observed in effective communication.

   (d) List as many ways as you can think of to communicate with others (face-to-face, by telephone, letter, e-mail, fax). For each type of communication, discuss with your counselor an instance when that method might not be appropriate or effective.
    

2. Do ONE of the following:

   (a) Think of a creative way to describe yourself using, for exam­ple, a collage, short story or autobiography, drawing or series of photographs, or a song or skit. Using the aid you created, make a presentation to your counselor about yourself.

   (b) Choose a concept, product, or service in which you have great confidence. Build a sales plan based on its good points. Try to persuade the counselor to agree with, use, or buy your concept, product, or service. After your sales talk, discuss with your counselor how persuasive you were.
    

3. Write a five-minute speech. Give it at a meeting of a group.
    

4. Interview someone you know fairly well, like, or respect because of his or her position, talent. career, or life experiences. Listen actively to learn as much as you can about the person. Then prepare and deliver to your counselor an introduction of the person as though this person were to be a guest speaker, and include reasons why the audience would want to hear this person speak. Show how you would call to invite this person to speak.
    

5. Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Present an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed. and share this with your counselor.

    If you're interested in finding your city's home page, try looking at the Official City Sites web page.  I didn't link directly to the cities in the USA, which you can get to directly here.  Most of the state pages will have a link to the state's home page, if one exists. 

    Baton Rouge has its own web page.  You can find links to all sorts of information about city events, history, meetings, and news.  The Metropolitan Council has its own page, with the current agenda, minutes of the last meeting, and a calendar listing the meeting times.  You will need a copy of the Adobe Acrobat software, available free from Adobe,  to view the agenda, minutes, and calendar.

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6. With your counselor's approval, develop a plan to teach a skill or inform someone about something. Prepare teaching aids for your plan. Carry out your plan. With your counselor, determine whether the person has learned what you intended.
    
7. Do ONE of the following:
   1. Write to the editor of a magazine or your local newspaper to express your opinion or share information (on any subject you choose). Send your message by fax, e-mail, or regular mail.

      For most people, you can search at Newspapers.com to find your local paper if it's online.  This site also has links to some of the major trade journals as well as local newspapers.

      For those of you living around Baton Rouge, you can use The Advocate if you wish.  Be sure to discuss your letter with your counselor first. 

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2. Create a Web page for your Scout troop, school, or other organization. Include at least one article and one photograph or illustration. and one link to some other Web page that would be helpful to someone who visits the Web page you have created. It is not necessary to post your Web page to the Internet, but if you decide to do so. you must first share it with your parents and counselor and get their permission.

       For those budding webmasters out there, consider building a site for your troop.  Make sure that your site tells when and where you meet, includes an address and phone number of the main contact for your troop and an e-mail address for them to send comments to.

       Tripod and Geocities are two relatively well-known sites that support free web pages.  I maintain a similar site to this one on Tripod for experimental purposes.  They are both good for people who don't need much in the way of storage and don't mind some advertising popping up.  I haven't noticed anything obscene, but you may want to try this before telling people about your site to see if any of the advertising does not coincide with your values. 

       There are probably organizations in your community who could help provide you with web space if you need some.  If not, check out Business Services Associates, they provide (almost) free web sites for Scouting organizations.  They also have help for creating a web site here.

       This site contains quite a few examples of how to keep your web site from being an example on that site.  Be warned, if you go to the starting page (not the one I linked to), it could take several minutes to load over a modem connection.

       My wife suggested an interesting fund-raising and publicity idea. For this idea, make sure you add a counter or, if that isn't possible, ask visitors to sign a guest book or send an e-mail saying they've been there.  (This also avoids problems with the same people visiting the page 10 times a day to rack up the hits.)
       Give the scouts cards with the web address for your troop and pledge sheets.  Tell them to get pledges for the number of hits you get in some set time.  This will encourage people to visit the web site to see what your troop is all about and will help the Scouts spread the word about Scouting.  Besides, if your site is good, more people will go to visit it, resulting in more hits and a better fund-raiser.
       Remember that doing something like this would not necessarily meet the requirements and could easily be more work than is necessary.  You will still need the article and photograph or illustration in order to meet the requirements.

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3. Use desktop publishing to produce a newsletter, brochure, flier, or other printed material for your Scout troop, class at school, or other group. Include at least one article and one photograph or illustration.

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8. Plan a troop court of honor or campfire program. Have the patrol leaders' council approve it, then write the script and prepare the program. Serve as master of ceremonies.

On another note - this was probably my favorite part of the whole Merit Badge when I went through it many moons ago.  I believe that the US Scouting Service Project or MacScouter have some great resources for this.

9. Learn about opportunities in the field of communication. Choose one career in which you are interested and discuss with your counselor the main responsibilities of that position and the qualifications, education, and preparation it requires.

The American Communication Association has a website that is dedicated to communication in all forms.  It also is a member of a communications web ring, a group of related sites.

I'd recommend the above site and your merit badge book for some ideas on where to start.  Journalism and broadcasting should get you some ideas if you plug those into a search engine, but please don't limit yourself to those.

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