Boy Scouts of America

Communication Merit Badge

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

Communication
Merit Badge

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Hub

Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge Hub

Communications

Communication Merit Badge Overview

This clear and concise definition comes from the U.S. Department of Education: “Communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. The field of communication promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.”
Communication_MB-overview

Communication Merit Badge Requirements

The requirements will be fed dynamically using the scout book integration
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, listening to the radio or podcasts, watching television, using social media, reading books and other print media, and using any electronic communication device. 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. Be persuaded
    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 effectively each Scout communicates their 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, email, text messages, social media, and so on). 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. Prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor.
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:
  • (a) 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, email, or regular mail.
  • (b) Create a web page or blog of special interest to you (for instance, your troop or crew, a hobby, or a sport). Include at least three articles or entries and one photograph or illustration, and one link to some other web page or blog that would be helpful to someone who visits the web page or blog you have created. It is not necessary to post your web page or blog to the Internet, but if you decide to do so, you must first share it with your parents and counselor and get their permission.
  • (c) Use desktop publishing to produce a newsletter, brochure, flier, or other printed material for your troop or crew, class at school, or other group. Include at least one article and one photograph or illustration.
8. Plan a troop or crew court of honor, campfire program, or an interfaith worship service. Have the patrol leaders' council approve it, then write the script and prepare the program. Serve as master of ceremonies.
9. Find out about three career opportunities in communication. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

Get the Communication Merit Badge Pamphlet

We may not think about how we communicate with others, but we do so all day long.

Discover more about "Communication"

The silver border tells part of the story: It means Communication is one of the merit badges required for the Eagle Scout rank. But counselor Paul McDonald of Overland Park, Kan., thinks it’s even more important than that. “If a Scout only earns a handful of merit badges, that really needs to be one of them,” he says. “Communication is something that everybody does.” To teach Scouts the merit badge, McDonald holds frequent group sessions at a local library, usually on school holidays (like the day after parent-teacher conferences are held). He also assigns Scouts homework they must do before they attend. He says this approach works especially well for the Communication merit badge because several requirements combine individual and group work. All for One, One for All Requirement 3 (the five-minute speech) is a good example. McDonald has Scouts write their speeches at home and present them at the group session. He does the same thing with requirement 4 (interview someone and introduce him or her as a guest speaker) and requirement 5 (attend a public meeting and report on what you heard). If a Scout forgets to interview someone ahead of time, there are usually a few parents hanging around. The group setting is also ideal for requirement 1c (meet with other Scouts or friends in a small-group setting). “If I’ve got 20 Scouts in the room from different troops, I’ll put them in groups of four or five and have them take turns,” he says. “Then we’ll come back together and say, ‘How did it go for you?’ ” Remember the Reason McDonald says it’s easy for Scouts to get distracted from the badge’s goal, which is simply to learn to communicate better. “If a Scout — or anyone, for that matter — is giving a speech that has a lot of complex issues in it, they can tend to drop the fundamentals early on,” he says. “It’s far better to have a speech that maybe they’re not super excited about. The purpose is not to give a great speech; the purpose is to learn how to give a great speech.” And if you as the counselor aren’t sure how to do that, McDonald recommends joining a group like Toastmasters International that lets you practice. “You don’t have to go through 750 speeches that are evaluated to teach the Communication merit badge, but it would probably be a good idea for you to have given one or two,” he says.

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.