Some 400 students from nearly 200 Iowa high schools attended the all-state speech festival Monday at UNI. Co-manager Marilyn Shaw says the skills used in acting, storytelling, poetry and the other competitions will be useful in a career after college.She says it prepares them for the future, because communications skills help in today’s job market. Shaw says the kids taking home medallions traveled a long way to get to the UNI event.There are no other prizes besides the medallion for participating, and Shaw says there are no losers, either.This was the 24th annual All-State Speech Festival, and many students began the “road to state” in events last fall at their local schools.