Education columnist publishes book “The Challenge to Excel”

By Molly Miron

Pioneer Editor

      John Eggers, an adjunct public speaking teacher at Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College, has published a book on his subject.

      Eggers, a weekly education columnist for the Pioneer, has written “The Challenge to Excel: Put the WOW in Your Public Speaking.” The book, produced by WOWTEACHING Publications, is available for $15 from Ink Spot Press, 751-4444.

      Eggers has a personal acronym for WOW. He said the first “W” is for the “Wow!” a principal should say walking by a classroom where a teacher is doing extraordinary teaching. The “O” is for “Others,” and the final “W” stands for what inspires students.

      Eggers, a member of Toastmasters for 15 years, dedicated the book to the Bemidji chapter of the public speaking club and his BSU and NTC students. He said the 81-page, 27-lesson book is a collection of skills and tips he has accumulated during his years as a public speaker.

      “When I first started public speaking, I wasn’t very good. After I started getting into it, I enjoyed it, but I still wasn’t very good,” he said.

      So he watched and listened and is now passing on his expertise. He said if a student of public speaking could incorporate all 27 lessons, he or she would excel.

      “The skills aren’t very difficult to learn, but to do them consistently is difficult,” he said.

      For example, smiling and keeping eye contact with the audience are simple ideas, but speakers concentrating on their material forget to do those things.

      “It’s easy to explain, easy to teach, but to do them is the trick,” he said.

      A pair of lessons warn against using lazy speech, such as “ya know” and “um,” instead putting in a pause. Eggers also urges speakers to avoid using notes because they will look at the notes more than the audience. Instead, speakers remember their material by can organizing it around several key points, in chronological order or attached to stories.

      He recommends giving variety to speeches by changing vocal emphasis and using gestures.

      Above all, Eggers tells his students to have fun.

      “I always guarantee my students, once they finish this class, they’ll have fun, which they don’t believe, and they’ll be better public speakers,” he said.

      To also guarantee humor, he said he appoints one student each day to be the joke master and tell a joke at the end of the session so everyone can leave laughing.