Funny Business - Darren LaCroix

DDDDDARREN LACROIX STANDSbefore two dozen members of theQuannapowitt Toastmasters Club inNorth Quincy and offers a startling

confession. "I was not funny in high school." heannounces. "In fact, I was voted least likely toever be funny." The crowd, of course, finds this howlinglyfunny. Which is a good thing because RuleNo.1 of the Gospel of Darren LaCroix reads:No matter what you think, you can be funny.Rule No.2: As long as you're willing to makemistakes. LaCroix, 35, has moonlighted for years asa standup comedian and,more recently, as apublic speaker. Last summer, he beat out morethan 25,000 competitors from 14 countries tobecome the first person from New England towin Toastmasters International's WorldChampionship of Public Speaking. Now, at long last, he's doing these thingsfull time. LaCroix has quit his day job as asalesman at Bose to run the Humor Institute(motto: "Got Humor?") from his home inAuburn. He commands $3,500 per keynoteaddress. His book, Laugh & Get Rich: How toProfit from Humor in Any Business, cowrittenwith fellow speaker Rick Segel, was pub-lished two years ago. LaCroix is also rapidlybuilding a list of consulting clients, folks like

Fredrick Marckini, CEO of Arlington-basedsearch engine positioning firm iProspect. "In this business environment, it's allabout getting your message out," Marckinisays. "And who better to teach us than theworld champion of speakers? We paidDarren $100 an hour to help train our staff,and I consider that a steal. The impact hemade was astounding." Back in 1992, LaCroix was just a youngman with a closeted passion for shtick and abusiness degree from Bryant College inRhode Island. He'd already tried to launcha Subway sandwich shop franchise. "I tooka $60,000 debt," he notes blithely, "anddoubled it." LaCroix decided to become a comic.Eventually, to the relief of his parents, herealized that standup comedy was not hiscalling. Instead, he found himself gravitat-ing toward public speaking. "It was theperfect marriage of my passion for businessand humor. I actually love speaking tocorporate groups because I can relate totheir frustrations." With his bright, open face and thinningblond hair, LaCroix bears a passing resem-blance to the actor Anthony Edwards. As aspeaker, though, his style is one of a kind.He bounds from one side of the room to theother, cracking jokes (usually at his ownexpense) and always, always, exhorting hislisteners. "You can't be afraid to pursue yourdreams, "he tells them. "Even if you fall,you fall forward." By the end of LaCroix's hour long orationin North Quincy, club president MichaelMyers rises to give him a standing ovation.Other members many of them people whostill tremble when called upon to speakgather around to coo their praise. LaCroix stays long past the appointedend of the meeting. Then he hurries off tohis car. He'll be speaking to another ToastMasters chapter the next day, this one at theBay State Correctional Center. "A captiveaudience," he says, unable to resist animpish grin. "I love it."

Funny BusinessFunny BusinessFunny BusinessFunny BusinessFunny BusinessPublic-speaking champ Darren LaCroix has made a businessout of a talent for cracking wise to crowds.By STEVE ALMOND

Darren LaCroixis featured in theFebruary issue of:Boston Magazine

reprinted with permissionpage 28 February 2002

Looking for aspeaker foryour event?

The Humor Institute, Inc.888-528-4451

[email protected]

BJ’S JOURNAL FALL LIFESTYLES

Humor Me!

WAIT MANAGEMENT

Darren LaCroix, founder of “The Humor Institute”(www.humorinst.com), applauds Jim’s refreshingattitude towards what he calls “Wait Management.”As a corporate consultant and the coauthor of Laughand Get Rich: How to Profit from Humor in AnyBusiness, Darren says that one of the most effectiveways to use humor in business is to help relieve thetension in those around us.

And the fact is, people hate to wait! So, it’salmost a no-brainer that anything a business does toalleviate that tension will go a long way in buildingrelationships with customers.

To reduce any tension clients may feel inhis waiting room, Jim has tossed all those drearymagazines. He’s even pulled up the carpet andreplaced it with Astro-turf. His clients wile away

their time putting golf balls orwalking one of the many dogsthat roam the company’scorridors. And they couldn’t behappier.

And neither could hisemployees! “All employeeswant more money,” Darrenexplains. “If you give them

more money, and they’re not happy, all you have isrich, unhappy employees. The key is to build ahappier workplace.”

To that end, Jim schedules regular field tripsfor all his employees. They turn off the computersand leave an outgoing message explaining thateveryone’s hone to a bowling party, to pick apples,or to the museum, as the case may be. “And whenwe return people work at double speed becausethey’re refreshed,”says Jim. “Our clients don’t mindat all, In fact, they say, ‘I wish my company woulddo that!” [article continues...]

(Excerpt from a 2 page article)

The Role of Humor in the Workplace

by Kellie Schroeder

Whoosh! The sound of a gigantic flyingsalmon is nearly drowned out by uproariousapplause erupting from curious onlookers. No, thisisn’t a show at Sea World. It’s just another day atwork for the fishmongers at Seattle’s Pike Place Fish.Clad in white aprons and black rubber boots, JohnnyYokoyama and his fish-tossing employees havestumbled upon an almost revolutionary idea-combining fun with work.

People spend about 75 percent of theirwaking hours doing workrelated activities. So, asJohnny and the guys see it if they’re going to spendthat much time working, they might as well enjoythemselves! And in doing so, they’ve managed toturn the not-so-glamorous job of selling fish into avibrant, almost-legendary business that now attractscustomers from around the globe......................................................................................

NO LAUGHING MATTERUnless you’re fortunate enough to be, say,

an ice cream taste-tester, chances are you’veexperienced on-the-job stress. In today’s fast-paced,

ever-changing work environment, it’s little wonderthat one-third of the workers surveyed admitted ina recent Wall Street Journal poll that they hadconsidered quitting their fobs because of stress. And14 percent actually did!

Seems that stress is no laughing matter, oris it? According to recent studies, instead of reachingfor a bottle of extra-strength aspirin at work, wemight be better off pulling out our favorite joke bookor Dilbert cartoon........................................................................................

Darren LaCroix, founder of“The Humor Institute,” believes

that the key to successful businessis to build a happier workplace and

help relieve tension in those around us.

STAFF PHO

TO BY REN NO

RTON

BUSIN

ESS PEOPLE

by Anna M

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by Anna M

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by Anna M

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by Anna M

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by Anna M

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“Hi, I’m

Darren, and I’m

a speech-a-holic,” is one of D

arren LaC

roix’ sopening lines. L

aCroix’s the 2001 W

orld Cham

pionof Public Speaking, the first N

ew E

n-glander to w

in the Toastmasters Inter-

national award in a contest that dates

back to the 1930s. B

ut the food-c ha in store owne r

turned comic and pro speaker says he

isn’t a natural. Being funny and com

-fortable in front of people w

as some-

thing he learned. N

ow he shares his know

ledge at hisH

umor Institute, teaching the business

comm

unity how to add hum

or to itsbottom

line. A

t 35, the recently self-employed

Auburn, M

ass., native now does a m

ixof sta nd-up a ppe a ra nc e s, sc he dule dkeynotes, corporate training andinternational speaking appointm

ents.H

is Hum

or Boot C

amp and Speakers

Boot C

amp give him

plenty of oppor-tunities to prom

ote his video, audioT

raining sets and book, “ Laugh and

Get R

ich - How

to Profit from

Hum

orin A

ny Business” - now

translated intothree languages. L

aCroix says he’s com

e a long way.

“In high school, I was voted m

ostlikely not to be funny,” says L

aCroix,

whose picture now

hangs in the localclub, T

he Com

edy Palace in Worces-

ter. A

nd friends that have seen LaC

roix’sw

ork from the beginning w

onder howhe ever m

ade it this far. “N

ow, as I look back, I see he had a

lot of determination,” says B

ob Lynch,L

aCroix’s friend since high school.

Lynch saw L

aCroix’s act w

hen hew

as bombing at stand-up clubs in the

early ’90s. “W

e were in a restaurant once and

he wasn’t doing too w

ell. Then he

said,‘those are my friends over there,’

” recalls Lynch. “I thought: O

h no,don’t introduce us now

.” W

hile struggling to make it as a

sta nd-up, La C

roix’s da y gig wa s

working part-tim

e as a salesman at

Bose C

orp. in Framingham

. This job

allowed him

to spend time on stage

and travel to speech competitions on

his vacation time.

Being a good speaker has everything

to do with how

much stage tim

e youget, says L

aCroix. T

he more chances

you have to speak - and fail - the more

chances to learn what w

orks. “I w

ould drive two and a half hours

to Portland to get five minutes of stage

time if I couldn’t get som

ething lo-cally that night,” says L

aCroix.

When a friend told him

to join thespeaking organization, Toastm

asters,to get m

ore time on stage, L

aCroix

joined four of the clubs. “I thought:N

ow I can quadruple m

y failure rate!” T

he youngest child of a systems

analyst and a wedding cake decora-

tor, LaC

roix said his parents weren’t

thrilled when their college-educated

son wanted to be a com

edian. “I had virtually no support, that w

asm

y toughest hurdle,” admits L

aCroix.

“Most people do w

hat they do be-cause som

ewhere along the line,

someone said, ‘Y

ou’re good at that.’T

hat wasn’t necessarily the case w

ithD

arren,” says Rick Segel, L

aCroix’s

friend and co-author. Failure drove him

on, LaC

roix says. “A

nyone who has accom

plished

anything has fallen on their face,” saysL

aCroix, w

ho sprawled out in a prat-

fall before an audience of 15,000 lastA

ugust at the speech contest. To beat out the 22,000 contestantsfrom

14 c ountrie s, La C

roix spokefrom

experience, Segel said. “D

arren’s greatest asset, and the rea-son he w

on, is because he did a talka bout him

se lf. He doe sn’t give up.

He’s resilient, resistant,” says Segel.

The sta ge isn’t the only pla c e

LaC

roix found failure. F

resh out of business school, hebought a S

ubway sandw

ich store inA

uburn, Mass.

“I took a $60,000 debt and doubledit,” sa id the M

BA

gra dua te in hisaw

ard winning speech. “I turned Sub-

way sandw

iches into a nonprofit or-ganization.” L

aCroix pulled him

self out of debtand is now

profiting from a theory that

finding humor in even the m

ost bor -ing situations can help individuals andbusinesses be understood and listenedto. Fredrick M

arckini, CE

O of iProspect

in Arlington, bought into L

aCroix’s

idea.T

he head of the search engine posi-tioning firm

hired LaC

roix to coachhim

on a presentation he was giving

at Harvard.

Marckini w

as impressed w

ithL

aCroix, he says, and hired him

totrain his staff. “O

ur staff is presenting all the time.

That’s one of the m

ost critical skillsthey can possess,’’ said M

arckini. “If they can’t get their skills clear andcom

municate and present these ‘ah ha’

mo

men

ts... w

hen

th

ose

mom

ents,happen the campaigns be-

come m

uch more effective.”

Hum

or in business is more im

por-tant than ever, said L

aCroix.

In their book, LaC

roix and Segel ex-plain how

humor in business goes be-

yond advertising. Training, em

ployeerelations and custom

er relations can allbe aided by adding hum

or. A

fter more than 10 years of reading

books, taking classes and getting stagetim

e, LaC

roix quit his job at Bose three

months ago and turned his hum

or busi-ness into a full-tim

e job. N

ext month he’ll present in Taiw

anand the m

onth after that in Om

an, butL

aCroix said he doesn’t w

ant to work

his life away. A

fter years of working

days, doing stand-up routines at nightand spending his vacation tim

e atspeaking events, L

aCroix said he’s

February 24, 2002

LaC

roix c

om

bine

s co

me

dic

, co

rpo

rate

going to spend more tim

e with his

friends. T

heir idea of a relaxing afternoon issetting up stunts for their publicaccess cable television show

s. It’s anew

stage for LaC

roix, and he’sstarting w

ith campy productions of -

would you believe - com

edies.

COM

IC RELIEF: Darren LaCroix, of Auburn, the 2001 W

orldCham

pion of Public Speaking, and an author, corporate trainerand com

edian, gives a lecture at the Concord Library Last week.

February 24, 2002February 24, 2002February 24, 2002February 24, 2002February 24, 2002

Speaker Darren LaCroix wows audience at Chamber breakfast

By C. David [email protected]

SHIRLEY – Darren LaCroix, named World Champion ofPublic Speaking in 2001 and co-author with Rick Segel ofthe book Laugh & Get Rich: How to Profit from Humor inAny Business, had his Nashoba Valley Chamber ofCommerce audience laughing continuously while givingthem a lesson on how to use humor in selling their productsor services.

His was the kick-off feature of the Chamber’sFidelity Bank Breakfast Series held at the Bull RunRestaurant on Sept. 24.

LaCroix illustrated the employment of humor evenas he told the story of his career, which started with failureat a Subway Sandwich franchise. Humor, he said, is bornout of tragedy and stress. And it can start with being ableto laugh at oneself while still being serious about one’s

business. To hear it, therewas much to laugh aboutin the LaCroix career.

“How much fun are youto do business with?” heasked his listeners. Hecalled humor a powerfulrelief from stress and “thebest networking you cando.”

LaCroix said there is notruth to the adage thateither you’re born funny oryou’re not. Anyone canlearn to use humor, he said,and since humor comes

from tragedy or stress, a good starting point could belaughing at something one isn’t able to do properly. “It’snot what happened, LaCroix said, but how we process it.”

The person to avoid in any business is the one hecalls “the funsucker” – a person who invariably “sucks thefun out of everything.”

The business person can start preparing fun inbusiness through pinpointing the stress a business has orgenerates, LaCroix said. Work to know others, understandwhat their tensions are, then find out how to help the personover that tension.

A basic principle involved in all this – aside fromaccumulating wealth – is that “when you humorize youhumanize.”

In addition to the book Laugh & Get Rich, LaCroixhas created a series of CD learning programs to perfectpublic speaking and make people laugh. He is also the co-founder of the Humor Boot Camp and The Humor Institute.LaCroix’s free e-mail newsletter can be obtained by goingto www.humor411.com.

Fidelity Bank is the sponsoring organization of thebreakfast series. Host for the kick-off breakfast waspresident and CEO Edward Manzi. After introducingFidelity staff members present at the meeting, Manzi hadthem pass out an unusual gift to all breakfast seriesattendees: a crisp $5 bill. He asked that people “spend it inthe local economy” and maybe even put it in the bank.

Chamber executive Director Christine Bergeronannounced that Dave Caruso of WBZ and Channel 4 willspeak on “decoding” Wall Street at the next Fidelity BankBreakfast on Tuesday Nov. 19Fidelity President Ed Manzi

Nashoba Publishing/Roberto Santiago

Speaker Darren LaCroix entertains the audience as he explains “how to sell with humor” at the firstNashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Fidelity Bank Breakfast Series event at the Bull Run.

The China PostThe China PostThe China PostThe China PostThe China Postw w w . c h i n a p o s t . c o m . t w

The Toastmasters Taiwan Council will hold its 2002convention, “Toastmasters Link the World,” fromMarch 23-24 at Tien Mou International CulturalAssociation at 113, Chung Shan N. Rd. Sec7, Taipei.Tel: 2876-2676. (Please visit the Toastmasters homepage: www.toastmasters.org.tw and click on“convention” for details).

Darren LaCroix, 2001 world champion ofpublic speaking from Auburn, Massachusetts in theUnited States has been invited as the keynote speaker.

LaCroix is a rare combination. He is an author,keynote speaker, and a corporate comedian. Darren’sunique talents also flow into films, commercials, andcorporate training videos. He is the co-author of a bookcalled Laugh & Get Rich, that teaches people how tofind more joy in each day.

The two day convention starts on Saturday,March 23rd with speech craft training – “The JourneyFrom Chump to Champ!” with LaCroix as the teacher.There will also be a Mandarin speech craft Trainingcontest and convention banquet. On the scond dayspeech craft training entitled, “Comedy Secrets forProfessionals,” will also be officiated by LaCroix.

Founded in 1924 in California, ToastmastersInternational is a non-profit organization dedicated tocommunication and leadership training. There aremore than 8,000 clubs worldwide and there are more

than 60 in Taiwan.Toastmasters District 67P-Taiwan is a

registered non-profit organization under the Ministryof the Interior.

Those interested in attending the ToastmastersConvention Taiwan-2002 are welcome to contactArlene Chen at 0936-092-641 for further information.

Pictured here at the 2001 ToastmastersInternational Convention in Anaheim, California fromleft are LaCroix, father of Darren; Lt governor foreducationDistrict 67P of the Republic of China (67PROC), Bing Bing Lin; Darren LaCroix, worldchampion speaker; Mrs. LaCroix, mother of Darren;girl friend of Darren; and Jorie Wu, governor of 67PTaiwan.

Toastmasters to hold Convention 2002-TaiwanNT $15 TAIWAN’S LEADING ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER SINCE 1952 VOL. XLI.NO 17,231

Awards:Awards:Awards:Awards:Awards: Massachusettssalesman wins top honors atthe Toastmasters contest at anAnaheim hotel.

By Mike AntonTimes Staff Writer

Darren LaCroix wastalking about the fear of failure,about reaching for a goal andfalling on your face, whensuddenly he lurched forward and,weel, literally fell on his face.

He kept right on talking.“Have you ever stayed

down too long?” LaCroix askedlisteners. “Anyone who hasaccomplished anything has fallenon their face.”

LaCroix certainly did. OnSaturday, the 34-year-oldMassachusetts salesman’s speechabout failure being an essentialingredient of success-and hispratfall-was good enough to winhim the title of World Championof Public Speaking.

Dubbed “the Olympics oforatory,” the contest was thehighlight of the Toastmasters’annual international conventionat the Hilton Anaheim.

The two-hour contest wasthe home run derby of publicspeaking, pitting nine members ofthe 77-year-old organizationagainst each other in a battle ofwit, thoughtfulness, articulationand body language.

Nothing Succeeds Like a Speech About Failure

To anyone who cannotutter three words without an “ah”or an “um” connecting them, toanyone who finds talking beforea crowd as inviting as getting aroot canal, the clash of verbaltitans was nothing less thanspeechmaking raised to the levelof performance art.

“Public speaking is thebiggest fear most people have,”said Suzanne Frey, aspokeswoman for Toastmasters.“people fear it more than death.”

Ralph Smedleyunderstood that. In 1924, theSanta Ana YMCA directorfounded Toastmasters to teachyoung boys communicationsskills. Embraced by businessleaders, the organization claimsnearly 180,000 members in 70countries today.

More than 2,000 of thempacked a hotel ballroom to listen,laugh and be moved to tears bythe nine contestants who wove 5-to7-minute inspirational storiesabout life, love and conqueringself-doubt.

Jim Key, a computersystems analyst from Texas, evengot the crowd to sing the Barneytheme song as part of his speechabout the power of charing yourfeelings with people.

Later, Key said his wifehad “mixed feelings” when hejoined Toastmasters several yearsago.

“She thought ‘Maybe thiswill give him an outlet to speakand he’ll be a little more quiet,”Key said. “Now, she must wonderif I’ll ever shut up.”

The champion, LaCroix,wasn’t born a talker. In fact,public speaking was one of thefears he had to overcome.

As he took the stageSaturday, he was forced toovercome it once more.

“My heart was poundingso hard I thought the curtainsback stage were shaking,” he saidafterward.

For seven minutes and 10seconds he gave an overview ofhis life. How he graduated frombusiness school, opened aSubway sandwich shop and failedmiserably. How he then decidedto become a stand-up comedianeven though he never consideredhimself funny. How he struggled,learned from his failures andeventually succeeded.

LaCroix had to win fiveregional contests to get to thefinals, where 18 judges scored hisperformance. He honed hiswinning speech over a month anda half. At times, he practiced itthree hours a day.

LaCroix cried. And for amoment, the world championspeaker found himselfspeechless.

Los Angeles Times

Top Toastmaster is master of wit By Bill Fortier Telegram & Gazette Staff

Darren J. LaCroix is proof that sometimes appear-ances truly can be deceiving.

It was Wednesday night at EasCorp in Woburnand the pressure was on Mr.. LaCroix, the winnerlast month of Toastmaster International's WorldChampionship of Public Speaking.

As Mr. LaCroix, of Auburn, stood anxiously offin the corner of a tent where about 70 employees --the company provides technical support for creditunions in the state -- talked and laughed with eachother, it was hard to believe the thin, balding, 35-year-old Mr. LaCroix would soon transform him-self into a self-assured King of Comedy. He wouldthen regale his audience with a 40-minute perfor-mance that frequently caused laughter to echo outinto the parking lot of the Unicorn Industrial Park.

Added to the equation was the fact it was Mr.LaCroix's first public speaking appearance since theSept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washing-ton, D.C.

“There's no question this is the most interestingnight of my career,” he said before going to work.

EasCorp Vice President Alan Bernstein intro-duced Mr. LaCroix by telling the audience abouthis recent victory in California.

“So we have quite a celebrity in our midst,” hesaid.

And then Mr. LaCroix stepped to the lecturn.“When I talked to Mr. Bernstein, I knew there

were a lot of comedians who get the chance to per-form on the red-hot credit union circuit,” he said.He then went into a riff on the abbreviations used inthe course of daily business -- which had tears roll-ing down the cheeks of some employees.

During his talk, Mr. LaCroix's voice becamehoarse.

“Can somebody get me some water,” he asked.Nobody moved.“This is not a joke,” he said.Da-dum.“You know a lot of people look at me, and they're

worried about me and what I'm going to be doing,”Mr. LaCroix said after he finished his routine.. “But,once I take the stage, it's my house.”

For Mr. LaCroix, the recent events have beenthe latest segment of an unlikely long-distance tripthat started about nine years ago when a friend gavehim a tape. On that tape, a speaker asked a listener:What would you most like to do if you wouldn't failin trying?

Mr. LaCroix always wanted to be a stand-up co-median, and so he decided to give it a try. His firstperformance was on Aug. 24, 1992, at the Stitchescomedy club in Boston.

“I just knew it was something I wanted to try,”he said, adding that he still finds it painful to watchthe tape of that night when he nervously describedthe activities of Dr. Robert Goddard with hand ges-tures that weren't always in synch with what he wastalking about.

“It's better to have tried and not succeeded thanalways regretting that I didn't try,” he said.

He put it another way in his championshipwinning speech.

“Would you rather do something you love orgo through life knowing you paid all your billson time?”

Now he realizes the Toastmaster's prize giveshim a launching pad to accomplish both. In fact,he's recently hired a publicist who will use therecent win in Anaheim as a marketing tool ingetting more business as a humorous keynotespeaker at events such as the one at EasCorp.

The thing is, Mr. LaCroix -- a man who ownsthe Humor Institute Inc., which offers programsto teach people how to be funnier, and is the au-thor of a book and compact disk titled “Laughand Get Rich” -- readily admits he was about theleast funny person in his class at Auburn's middleand high schools.

“The first time I ever made my brother laughwas when I told him I wanted to be a comedian,”he said one recent rainy afternoon.

Da-dum.Mr. LaCroix, whose picture is on the wall of

humor at the Aku Aku in Worcester, is sched-uled to speak Tuesday at Kendra J. Underwood'sseventh-grade class at the middle school.

“I had Darren in the seventh grade,” Mrs.Underwood said. “I can't say I remember him asbeing a good public speaker, but he had a greatpersonality.”

Mrs. Underwood said she's very proud of whather former student has accomplished.

“His real message is that you can becomewhatever you want to be,” she said. “I can't waitto hear him.”

When asked whether the self-admitted “nerd,”gave any indication of being a humorous kind ofguy when she had Mr. LaCroix as a student, Mrs.Underwood laughed.

“Well, no, actually,” she said.Lifelong friend James W. Boland, now a sales

representative in Chicago, said he talks with Mr.LaCroix about once a month.

He recalls his friend as a stand-alone, ratherthan a stand-up comedian, guy, who was veryobservant.

“I guess I'm sort of surprised he's chosen thispath, but I'm not surprised that he's done well atthe path he has chosen,” Mr. Boland said.

Toastmasters International is an organizationthat helps people become more comfortable withspeaking in public. Mr. LaCroix said he is thefirst person from Massachusetts to win in the 77years the organization has held World Champi-onship of Public Speaking contests.

About 20,000 people from 30 countries par-ticipated in the championship, which began inthe spring. Mr. Lacroix won with a 71⁄2-minutespeech about failure that began with him fallingon his face on stage and his telling the 2,000people in the main ballroom of the AnaheimHilton that you can't be afraid to fail.

When he finished, the tape of his speechshows, he pumped his fist skyward.

“I knew I nailed it,” he said, adding that be-

ing fifth of the nine finalists gave him achance to hone his performance.

Suzanne Fey, publication manager forToastmaster International in Rancho SantaMargarita, Calif., was in the audience the dayMr. LaCroix performed.

“I think when he finished, a lot of peoplethought he was the winner,” she said. “Hereally stood out.”

While not one of the 18 judges, Ms. Freysaid his face-first pratfall at the beginning gotthe audience's attention.

“He had a universal message about over-coming failure,” she said. “His speech wasdramatic, and the humor in it didn't hurt.”

Winning international speaking contestsdoesn't just happen, Mr. LaCroix said. Forexample, he said, he spent hours watching thefinalists in last 10 World Championship con-tests perform.

While he still performs at the Aku Aku,his niche is performing at corporate functions.He calls it customized comedy, and it meanshe must prepare for performances that usu-ally run between 30 and 60 minutes. He vis-its a company at least twice to talk to person-nel and management to find out what localissues are and how he can turn them into fod-der for his act.

For Wednesday's performance, he alsoread the past year's copies of EasCorp's in-house newsletter, The Messenger, to gathermaterial.

He usually arrives at least 60 minutes be-fore speaking to gauge the mind-set of theaudience.

EasCorp Chief Executive Officer JaneMelchionda said the event had been post-poned a week because of the terrorist actions.

“We felt it was time to move on, time toget back to normal, so we decided to hold it,”she said before Mr. LaCroix took the micro-phone.

After he finished, Ms. Melchionda said itwas the right thing to do. “He was great,” shesaid. “He gave us something tonight I think

we all needed..”

Auburn man has knack for laughs

T&G staff/MARK C. IDE

Sunday Telegram

“People here welcome me with opened hands,” saysGeorge. “Something I never had in my life.” But some are less receptive, at least at first. Paul was wearyof the welcoming handshake. “It seems, in prison, everybodyhas an angle,” he says. “‘What does this guy want from me?’” Tonight, Paul delivers an intense monologue, a story thattakes place in a department store. He says that he has practicedit 25 times earlier in the day to get it right. A few smirks and chuckles escape from the audience, butthen they fall silent. At the end many applaud, and some exhaleaudibly. There are no statistics on whether inmates in the Toastmasterclubs have a lower rate of recidivism. But the silver-tonguedplea for a parole or a transfer never hurts. “Basically, it benefitsthe inmates as far as it prepares them for future interviews forparole classification - so they can request another prison,” saysJaileen Correira, correctional program officer for theDepartment of Correction. “They need to be able to articulatewhy they feel they’re a good candidate to do that.” Many members, such as Paul and Michael, use theirToastmaster skills in other prison programs such as PrisonVoices, where the prisoners talk to youth about theirincarceration and learn to take responsibility for what they’vedone. For Michael, it also provides him with confidence to presenthimself before the parole board. “It’s like our Toastmasters club, but more serious, it seems,”says Taraski, a 10-year Toastmaster veteran. From time to time, you can hear a distant car from ClarkStreet or Route 1A beyond. The only visible indication ofChristmas within the chain-linked-fence and razor-wirelandscape are pale poinsettias on a table in the administrationbuilding. For an hour and a half, the men conduct their businessmeeting. Often they erupt with laughter and ride it out as longas they can. Speakers take turns. They socialize at the coffeebreak and make an effort to make a visitor feel comfortable.They follow an agenda. Omar delivers the thought of the day.He says: “Believe only half of what you hear, but make sure itis the right half.” James, 30, says he was blown away by LaCroix’s winningspeech. “Much better this time,” he says. “Much moreconvincing to me.” And he was ecstatic that LaCroix, “a guy of that stature,”singled him out and recognized him for his own passionatespeech. “That’s huge,” James says. At 8:30, a uniformed guard appears from the library nextdoor and without dallying, ushers the men out. Leo calls it“the sad part.”

“For the guys coming into prison, there’s a tendencyfor them to forget someone cares,” he says. “When someonecomes in from the outside - like Ted and Darren - it showssomeone cares.”

Boston GlobeBoston GlobeBoston GlobeBoston GlobeBoston Globe People & Places

Toastmasters bar noneAt Norfolk facility, inmates learn new ways of making their points

By Naomi R. Kooker -Globe Correspondent

NORFOLK- In a small classroom with four large windows,the Bob Rosenberg Toastmasters International Club holdsits regular Tuesday-night meeting. The smell of coffeebrewing lingers in the air. The group is fairly small, about 17 men ranging in agefrom 20 to 50. There are goatees, shaved heads, and longhair. Two men are Muslim. They are dressed in jeans andfaded T-shirts, sweatshirts, work books or sneakers- the usualattire at a medium-security prison. Here the Bay State Correctional Center, surrounded bya chain-link fence and razor wire, the men have beenconvicted of crimes such as second degree murder, sexualassault, armed robbery; a handful expect life terms. So, inthis precious hour and a half, without a uniformed guardpresent or chains shackled to ankles, the men get down tobusiness - the business of conducting a meeting, improvingcommunications skills, bolstering self-confidence. In a sense,it is the business of trust. “The crimes, the races, everything stops at the door,” saysPaul, a muscular 33-year-old with a shaved head and a HarleyDavidson tattoo on his bicep. “A reminder,” he says, “of whatI’ll never have”. The Bob Rosenberg Club, named after a retired militaryman who established a Toastmaster Club at the NortheasternCorrection Center (Concord Farm) years ago, is one of fourclubs in the state Department of Correction system. TedTaraski, a manager for a small manufacturer in the FranklinIndustrial Park, is the link between the prisoners and theoutside. “I like to think of Toastmasters as a tool, like learninga trade,” Taraski says. Some, like Donald, 40 originally just came for the coffee.Donald stayed, and ultimately found himself serving aspresident - until tonight. Tonight, he passes the gavel toGeorge, who is quickly voted in. The reason for the transitionof power? Donald hopes to be out of prison in two weeks.(Although inmates wear ID tags, they asked that their lastnames not be used.) Tonight, they host a special guest. Darren LaCroix, 35, ofAuburn just won the World Championship of PublicSpeaking, an annual contest held by ToastmastersInternational. He joined the Bose Speakers ToastmastersInternational Club years ago to foster his dream of being astandup comedian. He recently left his 11 year job at Bose inFramingham to work his dream and be a keynote speakerfull time. The Bob Rosenberg was his first stop in practicing hisaward-winning speech, “Ouch!” - about how failure begetssuccess if you are willing to “fall on your face.” He promisedthe men, if he won, he would return. Tonight LaCroix makesgood on his word. “The humor keeps you going,” says Michael, 30, whohas a stash of material he wants to send to “Saturday NightLive.” “You meet a lot of guys here who are very depressed.”

Bose sales representative andcomedian, LaCroix delivers hispolished public speaking techniquein global competition

By Kurt BlumenauNEWS BUSINESS EDITORRAMINGHAM - Even after adecade as a standup comedianand public speaker,DarrenLaCroix still gets nervous when

he takes the stage. " The only time I wasn't nervous waswhen I was cocky, " says LaCroix, asales representative at Bose Corp. whopursues his other interests off the job. "Two or three times in my career I didthat, and I died a miserabledeath. " LaCroix may still feel nerves, but he'sfound ways to get past them: Earlier thismonth, he won a regional competitionsponsored by Toastmasters Interna-tional, a public-speaking support group.He beat speakers from Washington,D.C., to Nova Scotia with a speechcalled " R.M.T., " or "Release My Ten-sion. " Next month, LaCroix will travel toAnaheim, Calif., to do battle in Toast-masters International competition,against eight others culled from a packof 20,000 speakers. The winner earns atrophy and bragging rights asthe world's best public speaker. LaCroix says he's working with pastwinners and watching videotapes oftheir speeches, trying to craft a five- toseven-minute inspirational address that'sfunny without being flippant and enthu-siastic without being overzealous. " You need to grab the audience's at-tention, and enthusiasm does that, " hesays. MetroWest workers may recognizeLaCroix from the training speeches he'sdelivered at companies like EMC Corp.and Fidelity Investments, or his regionalcomedy gigs.

Darren LaCroix, velvet voiceBUSINESS

PHOTO BY ART ILLMAN Bose Corp.sales representative Darren poses witha recent public speaking award.

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But he wasn't always polished behindthe podium. It took a tape of motivationalspeaker Brian Tracy to start LaCroix onhis speaking and comedy career about 10years ago, when he owned a Subway sand-wich shop." He said, 'What would you dare to dreamif you knew you couldn't fail?' "LaCroixrecalls. " I said, 'What would I dare todream? I'd be a comedian. That would bethe coolest.' " LaCroix made his comedy debut inApril 1992, and began looking for stagetime to polish his act. That's when he found Toastmasters, anetwork of local organizations whosemembers take turns making motivationalspeeches to each other. LaCroix joined four local Toastmasterschapters, taking any chance he could tostand up and talk. Group members critiqueeach other on grammar, enthusiasm, useof gestures, and other tricks of the speak-ers' trade. "It's a very comfortable setting whereother people have the same fears as you," LaCroix quips. " It's kind of like a sup-port group." Although he joined thegroup for comedy training, LaCroix be-came drawn to other public speaking op-portunities. He honed an act for trainingspeeches and other motivational mes-sages, building his reputation among busi-nesses in central Massachusetts and RhodeIsland. This year, LaCroix's skills paid off in astring of speech competitions. Crafting adifferent speech for each level, he sweptthrough club, districtand regional levels, winning the easternregion championship two weeks ago inFarmington, Conn. LaCroix's winning speech told listenersthe benefits of helping others. At onepoint, he told the story of a valet at one ofhis corporate gigs, who saw LaCroix rush-ing back and forth to his car to get readyfor a presentation. "He said, 'The next time you come here,

we park your car closer,' " he says,smiling. "He changed my presenta-tion, because he relieved my tension." The next speech hasn't been writtenyet, but LaCroix isn't taking any timeoff between competitions. He's train-ing with speech trainer DaveMcIlhenny of Carlisle and MarkBrown, winner of the 1995 competi-tion, who lives in Maryland. The speech will observe some of thebiggest rules LaCroix has learned innearly a decade of public speaking:Stay enthusiastic, deliver a messageto the audience and use humor - butonly when it's applicable. "The worst advice I ever heard was'Always start off with a joke,' " hesays. " If you just tell a joke, and itdies, what do you do? Where do yougo from there? " He's also watching tapes of idolslike Tracy and comedian Robin Will-iams, studying their tricks and timing.And, of course, he's still going toToastmasters meetings to polish, anddiscuss, his craft. " I could talk about this all day, " hesays, enthusiastically.

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