Darren LaCroix, velvet voice

Bose sales representative and comedian, LaCroix delivers his polished public speaking technique in global competition

By Kurt Blumenau
NEWS BUSINESS EDITOR

FRAMINGHAM - Even after a decade as a standup comedian and public speaker,Darren LaCroix still gets nervous when he takes the stage.

" The only time I wasn't nervous was when I was cocky, " says LaCroix, a sales representative at Bose Corp. who pursues his other interests off the job. " Two or three times in my career I did that, and I died a miserable death."

LaCroix may still feel nerves, but he's found ways to get past them: Earlier this month, he won a regional competition sponsored by Toastmasters International, a public-speaking support group. He beat speakers from Washington, D.C., to Nova Scotia with a speech called " R.M.T., " or "Release My Tension. "

Next month, LaCroix will travel to Anaheim, Calif., to do battle in Toastmasters International competition, against eight others culled from a pack of 20,000 speakers. The winner earns a trophy and bragging rights as the world's best public speaker.

LaCroix says he's working with past winners and watching videotapes of their speeches, trying to craft a five- to seven-minute inspirational address that's funny without being flippant and enthusiastic without being overzealous.

"You need to grab the audience's attention, and enthusiasm does that, " he says.

MetroWest workers may recognize LaCroix from the training speeches he's delivered at companies like EMC Corp. and Fidelity Investments, or his regional comedy gigs.

But he wasn't always polished behind the podium. It took a tape of motivational speaker Brian Tracy to start LaCroix on his speaking and comedy career about 10 years ago, when he owned a Subway sandwich shop.

"He said, 'What would you dare to dream if you knew you couldn't fail?' "LaCroix recalls. " I said, 'What would I dare to dream? I'd be a comedian. That would be the coolest.' "

LaCroix made his comedy debut in April 1992, and began looking for stage time to polish his act.

That's when he found Toastmasters, a network of local organizations whose members take turns making motivational speeches to each other.

LaCroix joined four local Toastmasters chapters, taking any chance he could to stand up and talk. Group members critique each other on grammar, enthusiasm, use of gestures, and other tricks of the speakers' trade.

"It's a very comfortable setting where other people have the same fears as you, " LaCroix quips. " It's kind of like a support group." Although he joined the group for comedy training, LaCroix became drawn to other public speaking opportunities. He honed an act for training speeches and other motivational messages, building his reputation among businesses in central Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

This year, LaCroix's skills paid off in a string of speech competitions. Crafting a different speech for each level, he swept through club, district and regional levels, winning the eastern region championship two weeks ago in Farmington, Conn.

LaCroix's winning speech told listeners the benefits of helping others. At one point, he told the story of a valet at one of his corporate gigs, who saw LaCroix rushing back and forth to his car to get ready for a presentation.

"He said, 'The next time you come here, we park your car closer,' " he says, smiling. "He changed my presentation, because he relieved my tension."

The next speech hasn't been written yet, but LaCroix isn't taking any time off between competitions. He's training with speech trainer Dave McIlhenny of Carlisle and Mark Brown, winner of the 1995 competition, who lives in Maryland.

The speech will observe some of the biggest rules LaCroix has learned in nearly a decade of public speaking: Stay enthusiastic, deliver a message to the audience and use humor - but only when it's applicable.

"The worst advice I ever heard was 'Always start off with a joke,' " he says. " If you just tell a joke, and it dies, what do you do? Where do you go from there?"

He's also watching tapes of idols like Tracy and comedian Robin Williams, studying their tricks and timing. And, of course, he's still going to Toastmasters meetings to polish, and discuss, his craft.

"I could talk about this all day, " he says, enthusiastically.

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