Darren LaCroix

Darren LaCroix is a keynote speaker, author, comedian and founder of The Humor Institute, Inc. He is the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking.

LaCroix was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and graduated from Bryant University in 1988. In college, he was influenced by his college marketing professor Frank Bingham, motivational speakers Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins and Dr. Wayne Dyer. He considers his mentors to be Dave Fitzgerald, Vinnie Favorito, Rick Segel and his own coach Patricia Fripp. LaCroix joined the Bose Speakers Toastmasters International Club to work toward being a stand-up comedian.

LaCroix interviewed CEOs and business owners who made humor part of their business plan, culling from their practices, principles that could be applied to any company. He developed a technique of "customizing" humor to reveal the common frustrations and pet peeves about an organization. He also created a program "Get More Laughs By Next Week" so that others could learn humor creation processes. He is a co-founder of The Humor Institute and a co-creator of The Humor Boot Camp.

Public speaking

LaCroix has been a keynote speaker since 1994, with clients including IBM, Fidelity investments, Sheraton Hotels, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dunkin' Donuts, Motorola, EMC2 Corporation, CVS Caremark, and numerous associations.

In 2001 LaCroix "out spoke" 25,000 contestants from 14 countries to become the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking. His winning speech consisted of LaCroix speaking about the fear of failure, about how someone could reach for a goal and still fall on their face. He secured his win by suddenly lurching forward and literally falling on his face. Following upon his victory, LaCroix toured the world to demystify the processes of creating a powerful speech. He has spoken in Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Malaysia, and Taiwan, sharing his message of how to "journey from first-rate chump to first-class champ".

Instructor

LaCroix instructs on how one can make others laugh. In addition to individual instruction, LaCroix educates sales forces, CEOs, public speakers and others about the best use of humor. LaCroix has also built a reputation for helping speakers launch their own careers in public speaking. He has created a trademarked program "Get Paid to Speak by Next Week", to educate on how one might create and run one's own speaking business. LaCroix supports speakers through his internet program, World Champions EDGE. He also co-created the program "How Professional Presenters Can Own the Stage", setting standards for advanced presentation skills.

Author

LaCroix is a co-author of Speaker's EDGE: Secrets and Strategies for Connecting with Any Audience, a collection of public speaking articles written by Hall of Fame Speaker, Patricia Fripp, along with World Champions of Public Speaking Ed Tate, Craig Valentine, Mark Brown, and LaCroix himself. He is also co-author with Rick Segel of Laugh & Get Rich: How to Profit from Humor in Any Business, a collection of tools to help businesses succeed through humor. The book has been translated into three languages.

Producer

As a film producer, LaCroix's documentary film project Living and Laughing with Cancer: Comedian's Journey is about his best friend's battle with cancer and attemptes to bring humor and hope to those affected by life-threatening conditions. The film was honored at the Worldfest Houston film festival for its insights into humor and healing.