I benefit from the shared experience of many professional speakers and writers, and count several as friends. I couldn’t pick one out as being the “most important,” and I’m not attempting here to do so. But today marks the beginning of a series called “My Speaking Heroes” in which I’ll tell you about some of the speakers and writers who have made a difference to me.
Today it struck me why I continue to be impressed by one particular speaker/writer: Darren LaCroix.
A winner in more ways than one
Darren is part of the small group of speakers who have won Toastmasters’ International Speaking Contest. He “out spoke” 25,000 contestants from 14 countries to claim the title of 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking. He had been a keynote speaker since 1994, and continues to speak and train all over the world.
I met him and talked with him for a bit at the District 63 Toastmasters Conference in Chattanooga last fall. He makes his living as a speaker and writer, so of course he charges for his training and guidance. I do too, though not on his level! But he shared generously in his advice to the audience members, and to me individually.
He also shares a tremendous amount of his expertise free of charge through his web sites. I realize that’s good marketing, but good marketing is the same (at least in this regard) as being a good person–sort of “doing well by doing good,” a phrase often attributed to Benjamin Franklin and certainly exemplified by him. (Note: that doesn’t mean everything is free. But it’s all solid, proving that the guidance that is not free is worth more than the price.)
He’s respondable
A lot of people share some part of their expertise without charge, both as a service and a sample. Darren goes further; as much as is possible for a busy person, he responds to me when I write to him. There are several others on his level who do not bother.
Darren is not alone in this. Some of the future posts in this series will note other similarly generous people. However, it is rare, which makes these folks stand out.
For contrast: I know another speaker/writer who also has tons of useful information, both free of charge and for sale. I have benefited from his guidance, and have talked with him personally–but only as part of a webinar. I have sent email on at least five occasions (one of which was in response to a request he sent out to his list), but have never heard back.
Another speaker at a regional meeting of our state National Speakers Association chapter offered some special information if we emailed him within 24 hours. I emailed him before leaving the meeting, and again 12 hours later. No response. I emailed again the following day, asking if he had received either of the first two. No response. There were fewer than 10 people at that meeting, so I don’t think he was swamped. But no response.
When I took Darren up on his offer to drop him an email, guess what? He responded! When I sent him a question through his “Ask Darren” web site, he responded again! I thought that questions would be answered only if they seemed to be worth using in his regular YouTube video feature by the same name. But I got an individual response (and a similar response showed up later in a video)! Wow!
This is on top of a program he makes available free of charge for a year sharing 52 tips on professional speaking, plus a highly informative newsletter.
He’s a busy guy, and it won’t surprise me when he doesn’t immediately respond to a future email, or perhaps doesn’t respond at all. The glut of email we all get means that some will fall through the cracks. But the way he has responded shows me that a) he pays attention, and b) he walks his talk. That means that when it comes time to spend cash to increase my own skills, I’ll be spending some of it with him (and with some of the others I’ll talk about in future series posts).
When you get right down to it–it’s just good communication. Thanks, Darren!
Who has surprised you by his/her willingness to respond to you?
