The key to successful public speaking, Pat Croce said yesterday, is really quite simple. "Be prompt. Be positive. Be seated," the energetic president of the Philadelphia 76ers told a crowd of more than 50 students and basketball fans at the Penn Bookstore. He was all three of those things yesterday and, in the process, delivered a talk that audience members found entertaining and inspiring. Croce came to Penn yesterday to promote his autobiographical book, I Feel Great and You Will Too! An Inspiring Journey of Success with Practical Tips on How to Score Big in Life, as part of the bookstore's Author Series. In his 30-minute speech, Croce, a personal trainer turned motivational speaker and self-made multimillionaire, spoke less about basketball than he did about achieving goals and not losing sight of ambitions -- whatever they might be. And for someone who has an interesting personal tale to tell, Croce barely spoke about himself. Described as "the human incarnation of the Tazmanian devil" by his co-author, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bill Lyon, who gave the opening remarks yesterday, Croce has made a name for himself by -- among other things -- being a sympathetic middle-man in the always contentious struggle between Sixers star guard Allen Iverson and Larry Brown, the team's coach. "I'm here to tell you to unlock your mind. Unlock your dreams. You can be Harry Potter," Croce urged. "I'm telling you to bet on you." Positive affirmations were not the only thing audience members came to hear, however. Wharton senior Michael Billings, for instance, hoped to pick up some business savvy from one of the NBA's most colorful personalities. "Anyone that can become a multimillionaire by being a personal trainer must know how to do business and how to do it well," Billings said. Croce also offered advice on finding success in the very competitive sports industry. He suggested volunteering or internships as a start. "Relationships determine results," Croce said. He did admit, though, that life, even after making it big, is not always easy -- after all, he nearly lost his leg in a motorcycle accident last year. Croce was less than one day into a planned motorcycle tour of the country when he lost control of his bike during a storm. He underwent several surgeries and more than a year of rehabilitation. And Croce's job carries its own pressures, as he discussed a press conference he delivered after firing 76ers general manager Brad Greenberg and coach Johnny Davis after the 1996-97 season. "It was like the measles, no one wanted to come near me," he said. Yet Croce maintained that people should not be disheartened by setbacks and, instead, should continually ask themselves, "Where is the resistance coming from? Is it a locked door or a locked mind?" One audience member even got Croce to divulge the first thing he does every morning. To demonstrate, he emphatically rubbed his hands together, as he does every morning, and convinced himself that he was in for a great day. College senior Jeremy Lawson, a Philadelphia native, thought of the talk as a nice opportunity to meet Croce. "I'm a big Pat Croce fan," Lawson said. "I have always followed his story. I've always kind of been inspired by him."
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