The Kids Listen to Larry Veal What kind of things devalue you? Larry Veal, motivational speaker, comedian, and actor, asked the group this question during his presentation. The answer was smoking, doing drugs, etc. Stay away from those things, Veal told the kids. Pay attention to what's on the inside, not what's on the outside, he said. For example, what you wear,  where you live, what your hair looks We- these are not the important things Furthermore, he said, your decisions can lead you to success or can be fatal. A big hit this year with the kids, as well as last, Larry Veal brought his dynamic manner and method of approach back to inspire the PAL youth directors. The kids loved his presentation, which featured Veal's dance postures in sync with his opening music and the morphing of his appearance by means of donning a knitted cap or a bandana in order to portray the characters who help him deliver his message. One character was an inmate in prison for a life sentence, who said when he committed the crime that landed him in prison, it was like he'd thrown away a sack of gold— the gold representing what his life was worth. Another was a young man on a determined downhill slide who Veal encouraged and helped so he could find the  ay up toward success. A number of the young people present could identify with Veal as he revealed his own troubled teenage years when he thought of himself as a successful shoplifter and someone who could get away with anything. He was a member old. gang, received all "F's," and was suspended eighteen times. In his junior year of high school, he turned himself around, became an honor student, and received awards for "Best Mental Attitude" and "Outstanding Athlete." He left college with degrees in criminology and drama and a desire to perform as a comedian. Veal often won comedy competitions, but since the early 1990's, has used his "wit, intellect, and street smarts to help kids," as the conference literature described. He has been inspiring young people professionally for six years.