By Elizabeth Reiss
Beacon reporter

When Rick Nielsen talks, students listen.
The inspirational speaker, magician, juggler, humorist and author came to Baltic School for an assembly Thursday and delivered a message of hope to students in grades four through 12 in a most entertaining way.
Nielsen, of Des Moines, Iowa, has appeared before students, business people, prison inmates, athletes and church congregations for more than 23 years. Targeting groups of people who might regularly sit through boring meetings, seminars or lectures, he gives advice to help his audiences become better, more positive people, focusing on respect, encouragement and the power each person has that can make a difference in the lives of others.
His presentations contain high doses of humor and entertainment, which opens the door for the message, Nielsen said. “A lot of times, they’re bombarded with someone scolding them,” Nielsen said. “The entertainment and humor are a bridge. Then you win their ears.”
On Thursday, he involved students in magic tricks and amazingly turned three separate ropes into one continuous rope. After playing a few pranks on students, which was met with lots of laughter, he showed his juggling skills— Nielsen threw red, blue and yellow balls quickly into the air, bounced them off the floor, caught them upside-down and criss-crossed them by throwing them behind his back. Then he got to the important stuff.
Nielsen has shared his time and talents touring the country, visiting thousands of inmates—even ones on death row—in more than 600 prisons. He told Baltic students that most prisoners he met rarely have had any positive experiences or encouragement.
“If you hear nothing but negative, we become exactly what we hear and what we say to ourselves enough times,” Nielsen said. “If there is one thing I’ve learned more than anything, it is this: the words you speak to others have a tremendous impact.”
He gave examples of prisoners tattooing letters across their arms that spell words such as “loser.”
“Quite often we become what we call ourselves,” Nielsen said. “We are a product of the choices we’ve made.”
Student Brittany Lambert said Neilsen has a gift for connecting with young people.
“He gave a different story than we usually hear,” Lambert said. “He has life examples.”
Lambert noted that Nielsen had the full attention of the student audience. “You don’t see that very often,” she said.
“It is a passion; a calling,” Nielsen said of his work.