Denison Herald
June 7, 1992
Ciaccio teaches 'human personal development'
by Charles Pollet
Herald Staff Writer
Nick Ciaccio sits at the back of the
classroom, monitoring the time of class
members' speeches and keeping reports.
Occasionally, he gives the class an
example of the upcoming assignment.
The class meets one night a week for
three and a half hours but it is not a course
in education. Ciaccio says it is a
course in "human personal development."
Ciaccio is a volunteer graduate
assistant for self-help Dale Carnegie courses.
"Actually, you don't take the Dale
Carnegie course, you live it," the 69-year-old
sand and gravel businessman said.
"Knowledge isn't useful unless you put
it into action."
Ciaccio first took the course with his
wife in 1979, and he will be assisting his
15th seminar, which begins June 15 in Sherman.
The class lasts for 12 weeks and costs
$895 per person. But Ciaccio says the
program is more than worth it.
"How much money do we spend on a new
car, or new clothes or a new boat? Then
how much do we spend on ol' Nick?" he asked.
"We never spend money in improving
ourselves.
"When my wife and I took the course,
it cost $450, and we had to borrow every
penny. But that's the best money I ever
spent in my life."
Ciaccio, who is not paid for assisting
the program, said, "this is more or less a
labor of love for me to help others. In
12 classes so far, I've probably helped 400
members. I've also made 400 friends."
The program's creator, Carnegie, was a
jack-of-all-trades during the early 20th
century who later taught seminars about
speaking effectively. He began
conducting courses in public speaking for
businessmen at YMCA schools in New York.
The program uses three books written
by Carnegie, "A Quick and Easy Way to
Effective Speaking," "How to Win Friends and
Influence People" and "How to Stop Worrying
and Start Living." The texts are part of
the fee, and class members are expected to
read and study them. Combined with the
instructor's lessons and members' testimonies,
participants improve t heir self-confidence,
communication, friendliness and
stress-handling skills, Ciaccio said.
Each three-and-a-half hour class is
divided into A and B sessions. In the A
session members give a 60-second testimony of
that week's assignment. Session B calls
for two minutes speeches.
For every session, class members elect
a "top vote getter," the person who the
majority think gave the best speech.
"We don't say winner because if you
have a winner, you have to have a loser, and
there are no losers in Dale Carnegie," Ciaccio
said.
The speeches are designed to explain
how members incorporated what members learned
to their lives.
"You can get more cooperation out of
people when you deal with them in a friendly
manner," Ciaccio said. "The only way to
become more friendly is by practicing it.
It's just like a woman baking a cake.
The first time she tries, it, it's just
fair. But then each time she makes a
cake, it tastes better and better because she
knows more about what she's doing because
she's done it over and over gain."
Because of the constant participation,
classes are limited to 44 people, but Ciaccio
says there are usually about 30 members.
He said member input is the most
important factor of learning.
""I can read all the books on aviation
and how to fly a plane and how to take off and
land. Then I come to you and ask, "Would
you like to go with me on my solo flight?
Of course you'd say no," he said.
That's exactly what this class teaches.
We can talk all day long about being
self-confident or being friendly or how to not
worry, but unless we practice it, we might as
well be taking a nap."
Ciaccio uses his own experiences to
persuade people to take the course.
"I used to spend $1,000 worth of
energy on a 10-cent problem," he said.
"I know that 99 percent of my worries
never happened. One of the
things this course teaches you is that
the law of averages applies in everything.
For every bad thing that happens at
least one good thing will happen."
