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A Training Manager’s Journey Through Anxiety · Speak In Flow

• 0:02
  Melinda Lee: Welcome, dear listeners, to the Speak in Flow podcast, where we dive into unique strategies and stories to help you and your team achieve maximum potential and flow, even when the stakes are high.
• 0:15
  Melinda Lee: I had the complete honor of introducing to you a friend, an industry leader in the security services. His name is Raul Franco. He is the training manager. Hi, Raul!
• 0:32
  RaulFranco: Hi, Melinda, thank you for having me.
• 0:34
  Melinda Lee: I am so glad you're here today. We're going to do a couple things. We're going to share your expertise, tell all the audience the amazing things that you do, plus also the experience that you and the team had when I started working with the company. Does that sound good?
• 0:54
  RaulFranco: Most definitely, yes, I'd love to share that.
• 0:56
  Melinda Lee: Awesome! So before we dive into that, can you tell us, how did you get into the security industry anyways?
• 1:04
  RaulFranco: Good question. Okay, we're gonna have to go, back about 25 years. …
• 1:11
  RaulFranco: So, before I got into the security industry, you know, going back to, like, my high school days, I originally wanted to play football.
• 1:20
  RaulFranco: So, I watched football as a kid, and I wanted to be a football player, to be honest with you.
• 1:27
  RaulFranco: That didn't pan out. I wasn't quite tall enough or strong enough to really be a football player.
• 1:34
  RaulFranco: So, that didn't work out, but I did try. You know, and you always gotta try, you know? Even if you fail, at least you can say at the end of the day, hey, I gave it my best shot, I tried. Because if you don't try, then you're always gonna have that feeling later on that, oh man, I should have at least gave it a shot, you know?
• 1:53
  RaulFranco: So, it started there, and then, …
• 1:57
  RaulFranco: Another thing that I wanted to do as a high schooler was wrestling. I enjoyed pro wrestling.
• 2:04
  RaulFranco: … But again, not tall enough, not strong enough, you know, so just…
• 2:11
  RaulFranco: You know, didn't end up going that route.
• 2:14
  RaulFranco: … looking in hindsight, I'm actually kind of glad I didn't go into either career because, …
• 2:21
  RaulFranco: of all the brain trauma that's going around, a lot of these pro wrestlers and football players, it's pretty bad. So, kind of glad I didn't end up going.
• 2:32
  RaulFranco: Either, either route. But, another thing, that I enjoyed was music, back in high school, so I also wanted to…
• 2:40
  RaulFranco: be in a rock band. You know, I wanted… I played guitar back then, and I wanted to be in a rock band.
• 2:46
  RaulFranco: But then 18 came, and reality kicked in.
• 2:50
  RaulFranco: You know, I'm living on my own, I have to pay rent, I have to support myself and my girlfriend at the time.
• 2:57
  Melinda Lee: So, ….
• 2:59
  RaulFranco: you know, I ended up in the fast food industry, and … eventually.
• 3:04
  RaulFranco: a security guard, came to our restaurant, and he saw my customer service skills, he saw my, you know, my presentation skills, and he asked me if I wanted to be a security guard, for his company, and I said, yeah, sure. You know, let's give it a shot.
• 3:22
  RaulFranco: … So…
• 3:24
  RaulFranco: I, you know, I went in and took the class, to get my license to be a security guard.
• 3:29
  RaulFranco: I got hired, by a company, and at 19, I started working in the security industry.
• 3:37
  RaulFranco: … And around that time, I started watching a lot of, true crime documentaries.
• 3:46
  RaulFranco: So, at that young age of 19, my, my…
• 3:51
  RaulFranco: My end goal was to be a police detective.
• 3:54
  RaulFranco: Because… I don't know, I just…
• 3:58
  RaulFranco: I was motivated by these detectives who took the time, the effort to really, you know, obtain justice for these families, you know, for their loved ones that they lost.
• 4:11
  RaulFranco: In these really horrific and tragic ways, and…
• 4:14
  RaulFranco: I was kind of inspired by that, and I said, you know what, I'd like to be that guy one day, maybe telling one of these stories on TV about how I busted the bad guy, and I, you know, brought justice to the family, and I brought that closure.
• 4:28
  RaulFranco: So, I was inspired by these shows, and you know, I wanted to be a police detective originally, even back, you know, way back then. But, …
• 4:37
  RaulFranco: I ended up not going that route, …
• 4:41
  RaulFranco: You know, a lot of police officers, don't have long life expectancies, unfortunately. If you look at the stats, a lot of them barely make it into their 70s.
• 4:54
  RaulFranco: So, that's another thing that I factored in, and I'm like, you know, I want to live. I want to live as long as I can. If I can make it to 70, 80, 90, that'd be great, but I know if I become a police officer or a detective, I'm gonna shorten my life expectancy, drastically. So…
• 5:10
  RaulFranco: Fortunately, I ended up not becoming a police officer or detective. I instead just stuck with the security industry, which I'm still happy about, you know, I'm not regretting anything about it.
• 5:21
  RaulFranco: But, no, I'm happy to be in this industry. It's been 21 years now I've been in this industry.
• 5:27
  RaulFranco: … The last 5 years, I've worked as a trainer.
• 5:32
  RaulFranco: And, as I was mentioning to you, you know, I really could have used you 5 years ago when I started, my training courses, because when I first started training,
• 5:44
  RaulFranco: You know, I… I… it was hard. You know, … I had anxiety.
• 5:50
  RaulFranco: Before I would roll out these trainings.
• 5:53
  Melinda Lee: I would get sweaty.
• 5:54
  RaulFranco: My heart would race.
• 5:57
  RaulFranco: You know, and it was hard at first. And a lot of times, I would start off the trainings pretty shaky.
• 6:05
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 6:06
  RaulFranco: And then eventually I would find my flow.
• 6:08
  RaulFranco: You know, maybe after the first few minutes, I would eventually find my flow. That's why I like your program, it's called Flow, and I'm all about the flow, I love it, you know? But yeah, a lot of the trainings and public speaking, it's about the flow. It really is, you know? So, but yeah, ….
• 6:27
  Melinda Lee: How long did it take for you to… did you use any tools, or you just kept on practicing, kept on practicing, until the nerves went away?
• 6:36
  RaulFranco: practice did help a lot, but there are some other tips and tricks that I utilized, early on, because I started noticing, like, you know, and I would watch my recordings of myself, and I would say, oh man, I'm shaky.
• 6:50
  Melinda Lee: Yeah. You know.
• 6:52
  RaulFranco: It's like, I was like a wind-up toy, where the first, you know, I had to get wind-up.
• 6:56
  RaulFranco: Before I would be able to really, you know, take off.
• 7:00
  RaulFranco: So, but yeah, some of the things I started, doing to help myself, is I would watch, a lot of the great public speakers.
• 7:10
  RaulFranco: So I'd watch a few TED Talks, …
• 7:14
  RaulFranco: I would, watch Wayne Dyer. I'm not sure if you're familiar with him. One of the all-time, most…
• 7:22
  RaulFranco: inspirational speakers, so I would, I would watch Wayne Dyer.
• 7:26
  RaulFranco: I would listen to other inspirational speakers,
• 7:32
  RaulFranco: I'm trying to name a couple here. Let's see, … Dwayne The Rock.
• 7:37
  Melinda Lee: Don't hit the wrong Jonathan. I know that sounds funny, because he's a pro wrestler, you know, he's a movie star.
• 7:42
  RaulFranco: But he has such confidence when he skates.
• 7:46
  RaulFranco: And that's one thing I like to mimic from him, is his confidence. Wayne Dyer?
• 7:52
  RaulFranco: I love his calmness. Yeah. His soothing voice, you know? And there's a lot of other great ones that I can mention, …
• 8:00
  RaulFranco: you know, … Tupac.
• 8:02
  RaulFranco: The rapper. Maybe not the greatest speaker, but he had a great mind.
• 8:08
  RaulFranco: You know, he would think of things that most people would never even really think about in their daily lives. So, you know, I would get inspired by a lot of these… I would call them role models, actually. You know, Bob Marley, Tupac.
• 8:24
  RaulFranco: The Rock, Wayne Dyer, just to name a few. David Lee Roth is another one, I'm not sure if you're familiar with him.
• 8:31
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 8:31
  RaulFranco: the lead singer for Van Halen. That guy's… again, he's another one of those guys that just has, you know.
• 8:38
  RaulFranco: Charisma to the… to the ceiling, you know?
• 8:40
  Melinda Lee: Love it.
• 8:40
  RaulFranco: So, I would try to mimic these guys.
• 8:44
  Melinda Lee: Perfect.
• 8:45
  RaulFranco: as I could in my trainings, and…
• 8:47
  RaulFranco: You know, just take a little bit from each one of them.
• 8:50
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, it's so important, especially when we are not… we don't feel it ourselves, but to watch somebody else, to breathe it in… I think when you're listening to people like that, that you're inspired by, and you notice those things, it actually transfers
• 9:06
  Melinda Lee: Our body, our brains, cannot see in others what we already don't have in ourselves.
• 9:12
  Melinda Lee: So, you're seeing things of yourself. There's a mirror of you when you're seeing other people's traits.
• 9:18
  Melinda Lee: So, you can see that for yourself, you can start to… it lightens up, it… it…
• 9:24
  Melinda Lee: Unveils and taps into parts of you that are there.
• 9:29
  Melinda Lee: And so that's what you were doing subconsciously. You may not even know that that's what you're doing, but you're tapping into the parts of you that are there, that you see in the other people, and so it transfers, and then so you're able to use it, even in your trainings, even when you think that you didn't have it, but it can
• 9:45
  Melinda Lee: It can get unfolded and blossom within you like that.
• 9:48
  RaulFranco: Yeah, yeah, you're right, yeah, you know, you tap in sometimes. Yeah, yeah.
• 9:54
  RaulFranco: Other personalities, and you try to channel them a little bit.
• 9:57
  Melinda Lee: middle it.
• 9:58
  RaulFranco: But, you know, every voice is different. That's what… that's another thing I've noticed. Every, you know, some voices are easier to listen to, and you'll enjoy listening to.
• 10:09
  RaulFranco: Versus others, you know, like, it's like going back in school, you know, some teachers you could listen to all day.
• 10:18
  RaulFranco: And then there's some teachers that you could only listen to for so long, and then eventually you get, you know, bored, and you almost fall asleep. And that, you know, you can kind of see the differences sometimes in…
• 10:28
  RaulFranco: The great teachers versus the teachers who would just kind of give you half of the effort.
• 10:34
  RaulFranco: You know, they didn't really have their heart and soul into it, so a lot of times you'd get bored with those teachers, but the teachers that are more passionate.
• 10:42
  RaulFranco: And inspirational, and, you know, they're just more outgoing and energetic, and have that charisma. You tend to want to listen to them a lot longer.
• 10:52
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 10:53
  Melinda Lee: Speaking about different personalities and people, what about the team? Oh, I was brought in to support the security services team, and so there were a lot of different personalities and people. What were your… what was it like? Do you recall, before I started, we started working together.
• 11:11
  Melinda Lee: as we were starting to work together, what was their public speaking like? As a theme, as a whole, for the group?
• 11:16
  RaulFranco: Well, you know, first… first thing I gotta say is, I'm glad you came and you trained, us, because a lot of us, we, a lot of us needed this training.
• 11:27
  RaulFranco: But looking back on where we started, …
• 11:34
  RaulFranco: I mean, you made everybody better.
• 11:37
  Melinda Lee: Including me.
• 11:39
  RaulFranco: You know? Our art director.
• 11:43
  RaulFranco: I mean, she, you know, you saw her in the beginning, she was really shaky. A lot of times, she would have to start over, and we'd have to do a retake.
• 11:52
  RaulFranco: So, I believe the entire training was about 3 months with you, right? Approximately 3 months? Yeah, so, yeah, the first time around, you know, it was just, you know… and she's young, of course, so, you know, I don't expect her to be….
• 12:07
  Melinda Lee: No, no judgment, no judgment. Even people that are 50, you know, 40s, 50s, 60s experience this shakiness, this stumbling, it's really, like, it's actually 80% of humankind, right, they're actually, they experience these things when they're about to do public speaking.
• 12:24
  RaulFranco: Well, I believe it, I believe it. It could even be more than that, but yeah, I believe.
• 12:28
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, for sure.
• 12:29
  RaulFranco: But, I mean, just seeing where she started and where she….
• 12:32
  Melinda Lee: Where she was during the first training session compared to the last training session. So let's hold it right there. Let's, like, describe, like, her, she had the shaky voice before we go into the last… where we are today. So they have the shaky voice, and what else did you see?
• 12:47
  RaulFranco: Well, in her in particular, yeah, she was shaky, she didn't have… she didn't really speak with much confidence,
• 12:58
  RaulFranco: She stuttered a lot.
• 12:59
  RaulFranco: Maybe she wasn't prepared, Yeah, there was a lot of stuttering.
• 13:04
  RaulFranco: There's a few times where she would just get stuck.
• 13:08
  RaulFranco: And then have to basically tell you, oh, let's start over, let's do a retake.
• 13:13
  Melinda Lee: Is it….
• 13:13
  RaulFranco: And then….
• 13:14
  Melinda Lee: You're practicing public speaking?
• 13:16
  Melinda Lee: Was it a public speaking, or just communication, like a team meeting?
• 13:20
  RaulFranco: I think when we did it with you, it was over Zoom.
• 13:23
  RaulFranco: In the beginning, got it, got it with me, yeah. Yeah, and it wasn't just her, there were, quite a few other, managers
• 13:35
  RaulFranco: That also kind of had similar issues.
• 13:38
  RaulFranco: But… You know, going now towards the…
• 13:44
  RaulFranco: And, of the training we received from you, you know.
• 13:49
  RaulFranco: I'm speaking about mostly the last session we had with you. I just saw…
• 13:55
  RaulFranco: vast improvement in everyone. I was impressed, like, I mean, after our art director finished.
• 14:03
  RaulFranco: Speaking after our last session.
• 14:06
  RaulFranco: I mean, I probably shouldn't have said what I said, but I said, God, that was a thousand times better, you know?
• 14:14
  RaulFranco: I feel bad looking back now, saying that, but… it is kind of the truth. I mean, she just went from… I mean, from 0 to 100. I mean, she was on that stage, she was walking around.
• 14:29
  RaulFranco: She didn't stutter. She had confidence.
• 14:32
  RaulFranco: I mean, she sounded like she knew what she was talking about, and that she meant it, and it was great. So, out of everyone,
• 14:43
  RaulFranco: I think you had the most impact on her. Yeah. And that was nice. That was really nice to see that. But everybody, I think, improved. Going from day one to the last session, everybody improved. A lot of us improved drastically.
• 15:01
  RaulFranco: You know, as I mentioned, I definitely could have used you 5 years ago, but I still learned things from you, and I remember telling you that during the first session, I said, you know what?
• 15:12
  RaulFranco: I kind of already have this down, for the most part, but I'm still opening… I'm still open to… to… to listen, and… because I'm sure there's something else I can learn from you, you know? And I did. There was, you know, I improved, even. So, you know, I found this training to be very valuable.
• 15:32
  RaulFranco: And, … you know, before you came along, I had not even known that there was a, …
• 15:39
  RaulFranco: you know, companies like yours that even offer this kind of training. So, it was pretty neat, when I first heard about, you know, your speaking flow,
• 15:51
  RaulFranco: training, And I was like, oh, wow, there's actually training for this! I'm like…
• 15:56
  RaulFranco: you know, could have used this a while ago, but I'm glad we have it now, we had it, and a lot of us did improve from it. So, I thank you dearly for coming out and training us.
• 16:07
  Melinda Lee: Thank you! I'm so glad to hear. I really saw the difference in them, and I love that they were able to all tell stories. Like, none of them really… I think most of them weren't as, like, knew how to tell stories, and now they can tell success stories, client success stories, too.
• 16:27
  Melinda Lee: Which I thought would be….
• 16:28
  RaulFranco: Yeah, yeah, it's important in our business, you know, our business is about
• 16:34
  RaulFranco: selling. You know, we're trying to sell a product. The product is our officers, so, you know, we need to be able to articulate, you know, those selling points, you know, to these clients, so they can, you know, take on our services.
• 16:49
  RaulFranco: Rather than, you know, go with another company. So, yeah.
• 16:53
  Melinda Lee: Well, I'm curious, what did you learn? You said you learned. What did you learn?
• 16:58
  RaulFranco: Well, okay, a lot of the techniques that you provided us with, I kind of already was doing. So, like, the breathing techniques. I was doing that a while ago, and it does help. You know, you take 2 or 3 deep breaths, it kind of resets your heart rate.
• 17:18
  Melinda Lee: Hmm.
• 17:18
  RaulFranco: And it puts you in a state of calmness before you start speaking, so that I like.
• 17:26
  RaulFranco: You also told us to put ourselves in a happy place, right? A good location, a comfortable location.
• 17:34
  RaulFranco: And that's something that I had not done before. So that I did learn from you, like, yeah, put yourself in a good…
• 17:41
  RaulFranco: Happy place before you go up there and speak.
• 17:44
  RaulFranco: …
• 17:45
  RaulFranco: And, you know, one of my happy places was the training room. And the reason is because I've been training in this room the last 3 years, you know, I've been speaking to our new officers the last 3 years in this room, and I feel very comfortable when I'm in that room. So…
• 18:01
  RaulFranco: If I'm speaking to an audience of 40 or 50 at one of our local high-rise buildings to these, you know, building tenants, I pretend that I'm back in the training room with the regular security guards that I'm comfortable with speaking to.
• 18:16
  RaulFranco: And, you know what I mean? Like, so that helped. That helped me, you know, just putting my… picturing myself in that happy place.
• 18:22
  RaulFranco: The Kakar, also, … It's funny, it makes perfect sense, you know, why we should utilize the Kakar.
• 18:32
  RaulFranco: But I feel like I was already…
• 18:34
  RaulFranco: doing the Kakar without knowing that it was….
• 18:37
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 18:38
  RaulFranco: It was called the Kakar. Right. But, but no, that's a really good method for a lot of people to utilize, is that Kakar method.
• 18:46
  Melinda Lee: Nice.
• 18:46
  RaulFranco: But I just didn't know there was a name for it, so….
• 18:49
  Melinda Lee: I was… yeah, that's just something I've used with my clients, is something easy to remember, so….
• 18:55
  RaulFranco: Y-yuh.
• 18:56
  Melinda Lee: Fine.
• 18:57
  RaulFranco: And, you know, and I'm not perfect, you know, I can tell you some of my flaws early on, and some of them I still need to work on.
• 19:06
  RaulFranco: So… Filler words.
• 19:10
  RaulFranco: You know, I'm trying to do my best to eliminate those filler words as much as possible.
• 19:16
  RaulFranco: you know, the ums and the and, you know, all the… all that. It's hard to do, but it can be done.
• 19:24
  RaulFranco: And… from what I've heard, it's like…
• 19:27
  RaulFranco: The more you practice, the more you rehearse, the better prepared you are, the more likely you'll get rid of those filler words.
• 19:34
  Melinda Lee: Nope.
• 19:34
  RaulFranco: ….
• 19:35
  Melinda Lee: Wrong….
• 19:36
  RaulFranco: But there's another thing, that's part….
• 19:38
  Melinda Lee: Another method, there's.
• 19:39
  RaulFranco: There's another method, but that's part of it. You can use another word, like, furthermore, you know, you could use another filler word that's not or, you know, or like.
• 19:49
  RaulFranco: But, … Yeah, getting rid of the filler words for me is something that, …
• 19:54
  RaulFranco: you know, I would like to work on more for myself, personally.
• 19:58
  RaulFranco: Another reason why I feel that I use filler words at times is if I'm talking too much for too long. It's like you're bound to have a couple of those filler words.
• 20:10
  Melinda Lee: No.
• 20:11
  RaulFranco: But that's just what I've seen.
• 20:13
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, that's not true. Those are all not true.
• 20:16
  RaulFranco: No? Okay, so you teach me here. You tell me.
• 20:19
  Melinda Lee: So here's opportunity. Well, we want to focus more on your presence.
• 20:24
  Melinda Lee: And the connection to… your internal state, because we went through the BME scan.
• 20:31
  Melinda Lee: And we tend to start to use filler words when we are in… when our body starts to doubt, like, what I'm saying.
• 20:40
  Melinda Lee: So, remember how I did the BME scan, and I started to… the first step is noticing when you're in the doubt, and then replacing that with
• 20:51
  Melinda Lee: Pausing.
• 20:52
  Melinda Lee: Versus filler words, because you don't want to use furthermore, because that's more filler words. Unless it makes sense to use furthermore. But if you're using a lot of filler words, then to replace it with furthermore, then there's more filler words.
• 21:06
  RaulFranco: In other words, you're still using filler words.
• 21:08
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah, yes, yes. So it's actually better to pause.
• 21:12
  RaulFranco: That's right, you did say that, and that made a lot of sense. And a lot of the people I watched on TED Talks.
• 21:18
  RaulFranco: They, they pause a lot.
• 21:20
  Melinda Lee: pause.
• 21:21
  RaulFranco: And there's power behind that little pause, believe it or not, right?
• 21:25
  Melinda Lee: Sure. And then, okay, so there is a little point about when you're starting to talk too much, then you start to… that's because you're doubting what you're saying.
• 21:35
  RaulFranco: Hmm….
• 21:36
  Melinda Lee: Then the filler words start to come in, because you're just…
• 21:41
  Melinda Lee: you're just speaking to speak. So you want to make sure every single point that you're saying, especially when you are doing public speaking.
• 21:48
  Melinda Lee: We want to be clear, concise with our points.
• 21:52
  Melinda Lee: And then pause.
• 21:55
  Melinda Lee: And that… so that when you feel your internal signals starting to doubt yourself, then you pause.
• 22:01
  Melinda Lee: And just say less.
• 22:03
  Melinda Lee: That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. You know, because sometimes, for me, it depends on the training that I'm giving. Right.
• 22:10
  RaulFranco: whether I use filler words or not. So, one training, just to give an example, that I noticed I use less filler words with is the, the active shooter training.
• 22:23
  Melinda Lee: Okay.
• 22:24
  RaulFranco: And I feel because… I feel that way because with the active shooter training, it's a very serious topic, right? Yeah. It's not…
• 22:34
  RaulFranco: It's not a fun topic, it's, you know, so my tone will be more serious.
• 22:39
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 22:39
  RaulFranco: when I speak about, you know, active shooter situation, some of the case studies, you know, so my tone will be more serious, and I'll tend to talk a little bit slower.
• 22:50
  Melinda Lee: Yes. And I'll pause more.
• 22:53
  Melinda Lee: So you're not doing it right now, because, like, you're in that active shooter training mode. I just noticed the switch. It's when you're thinking, I noticed that, now when you're thinking and you're in your head, you'll start to…
• 23:05
  Melinda Lee: have more filler words, but when you're very present and, like, in your active training, so maybe the next time you speak, be in that mode of, I'm in the active training speaking mode. And it's not to be direct or monotonous, but it's to be more clear and concise, and then that eliminates the filler words.
• 23:25
  RaulFranco: I agree, I agree. You know, the other training….
• 23:29
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:29
  RaulFranco: that we provide that I've noticed I do tend to use more filler words with is our, fire safety training.
• 23:38
  Melinda Lee: Hmm?
• 23:38
  RaulFranco: And I kind of have an idea why that is, is because…
• 23:42
  RaulFranco: They only give us about an hour to go over…
• 23:46
  RaulFranco: The, you know, the whole entire fire safety training, Plans.
• 23:51
  Melinda Lee: So….
• 23:52
  RaulFranco: A lot of times, I have to rush that training a little bit.
• 23:57
  RaulFranco: And when I'm rushing, you know, you're talking a little bit faster, I notice I tend to use more filler words.
• 24:04
  RaulFranco: So, you're right about slowing it down, pausing, you know, from time to time. That does help eliminate the filler words. So, with Active Shooter, I take my time.
• 24:14
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 24:15
  RaulFranco: It's a serious training again, but with the… but, yeah, it just depends on the training sometimes. You know, the speed, the speed, how much time you have, the pressure.
• 24:25
  Melinda Lee: I think when you… because you have pressure on yourself, then you start to speak faster, and then you start to have more filler words, because you're having this pressure.
• 24:33
  RaulFranco: Absolutely, yeah.
• 24:34
  Melinda Lee: Like I mentioned, that's when the filler words come in, because when you have pressure, when you have doubt, something within you is doubting, so then you have the filler words.
• 24:43
  RaulFranco: Yeah, well, you look at the clock, and you're like, oh, crap, I got 15 minutes left, I better start speeding up
• 24:50
  RaulFranco: it.
• 24:50
  RaulFranco: Yeah. Yeah, that tends to happen, but….
• 24:53
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 24:54
  RaulFranco: Yeah, you know, I see the flaws in myself, you know, …
• 25:00
  RaulFranco: Filler words is something I can, continue to work on a bit. ….
• 25:05
  Melinda Lee: Practice that. Practice that next time. When you have a training, go into your active shooter, and then put together bullet points that are just a couple, like, less points.
• 25:15
  RaulFranco: And then taking your time.
• 25:17
  RaulFranco: Yeah, taking your time and pausing really, really helps eliminate those filler words. There was something else that I, I… oh, eye contact.
• 25:26
  Melinda Lee: Eye contact.
• 25:27
  RaulFranco: Eye contact. So I do scan the room.
• 25:30
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 25:30
  RaulFranco: scan the room, but I usually don't make direct… too much direct eye contact, and I probably could…
• 25:39
  RaulFranco: Use that and do that more, and that would probably be a little bit more helpful, because then you can make a deeper connection.
• 25:45
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, so when you… this will help you when you slow down and you make one point at a time.
• 25:52
  Melinda Lee: The one point… okay, so Raul, look at me, I'm looking at you, I'm gonna make one point at a time.
• 25:57
  Melinda Lee: And then… And then… and then I can move to another point, and then look at somebody else.
• 26:03
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, so….
• 26:04
  RaulFranco: Yeah, you did that very well when you were training us in person, I noticed that. Like, you connected eye-to-eye with everybody.
• 26:13
  RaulFranco: And I was like.
• 26:14
  RaulFranco: Wow. Like, I was… I mean, you are the professional here, but still, I was like…
• 26:19
  RaulFranco: Man, that's really cool that you're… you connected with all of us, just with your eyes.
• 26:25
  Melinda Lee: I think it's… I mean, if you go to your core value of… and I know you so well, because we've been working together, of core value of you want to feel everyone included.
• 26:35
  Melinda Lee: Like, that's generally what I want. I want the whole room to know that they belong.
• 26:40
  RaulFranco: Yeah, you definitely did that, and that's not easy to do, because, I mean, I'm sure you've spoken in front of dozens of… dozens of people, and you always get at least a couple of people who.
• 26:52
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 26:52
  RaulFranco: You know, they kind of give you….
• 26:54
  Melinda Lee: Earl.
• 26:54
  RaulFranco: Not so very… yeah, yeah, you get that.
• 26:58
  RaulFranco: And you don't really want to focus too much on them, but you kind of… you want to still, because you don't want to lose their attention. You want to regain their attention somehow. But it is hard to do, I'll be honest.
• 27:12
  RaulFranco: You know, … one of the… I won't mention his name, but our VP, …
• 27:21
  RaulFranco: He made a lot of eye contact with me during the last session.
• 27:24
  RaulFranco: And, I liked it, it was kind of funny, but I know why he did. …
• 27:31
  RaulFranco: Because from what I've read, is that, you know, To make yourself feel comfortable.
• 27:37
  RaulFranco: when you're speaking publicly, look for somebody in the audience who is, like, really listening. Right. You know, and just… they're, they're paying attention, they're… they're…
• 27:49
  RaulFranco: You know, they care about what you're saying.
• 27:51
  RaulFranco: And I think that's kind of, like, what my RVP did with me, is he saw that I was really in tune, and I was really listening, and I was, you know, supportive, I had good body language, you know?
• 28:03
  RaulFranco: And he looked at me several times during his, you know, presentation, and I said, okay, I need to start doing something similar.
• 28:13
  Melinda Lee: But I was really impressed, because how you, you, you connected with.
• 28:16
  RaulFranco: everybody in the room, with your eyes. And that's hard to do sometimes when you have people with, you know, poor body language, or, you know, they look like they're not interested.
• 28:25
  Melinda Lee: Right, right.
• 28:26
  RaulFranco: It's hard to do that.
• 28:28
  RaulFranco: Oh, wow, you are, you are truly a professional public speaker. I appreciate it. I mean, I thought I was good, but…
• 28:37
  RaulFranco: There's people better than me, for sure.
• 28:40
  Melinda Lee: Oh, thank you, thank you so much, Raul. I really appreciate that. That means a lot.
• 28:46
  RaulFranco: You're very welcome.
• 28:48
  RaulFranco: Truth.
• 28:49
  Melinda Lee: Thank you. Oh, that was so fun! I really appreciate your time, and just doing that reflection on…
• 28:56
  Melinda Lee: not just what we had experienced with the team, but with you, and just public speaking in general, all the key tools and tips that… that people can use, and I trust that people, whoever's listening out there, have taken away what they needed.
• 29:11
  Melinda Lee: And so before we close, I'd like for you to let the audience know, especially those new managers, like, what advice would you give to new managers, people in the security industry, if they're stepping in, to help with their leadership?
• 29:27
  Melinda Lee: And into the industry.
• 29:29
  RaulFranco: Yeah, so for any, you know, young security officer out there who wants to get into this industry and succeed.
• 29:40
  RaulFranco: I would advise them to just…
• 29:43
  RaulFranco: You know, keep pushing, don't… don't give up. …
• 29:48
  RaulFranco: You will find a company out there that will see your potential, they will see your skills.
• 29:54
  RaulFranco: And, they will provide you the growth that you're looking for.
• 29:58
  RaulFranco: Of course, not everyone's looking for growth, but for those that are looking for growth, just don't give up, and never stop learning, you know?
• 30:06
  RaulFranco: …
• 30:08
  RaulFranco: Try to take classes, try to, you know, obtain certificates, try to obtain special training, and all of that will eventually, …
• 30:19
  RaulFranco: you know, it'll lead to something. It led me where I'm at today, actually, you know, seeking that…
• 30:27
  RaulFranco: higher learning, seeking those certificates, to give me, you know, more knowledge and skills in this industry. And that helped, me, and, you know, also having good role models, having good managers, you know, and following their examples, following their lead.
• 30:43
  RaulFranco: You know, try to be a team player.
• 30:47
  RaulFranco: And, I know sometimes it's hard to be a team player if you're working at a toxic environment, and, you know, there are companies out there that are, you know, a bit toxic, and, you know, probably want to leave that place and look for a better place, but… but don't give up. You know, just keep pushing, keep trying to learn more.
• 31:06
  RaulFranco: Keep doing the right thing.
• 31:08
  RaulFranco: And eventually, somebody will see your potential, and you'll get that growth that you are seeking.
• 31:14
  Melinda Lee: Aww, that's beautiful. Love it. Thank you so much.
• 31:19
  RaulFranco: You're most welcome, Melinda. Thank you very much, for your time, for inviting me today, and for, for training us, making us all better.
• 31:27
  Melinda Lee: Yes, thank you, Raul. I can't wait for your training company to get launched.
• 31:32
  RaulFranco: Thank you, we'll see, you know, that'll be sometime in the distant future, who knows?
• 31:39
  Melinda Lee: People need it. People need your training. They need it, so….
• 31:42
  RaulFranco: I have a passion for it, I do have a passion for it, but yeah, thank you so much for that.
• 31:47
  Melinda Lee: All right, listeners, thank you so much for joining, and implement! Implement the tools, the tips today that we've shared, and until next time, remember, anytime you have an opportunity to speak, you also are connecting and making a positive difference in the world.
• 32:05
  Melinda Lee: Until next time, I'm your sister-in-Flo. Take care.
• 32:09
  Melinda Lee: Thank you, Raul.
• 32:11
  RaulFranco: You're welcome, Melinda. Take care.