Shadowing Practice: A Powerful Technique To Seduce & Influence Anyone: Robert Greene - Learn English Speaking with Video
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seduction is an high form of power if you're more seductive in your approach
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if you're more indirect people will do what you want
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or go in your direction without ever even realizing
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it what makes for a great seducer is very simple i can summarize it very simply
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you mentioned seduction there the art of seduction why did you
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write a book about the topic of seduction seduction is a high form of power
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because you make people feel pleasure you make them feel excited
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or interested in you and then their their resistance to your ideas slowly lowers
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and you have the ability to influence them
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and to move them in the direction that you want
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if you yell at them like we were talking about your child
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and you tell them do this do that they were they're resented
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and for good reason but if you're subtler
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if you're more seductive in your approach
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if you're more indirect people will do what you want
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or go in your direction without ever even realizing it
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so it was a sub theme in the 48 laws of power
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and so I was sort of interested in the psychology of
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that and why some people are good and some people are awkward about it so
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when I finished the 48 laws of power I thought
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this would be a natural segue the next book what are the qualities of a great seducer well
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i like to distinguish between cold seducers
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and warm seducers a cold seducer is something you don't want to be that's the typical image
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that we might have of a male seducer
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but even of a female seducer like the great courtesans etc whether just after money
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or the men are just after sex that's not my ideal my ideal
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is kind of a back
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and forth quality where it's not domination it's sort of like a game
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that you're playing it's like a mating game
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it's like a courtship ritual where both part people are kind of seducing each other and
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so what makes for a great seducer is very simple I can summarize it very simply you are outer directed
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so when you meet somebody for the first time
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or you're on a date or whatever it is you're not having
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that internal monologue going does she like me
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or does he like me am i dressed well am i
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saying stupid things what can i do to impress them no you turn it off
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and you're outer directed and you're listening to them
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and you're entering their spirit and you're hearing them say things that
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that give you idea of what they're missing in life of
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what they want of what their needs are of what makes them an individual
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you're absorbing it you're entering into their spirit
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and then you can reflect it back to them you can give them gifts you can take them to places
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that show that you're attentive to them because
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if you look at how we are in our day -to -day life normally people never pay us attention
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they're always so self -absorbed they're never thinking about us.
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The times where you get the sense that people are actually interested in who you are as an individual is pretty rare.
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If you give that feeling to someone, it's incredibly powerful because we all want to be validated.
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We all want to be recognized.
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So the seducer is not someone who's all worried about him or herself and thinking.
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They're involved in the other person.
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They're absorbed like a sponge inside their psychology, inside their world.
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A lot of this is, you know, very applicable to romance and dating, etc, etc. It feels for whatever reason,
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I, you know, not necessarily something I've read much about in your work,
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but it feels like dating and romance and relationships have become much more complicated in the modern world,
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that it's become much more difficult to seduce somebody.
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What is the, what are the attributes of someone then that is not good at seducing?
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Anti -seducer has many qualities.
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I have a whole chapter on the anti -seducer.
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I try and define it.
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There's several of them.
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I don't have them all memorized, but one quality that's very anti -seductive is preaching and moralizing.
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It's like telling people, oh, that's wrong what you just said, or your politics are ugly,
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or you're not really good at this or something or other.
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Having a moral superiority, a sense of sanctimonious, sanctimony, in a realm which should be about pleasure, which should be that kind of equality,
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that kind of back -and -forth dynamic, where you're asserting your moral superiority, is deeply, deeply anti -seductive, the element of preaching to people.
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Not being generous, and I mean not just with money.
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Money is important.
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but not being generous with your spirit, right?
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You want to be open.
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You want to give as much as you can to the other person of yourself, of your time, of your money, of your energy, et cetera.
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So being all kind of crimped and I don't want to give, I don't want to spend money.
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I want to take you to the cheap place to eat.
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I don't want to give you much time is very, very anti -seductive.
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When you were talking a second ago about the person who goes on the date
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and they're thinking about themselves and what their hair looks like or whatever else, that spoke to an insecure person.
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Is insecurity a seductive quality or is it an anti -seductive quality?
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It is anti -seductive.
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Now, there is a part of weakness that is seductive.
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So I would say vulnerability is seductive, but insecurity is anti -seductive.
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There's a big difference.
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Why does vulnerability draw people to you?
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Because the sense, so if I can define seduction in simple terms,
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most of the time we are closed to the influence of other people, particularly now we have these walls up because life is harsh.
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People are coming at us with their advertisements, with their pleas, with their wanting money, with this and the other.
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And we've all learned to be very defensive, right?
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and seduction is an openness is the opposite of that
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and you felt it when you were child towards your parents you felt very vulnerable
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and open and and there was an element of your parents
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and how they treated you that was very much like a seduction right
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so seduction is about being open to the other person to the extent where you can even fall in love
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you can fall under their spell
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and the sense of letting go of your ego letting go of your defensiveness
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and letting other another person enter your world is being seduced it requires vulnerability
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if you meet the typical um scenario is of a man who's not vulnerable at all he's
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so powerful and in control
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and everything has no vulnerabilities it's frightening you know for a woman
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it could be very frightening like this he's he's so strong he's
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so invulnerable there's something wrong about it you know maybe he's
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a serial killer maybe he's got skeletons in his closet something isn't right about
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that what what seduces you about a puppy about a child about an animal is their vulnerability
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it makes you want to hug them it makes you want to help them right the sense
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which if you came upon a a tiger that's there
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and they don't need that well that's not seductive i mean on your screen it is
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but if they're there in your living room that's not seductive
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but that puppy is right vulnerability the sense that somebody needs protection or help
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brings out qualities in us that we don't normally have
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that i think allow for seduction so that is being vulnerable
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that is i can be influenced by
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that other person i am open to the to their spirit
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it right that's being vulnerable the word vulnerable I hate to sound like a professor
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so excuse me in seduction comes from the road the root of it means a wound vulnus
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so you have a wound inside of you and you need healing
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and the other person naturally wants to help you right
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but being insecure is the off means I'm so self -absorbed I'm
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so worried about myself that I can't get out of it
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and we've all had that experience when you meet somebody
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and they and you can sense you can smell their insecurity in them i'm not judging them
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because we all have insecurities it makes you feel insecure it makes you feel a little bit awkward whereas
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if you meet someone who's not like that who's confident etc it brings out
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that quality in you so if you're on a date
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and there's someone who's you smell that kind of insecurity it makes you awkward
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and insecure it creates a kind of a problem.
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So that would be the difference between the two.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “A Powerful Technique To Seduce & Influence Anyone: Robert Greene”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: seductive, seducer, seduction, anti, sense. This video has 127 sentences and 1565 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:23. The speaker talks at a natural 167 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| vulnerability noun | /ˌvʌln(ə)ɹəˈbɪlɪti/ | The state of being vulnerable; susceptibility to attack or injury, either physical or emotional; the state or condition of being weak or poorly defended. |
| vulnerable adjective | /ˈvʌln(ə)ɹəbl̩/ | More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. |
| insecurity noun | A lack of security; uncertainty. | |
| absorb verb | /æbˈsɔɹb/ | To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in… |
| insecure adjective | /ɪnsəˈkjʊɹ/ | Not secure. |
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| element noun | /ˈɛləmənt/ | One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based. |
| moral adjective | /ˈmoɹəl/ | Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude. |
| deeply adverb | /ˈdi(ː)pli/ | To a deep extent or degree; very greatly. |
| ideal adjective | /aɪˈdi(ə)l/ | Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea. |
| romance noun | /roʊˈmæn(t)s/ | An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair. |
| define verb | /dɪˈfaɪn/ | To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly. |
| psychology noun | /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/ | The study of the human mind. |
| generous adjective | /ˈd͡ʒɛn(ə)ɹəs/ | Noble in behaviour or actions; principled, not petty; kind, magnanimous. |
| indirect adjective | /ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/ | Not direct |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bring out verb | To elicit, evoke, or emphasize (a particular quality). |
| fall under verb | To belong to for purposes of categorization. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if you're more indirect people will do |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be validated · be recognized · are closed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've read · have become · have hit |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 41 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, they're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/, distinguish /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, domination /ˌdɑːməˈneɪʃən/, seduction /sɪˈdʌk.ʃn̩/, courtship /ˈkɔɹt.ʃɪp/
- Long words — get the stress right: vulnerability /ˌvʌln(ə)ɹəˈbɪlɪti/, psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, superiority /sʊˌpɪə(ɹ).iˈɒ.ɹɪ.ti/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like vulnerability, vulnerable, insecurity.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.