Shadowing Practice: Adam Grant and Oprah Discuss Tapping Into Your Hidden Potential - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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You said in this book that for everyone who has ever felt underrated or overlooked,
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You said in this book that for everyone who has ever felt underrated or overlooked,
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but it's not just for underdogs,
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you said, Long Shots and Late Bloomers,
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it's all about how we can make sure that we get a chance in schools and teams and workplaces.
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And so what was going on with you that you knew
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that this is the book that the culture needed in this moment?
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I think I just saw a lot of people underestimate others and also underestimate themselves.
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And I think there's nothing sadder than watching motivation and talent get wasted and squandered.
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And I think we still live in a world where people judge themselves
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and other people by how good they are at something when they start.
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And so you pick up a skill and you say,
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well, I didn't master that right away.
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I guess it's not for me.
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And I think that's a huge mistake.
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I saw this demonstrated so powerfully when you were,
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I saw you speaking, and you had used the example of diving.
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Yes, you want to share that story?
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I was so bad at diving, Oprah.
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I think, I don't know if you could see it in the video, but.
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You were in the beginning,
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you were not so good.
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I was horrible.
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Yeah.
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I walked like Frankenstein, I could hardly jump.
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Yeah.
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I couldn't touch my toes without pinning my knees.
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And I probably should have quit based on my early failures.
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I was the worst diver in my whole school,
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but I'd already been cut from basketball and soccer and I was running out of options.
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And I was so lucky to have a coach,
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Eric Best, who saw more potential in me than I saw in myself.
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And Eric said, I will never cut a diver who wants to be here.
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Wow.
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Isn't that powerful? So powerful.
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And he told me on my very first,
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it was the first day of practice.
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I thought it was a tryout.
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And he said, I will put as much effort into this as you
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And I believe that if you pour yourself into this,
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you could be a state finalist by the time you graduate from high school.
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Wow. And?
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And made it junior year,
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a year early, and ended up on the All-American list and making the Junior Olympic Nationals twice.
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Wow.
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And you also write that growth requires much more than a mindset.
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It begins with character skills.
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You say character is often confused with personality,
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but they're not the same.
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Please explain.
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They are not the same.
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They're not the same.
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Not at all.
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So personality is your default instinct.
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It's your tendency for how you naturally would think,
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feel, or act in a situation.
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Character is a set of skills that you develop for overriding those personality traits.
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So I'm a shy introvert from a personality perspective,
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but I love sharing knowledge.
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I really enjoy teaching.
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I've even come to like public speaking.
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And it's a bunch of character skills that allowed me to transcend the limitations of my traits and say,
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I've got to get comfortable on a stage.
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I have to push myself to be in a moment that I would prefer to avoid in order to live my values.
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Yeah, but that doesn't happen unless you actually do it.
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True.
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Yeah.
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The way you get to be a better diver is that you dive every day.
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The way you get to be a better speaker is you actually step into it and do it.
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So whatever the thing is that makes you uncomfortable.
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And that is the character that allows you to do that,
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not just your personality.
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It is.
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And I think for so long,
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I was frozen by my personality.
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So afraid of public speaking,
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I was also afraid of heights.
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So diving was not a good choice.
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I remember standing on the diving board one day.
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I would usually just stand there shaking for five or 10 minutes.
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And one day I was supposed to do a particularly hard dive with multiple flips and twists.
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And I just, I couldn't,
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I couldn't imagine doing it.
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I thought I was going to cartwheel and break an eardrum
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or just end up in a terrible belly flop or back smack.
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And I stood frozen on the board for 45 minutes.
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And then finally, Eric said to me,
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Adam, are you going to do this dive?
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And I remember thinking, ever?
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Yes, one day I would love to try this dive.
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And I told Eric and he said, great.
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then what are you waiting for?
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And Oprah, I realized in that moment that I had the relationship between action and confidence backwards.
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I thought I had to build my confidence to take the leap,
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but the only way to gain confidence was by taking the leap.
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And- Oh, that was, that's such a key,
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key, key, key, key element for everybody.
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You think i know because the only way to gain confidence is he actually doing it
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and you're thinking that you're waiting just like the and and
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and you're using this as a beautiful story and metaphor
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but the waiting and the waiting and the waiting you were waiting
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because you're thinking you're going to get the confidence to take the leap
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but the only way to get the confidence is actually taking the leap i just think that is invaluable.
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Well, it's certainly been powerful for me.
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And I think it tracks with a lot of the research in psychology,
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which says that for most of us,
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confidence is the result of making progress and achieving growth.
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It's not something that you have to marshal before.
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Yeah.
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This is what I want to know, Adam.
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I mean, I was just talking to my producer earlier about you.
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And I was saying, I remember that Adam's first books,
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they were really good.
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And people really liked them and responded.
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And now you're considered literally one of the great thought leaders of our time.
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So I was thinking, oh,
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you had hidden potential then that we didn't see or recognize.
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And perhaps you didn't see or recognize in yourself.
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How do you think it's come to be now that,
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you know, every organization, the Fortune 500 companies,
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the Olympic teams, that everybody wants to consult with you,
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Adam Grant, as this, you know,
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brilliant and wise researcher and,
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you know, literally a man for our times?
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The irony of you asking me that question is not lost on me.
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I don't know.
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I have a- You must think about how did this happen?
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I definitely wonder that often.
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I think, I mean, this is a great way to activate my inner imposter syndrome, right?
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Of saying, what am I doing here?
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Do I belong in this room?
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And I think it's something I feel a responsibility to try to earn every day.
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A door opened and I felt like,
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okay, I should walk through it and then try to open it for other people.
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and I think of all the things that- In the beginning when that door opened,
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you were like nervous speaking in front of people.
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Extremely.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And the feedback made it clear that everyone could see my anxiety and they were absorbing it from me.
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Yes.
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That's what happens.
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Yeah.
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And I just, I think like you were alluding to earlier,
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I just kept running little experiments and saying, okay, that didn't work.
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What if I try this?
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And very often, what helped me the most was taking the people who didn't like what I was doing,
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who didn't love a chapter of a book or didn't resonate with a talk that I gave,
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and asking them for more.
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Only instead of asking them for more criticism,
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I would ask for advice.
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Well, how can I do this better?
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Yeah.
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What can I change?
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And I figure, you know what?
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These critics have already crucified me.
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Why don't I enlist them as my coaches?
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That's so brilliant, really. That is...
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Some of them were really helpful.
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Really.
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I found that too when I was first starting out,
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you know, that some of the criticism that I received was actually,
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I was thinking, oh yeah, he's right.
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I do talk too much.
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Oh, he's right.
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I'm not listening enough.
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Oh, he's right.
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So I would learn from criticism that was not just mean-spirited, you know?
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How did you decide which critiques to listen to and which ones to discard?
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Because some critics were just out to,
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as people would say today,
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get clickbait or make a headline or to say,
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oh, you know, everybody thinks she's so popular,
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I'm going to take her down.
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You could feel the energy of that.
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You could also feel the energy of somebody who was literally just telling you what they saw and what they experienced.
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And so I learned from it.
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You know, when somebody is speaking the truth and you hear the truth, it resonates.
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Like, I'm sure the same thing happened for you.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice English listening and speaking skills through the inspiring conversation between Adam Grant and Oprah on personal growth and hidden potential. By engaging with this dynamic dialogue, you'll learn how to articulate your thoughts on overcoming self-doubt and realizing your capabilities. This content focuses on emotional expression, character development, and the courage to pursue your goals despite initial challenges. As you shadow the speakers, you'll not only improve your English pronunciation but also gain insights into self-motivation and perseverance.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Underestimated: to think that someone or something is not as good or valuable as they really are.
  • Motivation: the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
  • Growth: the process of increasing in physical size, understanding, or capability.
  • Character Skills: personal attributes that influence how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
  • Potential: the ability to develop into something in the future.
  • Overlooked: to fail to notice something or someone.
  • State finalist: a competitor who reaches the final round of a state-level competition.
  • Effort: a vigorous or determined attempt.

Practice Tips

When shadowing Adam Grant and Oprah, pay close attention to their tone and pacing. This dialogue is conversational yet rich with emotional depth, which enhances your understanding of English nuances. Start by watching the video at a slower speed to grasp the pronunciation of difficult words. As you practice shadow speech, repeat phrases immediately after they are spoken, mimicking their intonations. Focus on shadowspeak techniques that allow you to embody their speaking style while you improve English pronunciation. This will help you sound more natural and confident when expressing your thoughts.

Additionally, pause after key phrases to reflect on their meaning. This not only helps with retention but also gives time to formulate your thoughts on similar topics, enhancing your vocabulary and spoken fluency. Use this learn English with YouTube opportunity to engage with the material actively. The more you practice, the better your shadow speak skills will become!

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.

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