Shadowing Practice: Brené Brown: Vulnerability, not over-sharing - Learn English Speaking with Video
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37 sentences
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In order for transformation to happen, in order for there to be success by any metric,
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money, stock price, market share, whatever your metric is, you can't get there without brave leaders and courageous cultures.
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You can teach courage.
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Oh, you can absolutely teach courage four skill sets.
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Number one being?
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Vulnerable.
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Vulnerability.
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I bet you that not too many years ago,
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if you had corporate leaders talking about their vulnerability and discussing shame in the office place,
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they'd have been laughed out of the office.
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Yeah, I mean, I think that's still the case in some places.
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It's just, if you're at the top of a Fortune 500 company and your success metric depends on creativity and innovation,
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and you've set up a culture where vulnerability is seen as weakness, don't expect great results.
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Don't expect the creativity.
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No. Because, I mean, innovation by definition is idea iteration, failure iteration, failure iteration.
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Places where they're doing the most remarkable kind of high risk, high reward innovating, huge tolerances for vulnerability.
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And so if you have leaders who are either preaching a gospel of vulnerability as weakness or modeling that, just don't expect great things.
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You have said that vulnerability without boundaries is not vulnerability.
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What do you mean by that?
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I'm not sure I understand.
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When I go work with organizations, sometimes I'll hear someone say something like, how often should I cry in front of my team?
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And I'm like, oh my God, that's not what I'm saying.
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Vulnerability is not about, you know, self-disclosure.
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Like, I know leaders who never cry, who are very vulnerable and transparent.
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And I know leaders who cry all the time who are just BSers.
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You know, like, and if there's, you know, vulnerability is great.
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Faux vulnerability or like fake vulnerability, because it seems to be, vulnerability seems to be a thing right now. That pisses people off.
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So you're not advocating for people to just put it all out there.
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No, I'm saying, all I'm saying about vulnerability is that when you are in uncertainty, when you feel at risk,
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when you feel exposed, don't tap out.
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Stay brave, stay uncomfortable, stay in the cringy moment, lean into the hard conversation, and keep leading.
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Stay brave.
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That's all I'm saying.
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I'm not saying you need to overshare, I'm not saying you need to disclose, I'm not saying you need to weep uncontrollably to show how human you are.
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I'm saying try to be aware of your armor and when you feel vulnerable try not to transform up.
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Try to stay human, keep leaning.
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Very different things.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 37 sentences and 436 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:06. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
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. |
| brave adjective | /bɹeɪv/ | Strong in the face of fear; courageous. |
| vulnerable adjective | /ˈvʌln(ə)ɹəbl̩/ | More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. |
| metric adjective | /ˈmɛt.ɹɪk/ | Of or relating to the metric system of measurement. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| innovation noun | /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/ | The act of innovating; the introduction of something new, in customs, rites, etc. |
| weakness noun | /ˈwik.nɪs/ | The condition of being weak. |
| lean verb | /ˈliːn/ | To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating. |
| creativity noun | /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/ | The ability to use imagination to produce a novel idea or product. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| remarkable adjective | /ɹɪˈmɑɹ.kə.bl̩/ | Worthy of remark; notable; interesting. |
| advocate noun | /ˈæd.və.kət/ | Someone whose job is to speak for someone's case in a court of law; a counsel. |
| transformation noun | /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of transforming or the state of being transformed. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've set · have said |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | have been laughed · is seen |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 21 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, disclosure /dɪsˈkləʊʒə(ɹ)/, iteration /ˌɪt.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: vulnerability /ˌvʌln(ə)ɹəˈbɪlɪti/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like vulnerability, brave, vulnerable.
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.