Shadowing Practice: Denzel Washington's Life Advice Will Leave You Speechless (MUST WATCH) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks.

Nothing.

Nelson Mandela said, there is no passion to be found playing small

and settling for a life that's less than the one you're capable of living.

Now, I'm sure in your experiences in school and applying to college

and picking your major and deciding what you want to do with life,

I'm sure people have told you to make sure you have something to fall back on.

Make sure you got something to fall back on, honey.

But I never understood that concept, having something to fall back on.

If I'm going to fall, I don't want to fall back on anything except my faith.

I want to fall forward.

I figure at least this way I'll see what I'm going to hit.

Fall forward.

This is what I mean.

Reggie Jackson struck out 2 ,600 times in his career, the most in the history of baseball.

But you don't hear about the strikeouts.

People remember the home runs.

Fall forward.

Thomas Edison conducted 1 ,000 failed experiments.

Did you know that?

I didn't know that.

Because the 1 ,001st was the light bulb.

Fall forward.

Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.

You've got to take risks, and I'm sure you've probably heard that before, But I want to talk to you about why that's so important first

You will fail at some point in your life accepted you will lose you will embarrass yourself

You will suck at something.

There's no doubt about it

And I know that's probably not a traditional message for a graduation ceremony, but hey I'm telling you embrace it because it's inevitable

and I should know in the acting business

you fail all the time early on in my career

I auditioned for a part in a Broadway musical perfect role for me I thought except for the fact

that I can't sing so I'm in the wings I'm about to go on stage

but the guy in front of me he's singing like like like paparazzi just going on

and on and on and i'm just shrinking i'm getting smaller

and smaller so they say oh thank you very much thank you very much

and you will you'll be hearing from us

so i come out with my little sheet music

and it was it was a just my imagination by the temptations that's what i came up with

so i hand it to the the the accompanist

and uh she looks at it and looks at me and looks out at the director and was like, nice.

So I start, you know, I'm going to sing, I'm like,

this is my imagination, once again, coming away with me.

And they're not saying anything, so I'm thinking, I'm getting better, so I start getting into it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Washington.

Thank you.

So I assumed I didn't get the job.

But the next part of the audition, he called me back.

The next part of the audition is the acting part of the audition.

Now I'm like, hey, okay, maybe I can't sing, but I know I can act.

So they pair me with this guy.

And again, I didn't know about musical theater.

And musical theater is big

so they can reach everyone all the way in the back of the stadium

and I'm more from a realistic naturalistic kind of acting where you you know

you actually talk to the person next to you

so I don't know what my line was my line was well hand me the cup

and his line was well I will hand

you the cup my dear the cup will be there to

be handed to you I said okay well should I give you the cup back oh yes

you should give it back to me because you know

that is my cup and it should be given back to me I didn't get the job but here's the thing

I didn't quit I didn't fall back I walked out of there to prepare for the next audition

and the next audition and the next audition I prayed I prayed and I prayed,

but I continued to fail and fail and fail.

But it didn't matter because you know what?

There's an old saying, you hang around the barbershop long enough, sooner or later you're going to get a haircut.

So you will catch a break, and I did catch a break.

Last year, I did a play called Fences on Broadway way someone talked about it won the Tony award

and I didn't have to sing by the way

but here's the kicker it was at the court theater it was at the same theater

that I failed

that first audition 30 years prior the point is every graduate here today has the training and the talent to succeed

But do you have the guts to fail?

Here's my second point about failure.

If you don't fail, you're not even trying.

I'll say it again.

If you don't fail, you're not even trying.

My wife told me this great expression.

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

Les Brown's a motivational speaker he made an analogy about this says imagine you're on your deathbed

and standing around your deathbed are the ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential the ghost of the ideas

you never acted on the ghost of the talents you didn't use

and they're standing around your bed angry disappointed

and upset they say we came to you

because you could have brought us to life they say

and now we have to go to the grave together

so I ask you today how many ghosts are going to be around your bed

when your time comes you have s you you've invested a lot in your education

and people have invested in you

and let me tell you the world needs your talents

and does it ever I just got back from Africa like two days ago

so if I'm rambling on it's because I'm jet -lagged I just got back from South Africa it's a beautiful country,

but there are places there with terrible poverty that need help.

And Africa is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Middle East needs your help.

Japan needs your help.

100

Alabama needs your help.

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Tennessee needs your help.

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Louisiana needs your help.

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Philadelphia needs your help.

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The world needs a lot, and we need it from you.

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We really do.

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We need it from you, young people.

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I mean, I'm not speaking for the rest of us up here, but I know I'm getting a little grayer.

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we need it from you the young people

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so you got to get out there you got to give it everything

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you got whether it's your time your talent your prayers or your treasures because remember this

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you will never see a u -haul behind a hearse you will never see a u -haul behind a hearse

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you can't take it with you the Egyptians tried it and all they got was robbed

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so the question is what are you going to do with what you have I'm not talking about how much

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you have some of you are business majors some of you

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are theologians nurses sociologists some of you have money some of

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you have patience some of you have kindness some of you

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have love some of you have the gift of long -suffering whatever

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it is whatever your gift is what are you going to do

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with what you have all right now here's my last point about failure

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sometimes it's the best way to figure out where you're going

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your life will never be a straight path

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i began at fordham university as a pre -med student

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I took a course called the cardiac morphogenesis I couldn't read

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it I couldn't say it I sure couldn't pass it

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so then I decided to go into pre -law then journalism

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and with no academic focus my grades took off in their own direction.

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Yeah, down.

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I was a 1 .8 GPA one semester, and the university very politely suggested that it might be better to take some time off.

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I was 20 years old.

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I was at my lowest point, and then one day, and I remember the exact day,

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March 27, 1975, I was helping my mother in her beauty shop.

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My mother owned a beauty shop up in Mount Vernon,

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and there There was this older woman who was considered one of the elders in the town

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and I didn't know her personally but I was looking in the mirror

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and every time I looked in the mirror I could see her behind me and she was staring at me.

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She just kept looking at me.

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Every time I looked at her she kept giving me these strange looks.

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So she finally took the dryer off her head and said something.

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She said something I'll never forget

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First of all, she said somebody give me a piece of paper.

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Give me a piece of paper

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She said young boy.

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I have a prophecy a spiritual prophecy

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She said you are going to travel the world

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and speak to millions of people now mind you I'm 20 years old I'm flunked out of school.

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In fact like a wiseass.

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I'm thinking to myself maybe she's got something in that crystal ball about me getting back into school next fall

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but maybe she was on to something because later that summer

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while working as a counselor at a ymca camp in connecticut we put on a talent show for the campers

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and after the show another counselor came up to me

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and asked have you ever thought about acting you're good at that

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so when i got back to fordham

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that fall i got in i changed my major once again for the last time

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and in the years that follow just as

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that woman prophesies I have traveled the world

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and I have spoken to millions of people through my movies millions who up till

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this day couldn't see me I who up till this day I couldn't see

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while I was talking to them

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and they couldn't see me they could only see the movie they couldn't see the real me

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but I see you today and I'm encouraged by what I see.

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And I'm strengthened by what I see.

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And I love what I see.

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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Denzel Washington's Life Advice Will Leave You Speechless”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fall, fail, audition. This video has 163 sentences and 1765 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:49. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% 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
audition noun	/ɑˈdɪʃən/	A performance, by an aspiring performer, to demonstrate suitability or talent.
ghost noun	/ɡoʊst/	A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
theater noun	/ˈθi(ə)tɚ/	A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on.
pray verb	/pɹeɪ/	To direct words, thoughts, or one's attention to a deity or any higher being, for the sake of adoration, thanks, petition for help, etc.
mirror noun	/ˈmiɹɚ/	A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it.
experiment noun	/ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/	A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of…
invest verb	/ɪnˈvɛst/	To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in.
imagination noun	/ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/	The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.
haul verb	/hɔl/	To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.
counselor noun	/ˈkaʊnsələ(ɹ)/	A professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems.
prophecy noun	/ˈpɹɑfɪsi/	A prediction, especially one made by a prophet or under divine inspiration.
poverty noun	/ˈpɑːvɚti/	The quality or state of being poor; lack of money
encourage verb	/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/	To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
gray adjective	/ɡɹeɪ/	Of a color between black and white, having neutral hue and intermediate brightness.
suffer verb	/ˈsʌfɚ/	To undergo hardship.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
fall back on verb	To turn to as a substitute; to rely on as a backup.
stand around verb	To stand without doing anything; to do nothing productive; to waste time.
come out with verb	To say (something) unexpectedly.
come up to verb	To approach.
come up with verb	To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
fall back verb	To retreat.
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Did you know that?
But it didn't matter because you know what?
Here's my second point about failure.
If you don't fail, you're not even trying.

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	have told · you've probably heard · you've invested
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be found · be handed · should be given

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, couldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, deathbed /ˈdɛθˌbɛd/, theologian /ˌθi.əˈloʊd͡ʒən/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: audition /ɑˈdɪʃən/, imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, sheet /ʃit/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/
Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, ceremony /ˈsɛɹ.əˌmoʊ.ni/, disappointed /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪnɪd/, inevitable /ɪˈnɛvɪtəbəl/

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 audition, ghost, theater.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Denzel Washington's Life Advice Will Leave You Speechless (MUST WATCH) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?