Shadowing Practice: How to be great at work presentations without actually being good at presenting - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hi!
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For those of us who've realized the importance of sharing our work
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and showing up in the workplace to get the recognition that we deserve and require one single piece of feedback, or phrase that we really,
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really would love to hear is, very good presentation starting my career
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and i was super later focused on improving my presentations
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and delivery skills but there's a big
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but here it was not just the fact that i received this feedback
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or praise that made me really really happy it was
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when i received it it was not after delivering the presentation
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that people gave me the feedback that it was a very very clear one
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slide deck with my superiors to check if it's okay
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or not i would receive the presentation feedback that is very clear thank you good job
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And that I had my biggest learning
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when I was just starting out in this niche and
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that is presentation skills does not equal delivery skills your presentation
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at least in the workplace does not rely on your delivery skills
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in order to drive your message home the most most important thing is The content, so what you want to say, the structure, how you want to say it, and your audience.
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Tailoring your structure and your content to your audience, to whomever you would like to influence.
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Delivery skills is then the last piece of the puzzle it's
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not the most important part it might be very well the most important thing
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if you are a stand -up comedian or
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if you are just doing presentations for fun or you're giving motivational speeches
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but we are talking about business presentations in the workplace
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while delivery is not the most important thing the most important thing is say with me your content your structure
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and your audience and delivery is the last piece of the puzzle I took this learning very, very close to my heart when I started out.
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And years later, when I started coaching individuals on business presentation skills,
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presentation preparation and delivery i realized that there is a big Misconception.
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for people who are trying to develop this themselves.
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And that is the fact that people think that presentation equals delivery.
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If you talk about presentation skills, you mean that you just want to show confidence, you want to be overpolished, you want to be very salesy,
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American, being confident all the time, which is just not true.
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So here are the top three myths that I've heard from people or I've sensed that they have it innately in them.
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There's really being in the way of them developing presentation skills in the workplace.
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The first one is if your slides look great, then your delivery will be great as well.
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Well, raise your hand if you think or all part of you, one cell in your body thinks that that is true.
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presentation slide deck, it means that I'm going to deliver the best presentation in the whole world.
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Here's the irony that still gets me to this day
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what happens and people think or most people think
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that presentation skills equals delivery skills so when we talk about presentation skills we mean that being overconfident published and everything
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But in reality, when it comes to behavior,
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what I've realized and what I've witnessed is that people start polishing the slide deck until the last minute before
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going to present.
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So they think the presentation skills is all about delivery,
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but in reality, what they do is They refine and polish the slide deck until the last minute before the presentation.
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There's a clash here, people.
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We think this way, but we act in a different way.
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And part of it is because people think, or most people think from everything I've seen or heard, is that people think that the presentation skills and the delivery skills are a little bit more of an innate...
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traits in people that cannot really be developed after a certain point.
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And that's why they try to overcompensate that by focusing a lot on the slides.
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whereas not really working on the delivery part.
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So if part of you believes that if your slide deck looks great, then your delivery will be good as well.
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That's a myth.
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That's a common belief that people think that's true, which in reality really isn't.
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Because a presentation does not equal a slide deck.
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You might as well present without a slide deck.
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Does that count as a presentation?
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Thanks, y 'all.
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So remember, the slide deck is there to support you in the message you want to give to your audience.
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Remember, the content, the structure and the audience is the most important thing
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and delivery is supposed to be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.
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In pretty slides, the most beautiful Great looking sites,
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it's not going to compensate for a messy thinking and not having good delivery skills.
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So balance it out.
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The second myth I've heard all over again is that a lot of people think that when it comes to presentation skills,
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delivery and the speaker is the most important thing
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and from everything i heard before that's just of course just not true and
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This really resonated with me when I had a conversation the other day with a lady who was half American, half European.
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She said that, I'm half American.
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i can talk my way into everything i can talk my
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way out of everything i don't think i need to improve
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my presentation skills and that is coming from the fact
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that people think presentation skills in the workplace equals delivery skills
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if i'm a good deliverer if i'm extroverted if i'm native english speaker
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if i can talk if i have high verbal intelligence they're not only presentation skills, but they're just missing the fact that presentation skills
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in the sense that they think about it
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so delivery skills is just the last piece of the puzzle we had three other puzzle pieces
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which was the content structure and the audience and once you have all
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that figured out delivery is just icing on the cake it's never the most important thing
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so that's a myth if people think
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that they're 99 speakers they speak great they're extroverted they are life of the party they can talk very well
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that does not mean that they can deliver great good stand -up comedians,
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it could be good deliverers, they could be talkers, they could be good communicators, but business presentations is about clarity,
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key takeaway, call to action and a big message.
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It's about having a clear thinking, not about being able to talk freely.
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That's exactly the opposite of what we're aiming for in business presentation skills.
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So remember, if you have the content structure and the audience all figured out, and you're not so great in delivery parts, you are in the winning seat.
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But it doesn't work the other way around.
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If you're great at delivery, if you talk very well, if you're confident in everything, but you do not have a content, you do not have structure,
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you do not know who you're trying to implement, You're losing my friend.
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And the third myth is that people think,
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or most people think, that great delivery skills and presentation is about being super confident all the time.
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It's about being salesy and inauthentic.
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This actually was a conversation I had the other day with someone who told me, I'm very afraid of improving my presentation skills because I don't want to sound inauthentic.
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That's the common misbelief that people think, if i improve my presentation skills then i improve my delivery
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skills then i'm gonna have to be confident all the time salesy all the time in their words, "American all the time." Which is not me.
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This couldn't be further from the truth
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and honestly a very very much missed opportunity because if people think that if people think that
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i'm not going to improve my presentation skills
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because i don't want to feel inauthentic i don't want to
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be salesy i don't be overconfident all the time even
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if i'm not that is a missed opportunity for them
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because improving your presentation skills is not about
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that it's about showing your value it's about sharing your idea it's about impacting and influencing your audience for better at work.
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Not about being confident, polished, American, salesy, over polished all the time.
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We want to be true to ourselves.
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We want to be authentic, but in a more impactful way.
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I would be very sad to hear that this common belief
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that people think that delivery skills is going to make them inauthentic
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and that's why they don't improve their presentation skills is going to
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honestly make me sad very much because oftentimes these people are the ones who have the most or the biggest ideas.
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These are the ones who are not being seen, there are people who are invisible,
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and those are the people who need this the most so if you feel like that this is you, please.
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Please change this for yourself.
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and start improving yourself in this area.
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Now I'm very curious which one of these is hitting even close to home for you.
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I really, really would love to hear it from you
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because then it will tell me if I'm on the right track or not.
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Please let me know down below in the comments if this is resonating with you, if you've seen it in yourself, in others, if you think that this is hitting close to home.
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That's it.
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So if you were to take away two main points from everything I talked to you about is One,
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remember that top -notch delivery is not going to compensate for an unclear thinking.
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If you do not have a content, if you do not have structure, if you do not know who you're trying to influence in your audience,
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not even the best or the most performers and deliverers in the world are going to drive that message home.
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It's not how it works in the business presentation.
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And second is that delivery skills can be developed.
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It's such a missed opportunity that people think
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that this is an innate thing in specific people that either you have it or don't.
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Don't have the fixed mindset, have the growth mindset where this actually can be developed.
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And to kind of bring this all full circle, I want you to take away this.
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from what I talked about in the past, I don't know, 10 -15 minutes that...
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Business presentations do not equal slide tags.
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focusing more and more and more of your time
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and investing more of your time on creating a better slide
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deck more beautiful more company branding animations here there without having
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the strategic thinking behind your content your structure your key message your call to action
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and the audience who you want to influence It's not going to matter.
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It's not how it works.
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and people who can first get their thinking clear, can put their ideas on tape on the paper
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and can define a structure how they would like to people
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to get there to their key message of the call to action.
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And then delivery skills is just going to seal the deal for them.
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But it doesn't work the other way around.
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If you have great delivery skills, but you cannot think clearly, you cannot be strategic about your content structure in the audience.
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that's going to hold you back.
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in your business presentation skills.
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Thank you so much for being with me in this video.
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If you learned one thing in this video, give it a like button.
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And if you learned two things, consider subscribing.
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This is the place to be to learn about business presentation skills in the workplace, specifically for non -native English speakers, as I am now as well.
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I had to develop myself so much to get where I am right now.
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And I would love to see the transformation for you as well as I do it for other people.
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Thanks so much and see you in the next one!
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will explore effective strategies for improving your presentation skills in a professional setting. You’ll practice understanding that a successful workplace presentation relies more on the clarity of your content, structure, and audience engagement rather than solely on your delivery skills. As you learn, you will also discover common misconceptions that can hinder your development in this area. By engaging with this material, you will have the opportunity to enhance your English communication skills while learning to improve your English pronunciation and delivery.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Presentation skills: The ability to effectively communicate information to an audience.
- Delivery skills: The manner in which you present your information, including tone, body language, and clarity.
- Content: The information or message you are conveying in your presentation.
- Audience: The group of people you are presenting to.
- Structure: The organization of your presentation, including the order of information presented.
- Overpolished: Referring to a presentation that appears too rehearsed or artificial.
- Myths: Common misconceptions that can mislead individuals.
Practice Tips
To enhance your speaking and pronunciation skills, consider using shadowing techniques, commonly referred to as shadowspeak or shadow speech. As you watch the video, try to mimic the speaker's intonation, pace, and emphasis. Here are some targeted tips:
- Listen carefully to the speaker’s delivery. Pay attention to how they emphasize important points and adjust your tone accordingly.
- Try pausing the video at intervals to repeat phrases or sentences aloud. This will help you improve English pronunciation and grasp the natural flow of speech.
- Record yourself while shadowing. Listening back will provide insight into areas where you can improve.
- Use the pauses in the speaker's delivery to practice. This will help you internalize the rhythm of spoken English while still allowing you to think through your response.
- Finally, challenge yourself to summarize what you’ve learned at the end of the video, utilizing the new vocabulary you practiced.
By incorporating these methods into your learning routine, you'll not only enhance your presentation capabilities but also grow more confident in communicating effectively. Continue to learn English with YouTube as a valuable resource for developing your skills in a dynamic and engaging way.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are · time, which is · someone who told |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | who've realized · I've heard · I've realized |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be overpolished · be developed · being seen |
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.