Shadowing Practice: How To Be Quick Witted In Any Conversation (Without Overthinking It) - Learn English Speaking with Video

I usually think of things too late.

In order for you to be quick, in order for you to be humorous, in order for you to be creative in the moment,

the most important thing I would say here is mastery over the foundations.

And what are the foundations?

Well, you have your vocal foundations, which are made up of rate of speech, volume, melody, tonality, and the pause.

And then you have your body language foundations.

This is your hand gestures, posture, eye contact, facial expressions, and movement.

Because if you're busy in the moment your hand gestures, how to use your voice, what to do with your facial expressions to be humorous.

If you're busy thinking about the skill, well, then you're not going to be able to be quick in the moment.

And if you relate it to the example of driving a car, imagine you're driving a car, there are some people who are good drivers.

And when they're good drivers, it means they have mastery over the foundation.

So when they're driving, and then a driver in front of them does something random and sporadic, they're able to dodge them. that person.

Now, if you inspect the person who crashes versus the person who's able to quickly dodge, well, the first foundational thing is the person who was able to dodge,

they had more skill, they had better mastery over the foundations.

So let's just use that as the metaphor as we're diving into this.

So if you master this, you're going to now have skill and mastery over the foundations, allowing you to dodge, allowing you to be quick,

allowing you to be humorous in the is you want to be able to feel the following.

You want to feel calm, You want to feel comfortable and you also want to feel clear.

And I mean that by clear -minded.

And the only way you're going to feel those things, the only way you're going to be in a state where you're clear,

comfortable, and calm is if you have mastery over the foundations.

And that's one of the wonderful benefits that once I already know I have these skills, I know what to do with these things, I know how to manipulate my voice, these things become second nature to me.

And the reason I'm present is because I'm not up in my head.

Whereas think about what most people are thinking about while they're speaking up on stage, speaking in a meeting.

Are they present or are they in their heads?

often they're in their heads.

I mean, often they're not even thinking about the delivery mechanism.

Often they're thinking about, oh my goodness, I hope everybody likes what I'm going to say.

Oh my goodness, I hope I'm structuring what I'm saying right.

Oh my goodness, I hope that I'm not coming across being rude.

I hope they like my idea.

I hope they don't ask me a question that I don't know the answer to.

So when you are that much in your head, you are not present when you're not present.

Well, then now you've got no chance of being able to pick up on something that somebody else said.

And then very quickly in that moment, deciding to move into a humorous .

You're not able to do that.

You have no chance.

And as you master the foundations, you start to find yourself feeling more calm, more comfortable, and you'll be more clear minded.

And on top of that, you'll be present.

The other thing I'll bring your attention to the final thing is the art of reviewing

and reflecting the art of reviewing and reflecting.

And this is an art form because often what happens is when people do something wrong, they often don't review and reflect on how they could have done it better.

This is actually a skill and a habit that you must form.

Now as an entrepreneur, as a content creator, as someone who's been in the business world for quite a long time, This is one of the key reasons why I believe I'm successful.

So it's a habit that I've already built.

But for most who don't go down the path of entrepreneurship and go down that path seriously, they don't develop that habit, that second nature, whereas I've got that second nature, right?

So if you're new to this, you've got to develop this.

And it goes all the way back down to high school.

And I remember this.

In high school, there were kids who, when they do a test and they fail, the moment they get the test back and they failed,

they don't even look through they get their test and they failed, they would look through the test and work out why they failed so they don't fail moving forward into the future.

I was one of the kids who never looked back at my test.

That's why I kept failing in school.

And then I thought to myself, oh, I'm just dumb.

It wasn't that I was dumb.

It was that nobody encouraged me in the classroom, including the teacher to look back through my old tests and look at why I actually failed.

So they just hand out the test and they go, all right, everyone, onto the next topic.

We never got taught the art outcomes we've achieved in our lives.

It's again, one of the reasons why I believe I've been able to find more happiness in my life, because at the end of every year,

I review and I reflect upon how I went with my life in the past 12 months.

I call this process recalibrate.

So I always recalibrate.

What did I do that I liked?

What did I do that I didn't like?

What happened that made me feel sad?

I look among all of these things and I'm looking for patterns Again,

it's the art of reviewing reflecting.

So to really link this into what you're saying now, "You know, Vin, I always think of things too late." That's all right.

What you wanna do is, if you have a meeting with three of your team members, And then through that meeting,

you clearly missed out on some opportunities.

I wouldn't review and reflect three days later, I would review and reflect right after that meeting, I'd create just a five to 10 minute time slot and I would just sit down and think, what could I have done better?

Ah, I could have done this better, I could have done that better.

And the more you do that, the more you review and you reflect, you then start to get to a point where I'll draw this for you.

So it makes more sense to you.

So in the beginning, as you're starting out with this scale.

This is the scale of time.

Okay.

This is from the point you do the meeting.

Okay.

And this is just time moving forward into the future.

Okay.

So what happens is in the beginning of your journey, you're gonna have the meeting right here.

And then one hour later, Thank you.

You review and you reflect.

So review and reflect.

And then you think to yourself, "Oh, I just got the idea here, damn it, why didn't I think of this idea here?" And you start to beat yourself up and you go,

"Oh, damn it, why didn't I?" But as you build the skill, as you build the ability to review and reflect and you do it more and more and more and more and more,

soon enough what starts to happen is while you're in the meeting, in the moment, you start to think of the things that you used to think of here.

But now you're going to start to think of the actual things to say, the humorous things to say, in the present, in the meeting.

That's the power of building the skill.

Whereas most people never build this skill.

So as you start to review and reflect five minutes after experiences, five minutes after experiences, and you really build that habit, soon, instead of being able to think of the ideas an hour after the meeting,

five minutes after the meeting, in the moment while you're talking to the person, while they're saying words to you,

"Oh, there's the idea !" and then you say it.

And then you start to be able to get the outcome you desire.

But again, it's a skill.

It's a skill.

And that skill all stems again from the foundation of you, first of all, mastery over the foundations.

Then after that, you'll feel more calm, more clear, more comfortable, you'll be more present.

100

Then after that, you'll be able to build the skill of reviewing and reflecting.

101

And these things slowly, slowly, but surely, help you get to the point where you're able to do what you perceive me to be doing,

102

you see me doing, which is being quick in the spot on the moment.

📺 Same Channel

✨ Recommend Video

73 sentences

How to Never Run Out of Things to Say

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

512 sentences

become ARTICULATE and SPEAK SMARTLY - effective communication 101

Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation

31 sentences

Ivyyy English Vlog | Vlog nói tiếng Anh - Anh | Cách Phát Triển Tư Duy Tiếng Anh

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

427 sentences

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

56 sentences

How to be Funny in Any Conversation

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

257 sentences

You're Making These Communication Mistakes (Without Knowing)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

241 sentences

Quick Thinks: How to Have Better Conversations About Aging

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

139 sentences

Speak Confidently About Any Topic Without Preparation (10-Minute Practice)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

How to Think in English, Stop Translating in Your Head

130

63 sentences

How to Think in English, Stop Translating in Your Head

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

73 sentences

Listen & Shadow: Listening to English and SHADOWING

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

46 sentences

Luyện nói Shadowing tiếng Anh | Các thói quen sống lành mạnh | Bài 4

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How To Be Quick Witted In Any Conversation”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: skill, foundation, meeting, reflect, review. This video has 102 sentences and 1518 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:28. The speaker talks fast, about 203 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
mastery noun	/ˈmæs.tɚ.i/	The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority.
humorous adjective	/ˈhjuːməɹəs/	Full of humor or arousing laughter; funny.
dodge verb	/dɑd͡ʒ/	To avoid (something) by moving suddenly out of the way.
goodness noun	/ˈɡʊdnəs/	The state or characteristic of being good.
recalibrate verb	/ˌɹiˈkæl.ə.bɹeɪt/	To calibrate for a second or subsequent time.
gesture noun	/ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/	A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.
facial adjective	/ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/	Of or affecting the face.
foundational adjective	/faʊnˈdeɪ.ʃə.nəl/	Of or relating to a foundation or foundations.
sporadic adjective	/spəˈɹæd.ɪk/	Rare and scattered in occurrence.
tonality noun	/toʊnˈæl.ɪ.ti/	The system of seven tones built on a tonic key; the 24 major and minor scales.
entrepreneurship noun	/ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/	The art or science of innovation and risk-taking for profit in business.
inspect verb	/ɪnˈspɛkt/	To examine critically or carefully; especially, to search out problems or determine condition; to scrutinize.
posture noun	/ˈpɑst͡ʃɚ/	The way a person holds and positions their body.
manipulate verb	/məˈnɪp.jʊ.leɪt/	To move, arrange or operate something using the hands
perceive verb	/pɚˈsiv/	To become aware of, through the physical senses, to see; to understand.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go down verb		To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
look through verb		To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand.
come across verb		To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
hand out verb		To distribute; to give out, either by hand or as if so (figuratively).
look back verb		To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
pick up on verb		To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked.
sit down verb		To assume a sitting position from a standing position.
work out verb	/ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/	To calculate.

Sentences worth repeating

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

You're not able to do that.
That's why I kept failing in school.
What did I do that I liked?
What did I do that I didn't like?
What happened that made me feel sad?

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	who's been · I've already built · we've achieved
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	foundations, which are · people who are · person who crashes

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 64 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: facial /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/, foundational /faʊnˈdeɪ.ʃə.nəl/, entrepreneurship /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/
Long words — get the stress right: recalibrate /ˌɹiˈkæl.ə.bɹeɪt/, foundational /faʊnˈdeɪ.ʃə.nəl/, tonality /toʊnˈæl.ɪ.ti/, entrepreneurship /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/, manipulate /məˈnɪp.jʊ.leɪt/

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 mastery, humorous, dodge.

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: How To Be Quick Witted In Any Conversation (Without Overthinking It) - Learn English Speaking with Video

How to join group conversations

When do you stop understanding? 🙊

Top 5 Communication Skills Lessons

5 vocal exercises for a more powerful voice 😎

How to Speak with MORE Clarity!

The 2 biggest benefits of PAUSING when you speak

The Guide To Talk To Anyone (Regardless of Their Seniority)

How to improve your articulation FAST

5 simple habits to be a better communicator

Look confident + sound confident = Feel confident

Doing This (Almost) GUARANTEES You Get Hired In A Job Interview!

Never answer questions quickly. Pause first.

How to Enter Conversations (Even If You Have Nothing To Say!)

How to Have Difficult Conversations (Even If It's Confronting)

7 POWERFUL Storytelling Secrets to Level Up Your Communication Skills

You must PAUSE when you speak!

TOP 3 Tips To Improve Your Communication Skills!

STOP Saying Umm & Ahh

Give me 14 minutes and I'll help you think & speak faster

Why You're So Good At Being Shy...

How to Never Run Out of Things to Say

become ARTICULATE and SPEAK SMARTLY - effective communication 101

Ivyyy English Vlog | Vlog nói tiếng Anh - Anh | Cách Phát Triển Tư Duy Tiếng Anh

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

How to be Funny in Any Conversation

You're Making These Communication Mistakes (Without Knowing)

Quick Thinks: How to Have Better Conversations About Aging

Speak Confidently About Any Topic Without Preparation (10-Minute Practice)

How to Think in English, Stop Translating in Your Head

Listen & Shadow: Listening to English and SHADOWING

Luyện nói Shadowing tiếng Anh | Các thói quen sống lành mạnh | Bài 4

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?