Shadowing Practice: I Dared A Shy DJ To Perform For 15,000 People - Learn English Speaking with Video
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363 sentences
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This shy DJ is about to perform to 15,000 people and he's terrified.
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Make some noise, Higgs! If this goes well,
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he'll complete a nine-month transformation from a shy stranger I met on the street to a confident DJ finally living his dream.
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But if this performance goes poorly, he might never build the confidence to perform again.
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Yeah, no, that's not.
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Make some noise, it does!
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First, let me take you back to where it all started.
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I meet strangers every day and I ask them a question that sounds simple, but can change everything.
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Excuse me, what's your dream?
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Have you got any music we can see?
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Yeah.
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Can you come back with some decks and do some moves?
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I can.
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How long will he tell you?
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Right now?
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Yeah.
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Possibly an hour?
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Yeah, do it.
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I want to hear some of your music.
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Alright, I'll see you here in an hour.
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So he gave Darryl just one hour to come back and present his music.
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But what he doesn't know is that if his stuff's good, I've got a surprise for him to kick start his dream.
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Now, Damo already clearly had passion, but like so many people, what was really holding him back was himself.
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Hold on a minute, it's in, that's in.
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You made it back, almost late, almost late.
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Alright, alright, open up the laptop, let's see your music.
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Let's go.
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Ok guys, what do you think?
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Yeah, alright.
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Ok, you've got skills man, you've got skills.
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So, how much do you charge to come and do a DJ set for someone?
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I don't know.
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So I'll pay you five hundred quid to come and do a set for me, a proper set.
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Seriously?
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Yeah, yeah.
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I hired you, I'm your first customer.
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And after meeting Daryl in Manchester, I sent my team to go and find out a little more about him and why he hasn't been pursuing his dream.
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My name's Daryl, I'm 19 years old, I'm from Manchester and my dream is to be a music producer and touring DJ.
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I convinced my dad to buy me a deck.
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He's very supportive of my dream.
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I think the main few reasons
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that I've not been putting my music out there is because I had my TikTok account blowing up a bit.
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I was getting thousands of comments about how I'm a fake DJ or I don't really DJ for real.
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So it'd be like scared of judgment really.
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That came as well with comparing my songs to other famous artists.
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Maybe the quality wasn't perfect or the melody wasn't as good as theirs.
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I think those were the main reasons why I didn't really put my music out there.
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As a kid, Daryl was, I would say, probably quite social.
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We bought his first date for his birthday and I think he was really excited and we were like, make the most of it because
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if you want something like to reach your dream this is what we're doing for you
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so make sure that actually use it time goes on goes on
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and feel like okay i think he slowed down a bit i don't know
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if he like a bit disappointed
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but feel like you know uh you put a lot of effort
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or time to buy him what he want
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and we move to something okay producing music
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but for me it was like yeah
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but i don't see anything coming out timon's team has asked
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me to meet them down in london the next week i
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don't really know why what i do know is I'm feeling very nervous but I'm looking forward for it.
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Daryl, why have you not made it happen already?
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Why have you not made your dream happen?
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I don't know.
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I've been...
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You do know, you do know.
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Come on, dig deep.
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Tell me the truth.
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I've been too addicted with learning tips
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and I got carried away with trying to get all the information at once instead of applying it.
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This basically is like perfection syndrome, right? which probably is deep rooted in some past psychology of your life.
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I'm going to help you today.
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I've got a plan.
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But you have to be willing to take a risk.
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Are you willing?
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I'm willing, willing.
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You sure?
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I'm sure.
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Promise me.
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Or as my kid would say, pinky promise.
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I'm going to promise.
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Take a risk today.
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I'm going to give you your first challenge.
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What you have to do is you're going to go up to people and go to shake their hand.
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And as they go to shake your hand, you fist bump.
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And it's going to be awkward.
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I'm going to get you used to being awkward.
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Awkward creates a tension.
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Okay, so I'm going to teach you to enjoy being awkward, and then you're going to push through this fear of it being a perfect interaction every time, right?
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Alright, I'm going to be here by your side.
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Are you ready?
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Okay.
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Just straight in there.
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Don't overthink it.
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You're already...
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Turn off that brain.
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Don't just do this.
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Go up to people, do this, and then fist bump.
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Try this guy.
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How about this lady sitting down here?
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Try it with this lady.
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All you have to do is get it to her one time.
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Go on.
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We'll do it a couple more times just to get you familiar.
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This guy in the grey.
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Ready?
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How do you feel?
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I'm kind of getting used to it.
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Exactly!
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If I'm imagining, you know, 100% ability to take risk is where you need to be to follow your dreams, I reckon we've just got you up to 20%.
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Now I'm going to do something really mad.
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I want you to take over my job and ask people what their dream is in a Batman outfit.
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This is like your Bat car and your Bat bike.
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This is your Bat Mike.
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Not sponsored by DJI so we'll just get Batman put on there.
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Because DJI doesn't sponsor dreams.
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Right, this is yours.
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You're going to ask someone their dream, and I'm going to help you.
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Are you ready?
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Okay, let's go.
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Excuse me.
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Do you have a dream?
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In fairness, I'd also probably run the other way if I saw you.
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Excuse me, do you have a dream?
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Now the key to finding a dreamer is they have an aura about them.
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You're going to feel it.
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A lady holding the coffee.
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Excuse me, do you have a drink?
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Excuse me, do you have a drink?
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No drink.
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Yeah, that Batman challenge was definitely awkward.
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And another embarrassing story to tell my kids one day.
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How do you feel now?
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I feel a bit more comfortable.
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Right.
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Have you ever watched the movie Karate Kid?
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Karate Kid?
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Yeah, well he does wax on and wax off and he's teaching him karate.
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I'm teaching you to feel embarrassment.
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Someone will smile, they'll either laugh at you or with you but they're going to smile.
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Just remember you're Batman.
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Alright?
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You're Batman and it doesn't matter.
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Right?
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Okay, let's go and get a coffee.
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So although Darryl was expecting a coffee, this was just a cover up for the surprise we had lined up next.
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You've done well, the pain threshold is high.
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I've got a surprise for you to say well done.
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Go in here, I'll show you.
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So I've got two surprises for you really, and this is the first surprise.
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We hired you, we hired you to the studio today for you to make a song, okay?
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Okay.
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So you've got four hours to make a song, and then we're gonna put it out.
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It's not going to be perfect, but it's going to be your love and energy for the next four hours.
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I have got another surprise for you later, all right?
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So the first step is let's get you going to make this song that I want the whole world to hear.
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And no matter what we're going to put out.
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Fair?
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Deal?
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Deal.
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And with that, Daryl got to work in the studio with only four hours to make a song from scratch.
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He needs to use all the rejection as fuel to stop himself overthinking and perform under pressure.
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Now Daryl has been through a lot today.
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We've taken him on the streets, we've gone through rejection therapy, pushing him through his barrier of perfection.
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And now I've set him up with the challenge of making a song in just four hours.
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So I thought I'd call in a favour to see if I could get anyone to help.
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I think you might know him.
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How you doing mate?
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Alright, cut the music.
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I've got a surprise for you.
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Remember I told you I got a surprise for you.
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I asked a friend of mine to come and help you.
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Jax Jones, are you there?
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Yes.
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What's up?
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Hey, 10 million followers on Spotify.
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He's here to help you.
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You know who this is?
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Darryl, yeah?
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Ah, look at this.
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You got a cuddle?
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You're all right?
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I'm blessed.
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Yo.
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So he's going to help you.
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He's going to help you with your song.
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Do you want to give him a little taster?
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First of all, anything you want to say?
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I've been a big fan.
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He's been following you for a while.
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Yeah, we did our research.
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We know you're a big fan.
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Yeah, so he's here in the flesh and he's going to help you today for the next few rounds.
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Manchester.
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Manchester, oh you've come down.
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I did come down.
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Sick.
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This is crazy.
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It's Jax Jones, like the actual Jax Jones.
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The one I knew since I was a kid.
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I remember a cereal box video as a kid and now he's standing right in front of me.
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Okay, show, I haven't heard it yet, show us a bit of where you're at.
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Okay, we'll play the whole thing.
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Basically the idea would be give him honest, brutal feedback and then help him get it where he wants to be.
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So we were just talking outside about this whole, I'm going to call it imposter syndrome, which is another way of putting it.
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This kind of fear of putting stuff out there.
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And you had a good insight, how you do it?
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Well there's a Seth Godin quote where you just got a ship.
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If you don't put anything out, you don't get any information back then that's why you don't move forward.
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So the best thing you can do in order for you to grow is to keep putting things out.
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Everyone's a critic, especially now.
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They're not you and they don't know where you're heading.
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So you like your job as a creator, that's what Simon does, what I do, is what you do, is to create things.
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And sometimes not everyone's going to understand it.
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Also might be too early.
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There's so many reasons why people won't get it.
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So you just got to keep creating and believe in what you're doing.
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Half of the battle in this game for anyone, no matter whether you're richest man in the world or just in your basement trying to get it done,
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is literally having the nerve to ignore the noise.
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That's most of it, to be honest with you, because it never stops.
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So I'm going to let you guys cook.
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All right, see you in a bit.
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Nice one, bro.
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Thanks for doing this, yeah?
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Pleasure.
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Appreciate you, man.
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Good man.
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I'll see you soon.
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I'm glad I got an idea down before Jax arrived.
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Obviously, there's the urge to change a lot of stuff, even when Jax did some stuff.
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But, I mean, it's a collab with Jax Jones.
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Couldn't get any better.
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Come on bruv.
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It's hard.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I understand.
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Um, that's normal.
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You're just overthinking it.
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And there's a lot going on.
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I don't know what, because everyone's different, but that's why it's taking so long.
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So after receiving some advice from Jax, the guys got to work in the studio to bring their four-hour song together.
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Do you know what I mean?
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Like a mob to a flame.
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This one might be hard.
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Play our tune underneath just at the same time.
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I'll pull you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in, I'll move you in.
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That's sick!
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Pull it, bruv!
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Let's go!
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It's just one of my own.
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Let's go.
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Nice one, bro.
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Respect, man.
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Good luck with it.
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Let me know how it goes tonight.
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Later that evening, I invited Darryl to my live podcast audience to present him with his final surprise.
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Come on up, come on up.
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Woo!
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Alright, and then we have one more surprise for you.
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So we have secured you a spot with Jax Jones to play in front of a crowd of 15,000 people.
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That's all.
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Alright?
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You're going all the way, man.
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And you're not alone.
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You can do this.
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Congratulations.
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Alright.
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If you're watching this and thinking, Simon, I'd love for you to help me with my dream.
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I've got a really cool thing I'd love to share with you in partnership with Stan.
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For people who sign up with Stan and get started with their business, I'm going to pick 10 of you and be your first customer, just like Daryl.
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For those of you who don't know, Stan turns your bio into a business.
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You can book calls, sell digital products, grow a newsletter, all from one link.
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I only recommend products I really believe in.
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And I'm also an investor in this business and love it.
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We use them ourselves on my Instagram profile.
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We even set one up for Daryl after this video, so he has a way to make money from his music.
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The links are below if you want to take part and try it too.
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Simon just told me that I'm going to perform in front of 15,000 people with Jack Jones.
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So I was kind of like stood there shut, like earlier, and threw my ear to the other one.
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But this was a massive opportunity for me to take so I can start my music career.
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Crazy.
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First soundtrack of my life.
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Yeah.
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How does it make you feel later on in the actual show?
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Ummmm.. more confident I guess.
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Maybe that's just because the crowd isn't here and it's very pumped.
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This is it people, the arena's filled up and Jax Jones is about to go on stage.
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From meeting Darryl and finding out about his dream, overcoming his fears and pushing through perfection,
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now he's about to step foot on stage for Hits Radio in front of 15,000 people.
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It all comes down to this.
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You have a chance.
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Watch us now!
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Let me hear you!
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I'm a DJ DJ, let me hear you!
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Just before I go up, I was just thinking about my childhood, the time my dad bought me my first DJ Dex, and it's finally the moment when I can repay him back,
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being on stage in front of 15,000 people and making me proud.
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Let's make it feel welcome!
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This is extreme right now!
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Run it fellas!
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I'm ready!
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You're safe to move through here!
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He seems like he's good for you And he makes you feel like it should
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And all your friends say he's the one This love for you is true Make some noise, Ken!
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You're calling this man's history right now!
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Make some noise with us!
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Well that was crazy!
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Well done.
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Thank you so much.
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Did you enjoy it?
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Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
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All the nerves disappeared.
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Sorry?
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All the nerves disappeared.
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It's amazing.
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It's so much fun.
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How did you find that?
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Amazing.
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Really?
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Oh, I'm glad.
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I'm glad.
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Thank you very much.
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My pleasure.
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My pleasure.
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It's a movement I'll never forget to be honest.
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Keep it up then.
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Thank you so much.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
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Alright?
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Thank you.
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Nice one, guys.
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Thank you.
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Hiya.
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How are you doing?
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I'm doing amazing.
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How was it?
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It was really good.
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I thought I'd been nervous before but it was an experience.
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I really liked it man.
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That looked like a big crowd.
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Yeah, it was massive.
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You weren't nervous at all going in?
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So arriving here I was nervous but when it was like showtime the nerves just disappeared and I was just pumped, I was ready.
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It's because you're.. it's what you're meant to do.
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Yeah, yeah.
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You're meant to be a little bit nervous and then when you're doing it, you know you're meant to be doing.
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Yeah.
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Well, you made...
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Giving this opportunity, you made it very clear for me and something I'm gonna chase.
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You made this dream happen, man.
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You stepped up.
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You leaned into fear.
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Thank you.
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And you made your dream happen.
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I'm proud of you.
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Thank you so much, Simon.
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Congratulations, Neil.
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Thank you.
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Next step.
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Let's go.
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You know what, that's the first time we come to a show like
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that and seeing him on the stage for the first time, we were like wow, just amazing.
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What's your dream bro?
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DJ.
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DJ, make music as easy as you can, that's my advice.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “I Dared A Shy DJ To Perform For 15,000 People”. This video has 363 sentences and 2919 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:36. The speaker talks at a natural 166 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 56 of its 363 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| nerve noun | /nɝv/ | A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics. |
| overthink verb | To think or analyze too much. | |
| karate noun | /kəˈɹɑ.ti/ | An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting. |
| perfection noun | /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/ | The quality or state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing substandard remains; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence. |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| fist noun | /fɪst/ | A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward. |
| rejection noun | /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/ | The act of rejecting. |
| bump noun | /bʌmp/ | A light blow or jolting collision. |
| sponsor noun | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or… |
| syndrome noun | /ˈsɪndɹoʊm/ | A recognizable pattern of signs, symptoms and/or behaviours, especially of a disease or medical or psychological condition. |
| pump noun | /pʌmp/ | A device for moving or compressing a liquid or gas. |
| shake verb | /ˈʃeɪk/ | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
| collab noun | /kəˈlæb/ | A collaboration, especially a work produced by several musicians who do not usually work together. |
| cuddle verb | /ˈkʌd.l̩/ | To lie together snugly (with someone), in an intimate physical embrace; to snuggle. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. | |
| push through verb | To force (legislation or a plan) to be passed or agreed to or a decision to be reached. | |
| blow up verb | To explode or be destroyed by explosion. | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| fill up verb | To make (something) completely full. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Excuse me, what's your dream?
- Have you got any music we can see?
- How long will he tell you?
- Daryl, why have you not made it happen already?
- You weren't nervous at all going in?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | hasn't been pursuing · I've not been putting · He's been following |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has asked · have you not made · I've been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is let · was just pumped |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | syndrome, which is · people who sign |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 133 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: theirs /ðɛɚz/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/, rejection /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, showtime /ˈʃoʊˌtaɪm/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
- Long words — get the stress right: embarrassment /ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
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 awkward, nerve, overthink.
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.