Shadowing Practice: Know Before You Tell - The Three-Part Framework Every Communicator Needs - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
393 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
In today's world, communication is all about juggling multiple priorities.
2
With focus and intention, you can be successful.
3
My name is Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
4
Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast.
5
Today, I am very excited to chat with my colleague and friend, Farnas Khadem.
6
Farnas is the Vice President of University Communications at Stanford, where she oversees the institution's global media relations, digital strategy, and internal communications.
7
Prior to Stanford, Farnas served as the Vice President of Communication at Caltech.
8
Her background includes public service with the U .S.
9
Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer.
10
Well, welcome, Farnas.
11
Thanks for being here.
12
I look forward to continuing our coffee chats so everybody can hear.
13
Yeah, thanks for having me, Matt.
14
I'm really actually happy to be here.
15
You and I have been talking for a long time about this and having some great conversations, and it's nice to bring it to this forum.
16
Excellent.
17
I agree.
18
Shall we get started?
19
Absolutely.
20
So to begin, your team is involved in many types of communication.
21
Do you have some overarching principle that guides how you see effective communication?
22
First, let me tell you that as a communicator, I like to think in threes.
23
Like, I feel like that's the way to do it.
24
You think in threes, you talk in threes, you remember it, other people remember it.
25
Excellent.
26
Give me the three things.
27
Yeah.
28
So I'll tell you the three things.
29
So first is just know your goal, right?
30
Like I think in the end, communications is about what is it you're trying to get across.
31
And if you don't know what that goal is as an individual or an organization,
32
you're just, you're not, you're not gonna be able to do anything.
33
Second is know your audience.
34
Like that's the other thing
35
that people don't always think about is you got to really be thinking about who you're talking to.
36
And the third is know your data.
37
Like I think we're gonna probably talk a lot about listening today.
38
So much of communications is about listening and not talking.
39
And data is the way you listen.
40
I mean, when you're working in an organization like this, you are constantly having to go back and see what worked and what didn't.
41
So if you don't know your data, you don't know your audience, you don't know your goal.
42
So it's all kind of a circle.
43
So those are really our overarching principles when we think about this.
44
Absolutely.
45
Have to have a clear goal.
46
We talk a lot about goals.
47
The understanding your audience.
48
And I want to talk about audiences because you have many that you have to serve.
49
And then this notion of reflecting, using data to understand what works, what doesn't work, how do we craft that message?
50
Really important.
51
A lot of people just see the goal of communication as getting information out.
52
But it's really how does it land?
53
And you capture that in those three.
54
You also have to traverse a wide variety of channels, right?
55
You mentioned social.
56
There's written magazines, newspapers.
57
How do you think that landscape is changing? and how do you approach, are there certain messages that are better for certain channels?
58
That seems to be another big variable you have to deal with.
59
It's such a good question and it is such a conundrum right now, right?
60
Because the exponential increase of channels is phenomenal.
61
The noise out there, the cacophony, right?
62
People are overwhelmed with information.
63
And so most things don't even get through because there's just too much out there.
64
So I think part of the testing is exactly that.
65
You look at back to the audiences, right?
66
We know that some audiences prefer things in short bursts.
67
They want, they're like video.
68
They prefer Instagram.
69
Shorter, the better.
70
We look a lot at like national polls too, or international polls.
71
Like Pew says that half of people right now get their news from social media.
72
I mean, that's phenomenal phenomenal.
73
So if that's a place where we need to push out more news, we try to do that that way.
74
Long form still has a place, right?
75
Long form writing stories, they're still really important, but people aren't going to read 2 ,000 word stories anymore.
76
They're just very rarely are they going to do that.
77
So one of the things we do as a team is we sit down
78
and let's say we have a story and we actually go through that exact process.
79
We say, okay, like, is this better as maybe a short piece in writing, maybe with an accompanying video,
80
and maybe even with a media pitch.
81
Like we have media relations.
82
We have really strong people who talk to journalists.
83
And sometimes people don't need to hear it directly from us.
84
We're actually better off sharing it with the media who will then share it with the public.
85
And so we go through that on almost every story.
86
I think that's a big lesson for people to take away is that it's not just the information,
87
but you really have to think about the channel.
88
And maybe it's a multi -channel approach for the story.
89
And sometimes it might be not your organization, but helping other organizations amplify and send that out.
90
That's useful for people to think about.
91
One of the other things I'm super impressed with
92
that I think others who aren't in a university setting who
93
have some comms responsibility is you'll pull people together from different areas who all do communication work.
94
have them share best practices, have them learn from each other, really empowering and enabling them,
95
not just through the people process and infrastructure that you talked about, but by actually having them engage with each other to feel supported.
96
Because it can be lonely if you're a single comms person sitting out there in some corporation, but being connected can be really helpful.
97
We have so many great people doing communications for organizations around the university, but a lot of them are one -person shops.
98
And so they're, to your point, lonely.
99
They may not have as much knowledge about what's happening.
100
They don't have an ecosystem.
101
They don't have that connection, that connective tissue.
102
And so we thought mentorship is another great way to do that.
103
And it was really wonderful to see what a difference that made in exactly for the reasons you said.
104
So related to mentorship, I want to talk tangentially about a lot of what your team does is equip people to communicate who aren't naturally communicators.
105
I'm thinking of academics or staff people working in a lab.
106
Do you have best practices that you've observed, either in the work you've done or your people have done,
107
to help somebody who might not be experienced as a communicator, who for whatever reason is in a position to communicate?
108
Maybe they've discovered something new or they've got some expertise that's being pulled to the fore.
109
Or how do you help people be better communicators as a coach, as a guide?
110
This is one of my favorite things to do in communications.
111
I've been doing this work off and on for decades.
112
And one of the best things you can do is help people, because even just a few tips takes people such a long way.
113
One of the misconceptions that I have to tell you about communications is we all think everybody can do it.
114
We all went to school.
115
We can all write.
116
We can all read.
117
We can all speak.
118
And therefore, we think communications means just that.
119
And communications, if you do it well, is an art.
120
And not everybody, to your point, can do that, right?
121
And so we actually do.
122
We offer that kind of training to faculty, to staff, to others.
123
And it's as simple as kind of, I mentioned, I started out talking about the rule of three, right?
124
You have three things that you want to communicate and think about.
125
And you just tell people even something like that, come up with your top three things that you want to say.
126
And that's life -changing for them.
127
They think about that, they process, and then they are able to more clearly communicate their thoughts.
128
We can help people on camera.
129
We can put them in front of a video camera and then help them see how they come across when they're communicating.
130
We talk to them about their work
131
and kind of walk them through how to explain
132
that in a way that is understandable
133
because a lot of people are very good at being able to explain their work in the way that they understand it,
134
but not necessarily in the way that other people would understand it.
135
Right.
136
There's a lot of things that we can do along those lines that we really actually enjoy doing.
137
We think it's a big part of our job.
138
I love that you gave three examples.
139
And, you know, people might not know this, but one of the reasons that the leadership at the business school,
140
but also you and your position were supportive of this podcast as it started, it is it gave an opportunity for faculty to practice,
141
to get out there, to be sharing their information.
142
Because part of it, as you said, when you talked about recording people, it's one thing to understand how to do it.
143
It's one thing to know your message.
144
It's another thing to get the reps in doing it.
145
And so I think it's great that you help people in all those ways.
146
Exactly.
147
In your various roles that you've held, especially here, you've had to deal with public crises.
148
What advice do you have for our listeners who have to deal with challenges, perhaps not on the scale that you have had too?
149
So it's such an interesting question, Matt.
150
I don't know if I would have started out my career
151
or even told you a decade ago
152
that crisis would be one of the things I would do most and I would spend so much time on, or that I would enjoy,
153
because I don't think anybody can say they enjoy a crisis.
154
But in some ways, it's one of the most interesting parts of doing communications for an organization.
155
Yeah.
156
So one of the things I've really loved doing the last few years in particular is going out
157
and teaching about how to do crisis.
158
And so maybe some of what I'll share is a little bit of what I say in these courses
159
or talks that I give.
160
Benjamin Franklin said, by failing to prepare, you prepare to fail.
161
Yes.
162
If no one ever takes away anything else having to do with communications, I hope they remember that.
163
That the most important thing to do in a crisis is just to have prepared in advance.
164
So what does that mean?
165
That means, let's say you're working in a job like mine in an organization or any communications job.
166
Think about what are your top things that could go wrong in your particular job, in your particular organization.
167
What are the top five scenarios of what kind of crisis you can have?
168
And they're different, right?
169
What could happen at a university could be very different than in a business or even in someone's personal life.
170
What are the things that could happen?
171
And then you sort of try to plan around those.
172
Do you have the right...
173
tools?
174
If you're in an organization, do you have the right people?
175
Do you know who's supposed to do what?
176
Do you know roles and responsibilities?
177
And so that whole process of actually thinking through what could go wrong
178
and putting in place the tools
179
and resources you need to address it is bar none the most important thing you can do.
180
Excellent.
181
So beyond preparation, what are some things you advise?
182
Let's say a crisis does erupt and you have to now communicate internally, externally?
183
What do you teach on how to handle that step in the process?
184
I mean, I think there's a lot of different things you have to think about at
185
that point of what do you do.
186
I think one is that it really ultimately, when you're in a crisis, truth and transparency are paramount.
187
People want to know what is actually happening.
188
And if what is happening is you don't know what is happening, you have to tell people you don't know what is happening.
189
So don't assume you have to know everything before you communicate.
190
You just have to communicate and tell people what you know.
191
Be truthful, be transparent.
192
Second is in today's world with how fast things are moving.
193
And as we talked about the multiple channels, and for example, how quickly information moves on social, you have to do it early and often.
194
So I think the days where you could say something,
195
You could wait an hour or two to communicate something or a day or two in a crisis or long gone.
196
And then you have to do it regularly over and over and over again, again, even if you don't know what is happening.
197
Those are like two of the main things that I talk about when I talk about how to communicate in a crisis.
198
The thing I always end with to tell people is forgive yourself because here's what's going to happen in a crisis.
199
It is going to be the fog of war.
200
No matter how much you have practiced, no matter how much you have prepared, it's not going to go as you think it will.
201
The preparation will help you, obviously, because then you are better able to manage those curveballs.
202
You're not spending time on the basics.
203
You're spending time on trying to manage how things are going.
204
But in the end, it's not going to go exactly as you anticipate.
205
Things are going to go wrong.
206
And a lot of people beat themselves up for that.
207
And I think that's the one thing is forgive yourself.
208
Go back.
209
Do that learning.
210
Incorporate those learnings for the next time.
211
And just know that's the way a crisis works.
212
I love the idea that you're doing reflection, a postmortem to learn, giving yourself grace to understand that it's not going to go perfectly.
213
And there might be things that go wrong, but we can learn from it.
214
And yet again, you didn't disappoint.
215
Three Ts, truth, transparency, and I'm going to add timeliness.
216
Timeliness.
217
Absolutely.
218
Absolutely.
219
I'd like to get your insight into what makes for a good story.
220
Now I know it depends on the audience, but are there certain elements that you like to see in stories?
221
Is there, for example, it has to have some emotional appeal or there has to be something vivid?
222
For you, what makes for a good story?
223
So I love that question because there's so much focus right now in the age of AI on storytelling, right?
224
So you're seeing articles and headlines all the time about what is good storytelling?
225
What is the room for storytelling in the world of artificial intelligence and so forth?
226
I mean, there are many elements, I think, to telling a good story.
227
For me personally, I think the single most important thing is does it create a connection?
228
And ultimately, a connection is usually about something personal.
229
You can be a great speaker.
230
When I think about TED Talks, right?
231
What are the ones that really resonate?
232
It's when somebody gets up and they are vulnerable and they share something about themselves and their background and who they are.
233
And all of a sudden that connection is made human to human.
234
And that is the essence of a great story.
235
And I think all the other things are really important.
236
But, Matt, I got to tell you for me, and I see it in my own personal life, right?
237
Anytime I'm talking to someone, whether it's one -on -one or I'm giving a talk or I'm somewhere else, when I share something about my background,
238
how something in my life taught me a lesson that brought me to where I am, I instantly notice a change.
239
And so I think that connection and that personal nature is absolutely core.
240
As somebody who has interacted with you and heard the stories you tell, you're very good at connecting.
241
And you use several techniques to do it.
242
You like to use analogies.
243
You like to use descriptive language.
244
And there are a lot of tools that can enable that connection.
245
But I agree, it boils down to connection.
246
And you alluded to AI.
247
So I'd love to ask the AI question.
248
AI is impacting communication all over the place.
249
As somebody who runs a communication organization, what is your approach to...
250
using AI to help and also being concerned about some of the problems
251
that come with people who use AI in terms of hallucinations and other things.
252
So we spent a lot of time talking about AI.
253
I believe very strongly in moderation in all things, and that carries over for me into the workplace.
254
And AI is a really good example of this.
255
So we're really approaching it in a much more moderated and methodical fashion.
256
Every person in the university communications team at Stanford has to have an AI goal.
257
Okay.
258
Right?
259
That was something that I said at the beginning of this year.
260
But what that means is very different from person to person and from team to team.
261
For some people, that may be my goal is I'm going to take a class
262
and try to understand better how to write prompts.
263
For someone else, it might be more of an incorporation into their daily work.
264
And I largely let the team know.
265
I said, I want you to do this for you, not so much even for me, for the institution.
266
I think that having familiarity with these tools is going to be so important for the next generation of people in communications.
267
And so I think it's incumbent on me to help them learn how to use it.
268
And there are some really great things that we can and are using AI for.
269
So I think one of the certainly can make a lot of processes easier, whether it be in the writing or editing phase or so forth,
270
we can use it.
271
And we're thinking about more how to use it for targeting particular audiences,
272
because I think AI can do a lot to help us find the right audiences for our messages.
273
But then to the flip side of what you asked about, there are a lot of problems,
274
too, that can come with that if people rush to try to do it too much.
275
So the other thing we did is we worked with actually some great faculty
276
and others around the university and we created AI guidelines for communicators.
277
And these are now publicly available.
278
And they're just some basic common sense things that try to address the fact of attribution.
279
If you're going to use AI, don't like tell people you've used AI in some process in this.
280
Two is, you know, understand the hallucinations are real.
281
So make sure you have backed up in terms of fact checking anything that you have out there.
282
And I think that's got to be, those two things have to go hand in hand.
283
Explore in moderation, see how it can help you.
284
And on the other side, be careful and make sure you know where the red lines are.
285
Thank you for summarizing that for us.
286
The key takeaway I have from what you said is, to what end?
287
To what end?
288
You know, just because it's there doesn't mean you need to use it, doesn't mean you need to use it in a specific way.
289
I like that.
290
And I think all of our colleagues across the university who are
291
so instrumental in advancing AI would be very pleased with your answer.
292
So that's great too.
293
Well, Fernaz, I knew this would be a great conversation.
294
We always have great conversations when we grab coffee.
295
I'd like to end by asking you three questions.
296
One, I'm going to create just for you, and two, I've been asking everybody for a long time.
297
We started our talk today highlighting listening reflection.
298
I'd love for you to share a little bit of advice on how you try to listen well
299
and any advice or guidance you give others to improve listening skills?
300
I'm going to share a story.
301
Great.
302
I had a lot of great experiences when I worked as a U .S diplomat overseas.
303
I was incredibly privileged to do so.
304
And one of them was to meet some really phenomenal people.
305
And when I was serving in Italy, I had the chance to meet Bill Clinton.
306
And one of the great things that people will talk about Bill Clinton all the time is that
307
He is a great communicator.
308
But one of the reasons that I thought
309
and I saw it firsthand was
310
when I got to meet him is he makes you feel as if there is no one else except you.
311
Like he is truly listening to you.
312
And I met him in a public forum in Florence with a thousand people around us.
313
But in that 20 seconds, I felt like I was the only person.
314
There was a real connection there.
315
So I think none of us can be Bill Clinton, not all of us can be Bill Clinton,
316
but I felt very much like that taught me something.
317
If your attention is fully on someone, you're not multitasking, you're not looking over to the right, you're not doing something else,
318
but you actually look like you're listening to someone, that can go a long way.
319
That one very short interaction taught me a lot years ago.
320
Yeah, paying attention and then having the intention to really connect makes a big difference.
321
And regardless of what you think of his politics, you know, he is very well known for that ability to connect and to listen.
322
Thank you.
323
Question two, who is a communicator that you admire and why?
324
See, I thought that question might come because I'm a longtime listener.
325
Well, good.
326
Thank you.
327
Thank you.
328
And I'm going to be a little contrarian there.
329
Okay.
330
I don't have one.
331
And I'll tell you why.
332
Okay.
333
I think one of the things that we've talked about here, communications has so many different facets, right?
334
You've got to be a good listener.
335
You've got to be able to be clear.
336
You've got to be passionate about your topic.
337
Different people have different strengths in that.
338
And it's hard for me to think about one person who has all of that, right?
339
So we just talked about Bill Clinton and his ability to listen and connect.
340
If you look at someone, let's say like an Oprah Winfrey, she's fabulous at warmth.
341
And that is a really important part of connection.
342
I spent many years doing technical or science communications, and I'm a little bit of a nerd and a geek that way,
343
too, and I'm passionate about it.
344
But when I look at somebody like a Neil deGrasse Tyson or a Bill Nye, their ability to simplify is their strength.
345
So it feels to me like you can take little pieces and parts of everybody out there,
346
like the things that really matter to you and say,
347
I want a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a little bit of that.
348
No one person has that.
349
I love a little piece of all of them.
350
So I will accept your heresy.
351
Yes.
352
Because what you just shared in your response is the purpose of this question.
353
It's really to look behind what makes for good communicators.
354
And you did a nice job of delineating it.
355
But I'm going to give you an opportunity in our final question to give three key ingredients for a successful communication recipe.
356
What are the most essential from your perspective?
357
Well, thank you for asking in threes.
358
Yes.
359
The three things that I think are very much a reflection of some of the things we've already talked about, right?
360
One is know your goal in your audience.
361
You've got to know what you're trying to communicate and who you're trying to communicate to.
362
Two, we just finished talking about it, listening.
363
Are you a good listener?
364
Do you do active listening?
365
Have you spent your time actually thinking about what the other person has said,
366
as opposed to trying to be the one to think ahead to what you're going to say?
367
On the third point, I'm going to diverge a little bit.
368
I'm going to say if you're an individual, you're doing it as a person versus as someone representing an organization.
369
As a person, I think people hear this,
370
but they do not always appreciate just how much nonverbal communication matters, right?
371
So how much your eye contact, your smile, your body language, your gestures make a difference.
372
And so be thoughtful and be intentional about that.
373
In an organization, if you're representing an organization for good communications, I had a great boss once who said, Farnaz, a big part of your job.
374
It's to educate your bosses.
375
You think people know the same things you do.
376
They don't know the same things you do.
377
So effective communication is to make sure that those who are decision makers around you are educated.
378
They know what you know, and that will lead to good communications outcomes for an organization.
379
Wow.
380
Okay, lots there.
381
So goal -based, focusing on your audience, listening, reflecting, absolutely key.
382
We've heard some of that before.
383
The importance of nonverbals.
384
It's not just the message, but how the message comes across.
385
And then your job is to make sure that those you're speaking to, be they, your bosses, your peers,
386
have the information they need to be successful.
387
So the goal of communication is to educate, which certainly doesn't surprise me, given the role that you have as head of comms at a university.
388
For us, this was fantastic.
389
Lots of key takeaways from lots of different areas of communication, from how we can be better ourselves, how we can better our organizations,
390
how we can handle crises, how we can deal with AI.
391
Thank you so much for your insight and thanks for joining.
392
Thank you for having me.
393
That was a lot of fun, Matt.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
C11
Talk Back: Why Arguing With Yourself Can Help You Flourish
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
Quick Thinks: Network Smarter and Make Better Connections
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
Trust the Process: How to Design Teams That Actually Work
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Want To Make Your Ideas Stick? Make It Into A Meme!
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2What 300 Episodes Has Taught Us
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
Directness with Respect: How to Make the Hard Conversations Easy
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
Why Every Question Is A Gift
Business EnglishWorking Adults
C13
Shark Tank's Daniel Lubetzky: The Pitch Mistake That Loses Investors
Business EnglishWorking Adults
C11
A Matter of Meaning: What Other People Teach You About Your Communication
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1Quick Thinks: A CLEAR Way Through Conflict
Business EnglishWorking Adults
C111
Your Voice Is a Wind Instrument | Matt Abrahams on Projecting Without Straining
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
The First 5 Seconds: How to Start a Speech the Moment All Eyes Suddenly Turn to You | AMA
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C17
The Devastating Note That Nearly Made Adam Grant Quit Teaching
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B26
Ask Matt Anything: Don’t Let Your Communication Fizzle at the Finish
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B23
Message Market Fit: Turning Great Ideas Into Communication That Lands
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
REPLACED BY RETHINKS How to Pitch Anything: 10-20-30 Rule by Guy Kawasaki
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Quick Thinks: How to Have Better Conversations About Aging
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C115
Future You: Unconventional Ways in which Your Future Self Benefits You
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Communicating the Future: Defining Where We Want AI To Take Us
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C11
Ask Matt Anything: Authenticity, Anxiety, and Answering Well
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C11
450 sentences
How to Speak so That People Want to Listen - Julian Treasure
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
227 sentences
How to Lock In and Actually Get Things Done | Andrew Huberman
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
335 sentences
How to articulate your thoughts more clearly than 99% of people
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C144
888 sentences
Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation
B2699 sentences
The 3-Step System for Simplifying Your Work and Life
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C12
141 sentences
The Seven Traditions: Mapping the Field of Communication Theory
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B2640
38 sentences
Stop introducing yourself like this.
Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation
C122
48 sentences
It's Hard To Be Human
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
187 sentences
How to Talk Less & Influence More (3 Secrets)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
976 sentences
Communicate with Confidence: The Blueprint for Mastering Every Conversation
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Know Before You Tell - The Three-Part Framework Every Communicator Needs”. This video has 393 sentences and 4493 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:33. The speaker talks fast, about 191 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| communicate verb | /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ | To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| phenomenal adjective | /fɪˈnɒmɪnəl/ | Very remarkable; highly extraordinary; amazing. |
| listener noun | /ˈlɪs(ə)nɚ/ | Someone who listens, especially to a speech or a broadcast. |
| faculty noun | /ˈfæk.əl.ti/ | The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff. |
| reflection noun | /ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/ | The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected. |
| educate verb | /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/ | To instruct or train. |
| storytelling noun | The act and skills of presenting stories and tales. | |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| reflect verb | /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface. |
| forum noun | /ˈfɔːɹəm/ | A place for discussion. |
| poll noun | /poʊl/ | A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion. |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| intention noun | /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/ | A course of action that a person intends to follow. |
| preparation noun | /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/ | The act of preparing or getting ready. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| start out verb | To emerge suddenly; to jump out. | |
| take away verb | /ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/ | To remove something and put it in a different place. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. | |
| get across verb | To cross; to move from one side (of something) to the other, literally or figuratively. | |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How do you think that landscape is changing?
- If you're in an organization, do you have the right people?
- Do you know who's supposed to do what?
- Do you know roles and responsibilities?
- For you, what makes for a good story?
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 | have been talking · I've been doing · I've been asking |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've observed · they've discovered · you've held |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who talk · somebody who might · somebody who has |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is involved · being connected · being pulled |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 109 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/, methodical /mɪˈθɑdɪkəl/, truthful /ˈtɹuːθ.f(ə)l/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: reflection /ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/, intention /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, rush /ɹʌʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, phenomenal /fɪˈnɒmɪnəl/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, transparency /tɹænsˈpæɹənsi/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/
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 communicate, connect, phenomenal.
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.