Shadowing Practice: MrBeast's advice for new YouTube creators - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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given all the wisdom you have now, if you were to give advice to somebody, or if you were to start over again,
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you had no money, what would be the first 10 videos you tried to make on a new channel?
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I guess that's advice for a new person.
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And nobody knows you.
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Yeah, nobody knows me.
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Yeah, I have a mask on.
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And you also, I guess, don't have the wisdom.
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Well, if I don't have what I have in my head, then I would say just fail.
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Like, just a lot of people get analysis paralysis
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and they'll just sit there and they'll plan their first video for three months.
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And any of you listening, especially if you have zero videos on your channel, your first video is not going to get views, period.
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It's not.
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Your first 10 are not going to get views.
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I can very confidently say that.
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So stop sitting there and thinking for months and months on end and just get to work and start uploading.
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All you need to do, this applies to people who have not uploaded videos but have dreams of being a YouTuber, is make 100 videos and improve something every time. Do that.
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And then on your 101st video, we'll start talking, like maybe you can get some views, but you know, your first hundred are gonna stop.
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There are very freak cases like Vice Akoshi
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or Emma Chamberlain who have really good personalities and it doesn't take them as many videos.
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And it's just like people who are seven foot five and making the NBA.
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Like, yes, there are free cases you can find, but for the average person like us, who don't have these exceptional personalities and backgrounds in filmmaking, just make a hundred videos,
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improve something each time, and then talk to me on your 101st video.
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Well, the improve something each time is the tricky one.
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How do you improve something each time?
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The second one, just, I don't know, put more effort into the script.
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The third one, try to learn a new editing trick.
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The fourth one, try to figure out a way that you can have better inflections in your voice.
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The fifth one, try to study a new thumbnail tip and implement it.
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The sixth one, try to figure out a new title.
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There's infinite ways.
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That's the beauty of content creation online.
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There's literally infinite ways, from the coloring, to the frame rate, to the editing, to the filming, to the production, to the jokes, to the pacing, to every little thing can be improved, and they can never not be improved.
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There's literally no such thing as a perfect video.
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So if you knew everything you know now, but no money.
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Step one, would I just brainstorm like, okay, I don't have money.
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What are some viral things?
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I mean, the first thing that comes to my mind is something as simple as when I count to 100,000, which is what I did do when I was poor.
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And that worked.
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But what's something like that I could do that would be even more attention-gathered?
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Yeah, you were, as part of the brainstorm, you would throw out a lot of ideas.
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People would throw out a bunch of ideas.
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And one of the questions is, is this even doable?
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Right?
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Yeah.
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First off, come up with ideas you think would do well, and then ask yourself later if they're doable.
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Yeah.
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Because there's different ways you can accomplish something.
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Don't be cynical about the doability of stuff.
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Yeah, because there really are so many different ways you can accomplish a goal like um
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when we give away an island like we gave our 100
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million subscriber island yeah you know you can't find private islands
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that you know don't look like for less than 10 million dollars
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so this isn't doable right all right the idea doesn't exist not doable x it off
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but then you know you dig into it
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and you you know find different alternatives you find okay what
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if we just buy a two million dollar island that sucks
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and then spend a million dollars you know importing some sand
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let's build a beach let's import 300 trees let's build a a little bit of canals, cut some paths, boom.
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Now it's a really nice island, but it's actually affordable because we don't have $10 million to spend on video, but we can afford to spend three and a half and lose whatever a million dollars on that video.
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So that's an example of like, yeah, if you just went off the gut test, you'd be like, this isn't doable.
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Every island is $10 million.
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We're screwed.
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If we go cheaper, it's just a terrible island.
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No. And so there are so many different ways you can achieve what you want.
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You've really got to push through notes, which not a lot of people do.
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You have to have more of a dominant personality and just a willingness to, when people tell you it's not possible, just actually go through all the variables and eliminate them all yourself.
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have a stubbornness and a resilience to failure maybe.
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For what we do and creators online, it's very imperative that you have that a no isn't a no to you.
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You really have to think.
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We take a personality test and just having a dominant personality is a better indicator that when someone tells you, oh, there's no way you're going to build a brick wall for under 100 grand,
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you'll be like, okay, and then still go check the next 10 vendors and figure it out.
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Thank you.

What You'll Learn

This video builds key speaking skills for clear, confident communication. You’ll practice natural conversational flow by following rapid back-and-forth dialogue, and learn to emphasize critical points using stress and intonation—essential for making your ideas stand out. Additionally, you’ll master explaining complex thoughts simply, as the speaker breaks down advice into easy-to-follow steps, a skill vital for everyday English speaking practice.

Listen For These Sounds

Notice the connected speech in phrases like “a lot of people” (reduced to “alotta people”) and “gonna get views” (linked as “gonna get views”). The speaker often shortens “you have” to “you’ve” and “it is” to “it’s,” common reductions in casual speech. Pay attention to how “hypothetically I have” flows into a single rhythmic unit, with the “t” in “hypothetically” softened—this linking is key to sounding natural when using a shadowing app.

Say It Like a Native

Mirror the speaker’s steady, energetic rhythm by pausing only at commas and periods, avoiding unnecessary breaks. Stress words like “FAIL,” “IMPROVE,” and “INFINITE” to match his emphasis—these are the ideas he wants to highlight. Practice the rising intonation in questions like “How do you improve something each time?” to sound engaging. Use the shadowing technique: repeat short clips immediately after the speaker, focusing on matching his pace and inflections. For example, try saying “There’s literally no such thing as a perfect video” with the same sharp, confident delivery. Over time, this will help you internalize native-like speech patterns, making your English speaking practice more effective. Whether you use a shadowing app or simply repeat lines from videos, consistency is key—just like the creator’s advice to keep improving with each video, keep refining your speech with each shadowing session.

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 →