Shadowing Practice: Neuroscientist Reveals SIMPLE Way To 10x Your Focus - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

381 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

What I really want, quite selfishly, is advice on how to do deep work better.

Because deep work is something that, I mean, all of my team have to do deep work.

They have to edit code, could be right.

We're doing a lot more writing than ever before, in part because of AI.

So we're trying to push against that.

But in a world that is so distracted, where my phone is there, what advice would you give me for doing deep work predictably well?

What we call in our lab and in our work, deep work, is a focus sprint.

Now, a focus sprint is a method of working.

It's a method of working that, according to research, our research,

has allowed people to do up to two times as much as they would otherwise do,

while also reducing the number of mistakes and you feel better because again, you're working in line with your brain and your body.

You don't have that sense of friction where it's like, oh my gosh, I'm exhausted, you know, after doing one of these sprints, right?

It feels good to do that kind of deep work.

So a focus sprint is the method.

First step.

How many steps are there in a focus sprint?

Five.

There are five steps.

So these five steps will make me 200 % more productive.

First, set aside time in your calendar in advance to block the time off.

You benefit from essentially anticipatory networks in the brain and body.

So if you know, for example, that you have a speech that you need to give,

a presentation, what's the feeling that you get before like some big event or a big speech that you need to give, like some butterflies?

You get this like increase in cortisol and adrenaline, right?

I mean, think about how interesting, amazing our biology is.

I am sitting at rest.

and even though i am sitting at rest because i am anticipating

that i'm about to get up

and maybe do some public speaking my brain is going to

help me by giving me an extra boost in cortisol

and adrenaline and all these amazing things so

that i'm a little bit more focused and high energy

and i can deal with the thing it's a bit of a stressor

so you know especially if someone has a fear of public speaking they might be sitting there

and they're like you know heart rate goes up their hands start to get clammy.

Those are all the markers of physiological arousal as we know them to be.

So we know that if you know a focus sprint is coming, you're going to get a little boost.

So I'm a huge fan of set it up, know it's coming.

Like I'm going to sit down and I'm going to do a one hour focus sprint.

Okay.

The other beautiful thing about this from a team perspective is if your team can see your calendar,

they can all see that you're sitting down to do a focus sprint because your calendar is public.

So it also deals a little bit with that social guilt people feel and that feeling that they need to stay,

I need to be responsive to all the things.

And now that you've done that, you go to step two, which is you got to identify what the heck you're going to do.

And you need to define it.

You need to break it down in clear, simple terms.

So instead of saying, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to work on X, unless you're going to finish X,

that's not going to feel good.

This has everything to do with dopamine, by the way.

Dopamine is the brain's primary, consider it a motivation molecule.

So it's going to get us not only excited and motivated to do a task,

but it's also going to reward us a bit if we really do more than we even expected, especially.

Which brings me to a few pieces of advice.

One, you've got your massive to -do list, yes?

You're going to shop from that to -do list.

And you're going to say, in this focus sprint, I'm going to take out this one piece.

So you have your massive to -do list and you're like, that's the one thing I'm going to focus on, right?

Just this one.

And then you're going to take that one and then you're going to break it down into small manageable pieces.

You're going to break it down.

And you're going to time block every piece.

You're going to say, instead of saying, oh, I'm going to work on this deck, I'm not going to finish it,

but I'm going to work on it.

You're going to say, I'm going to work on slide three for about, I think it'll take me about seven minutes to finish that slide.

Then I actually need to probably send a follow -up email to John for the data that I need for slide 17.

Then I'm going to work on this table that I want to put here and then blah, blah, blah.

So I want to see in granular detail what the execution list is.

And this, by the way, increases your dopamine for getting this work done.

If you're not going to finish it, how is that motivating?

So the goal becomes an output, not the input.

100%.

Okay, that's an interesting one.

Because I think a lot of us do create a goal, which is an input.

Like, I'm going to work on this thing, or I'm going to think about this, or I'm going to strategize this not like the output,

which is the thing that's going to be measurable and come out of this work.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's really interesting.

It's the outcome with a breakdown.

Like I want to see an execution list.

That feels like a lot of work.

I'm not kidding.

Give me a minute and a half.

Here's the problem.

People start something and I'm sure you've experienced this too.

Then the moment they get done with, let's say step 1B and they don't immediately know what step 1C is

or what step two is and it's not clearly outlined

and it's not just a execution mode like a machine they go what's the next step what should i do next people,

that's when you lose people.

That's when you lose your focus.

In deciding what the next step is, this is a sprint.

I don't want you to figure out how to play the game when you're in the middle of the game.

We need to outline what the heck the game is.

And then you're going to go into it and be like, let's go, sprint.

And we go, go, go, go, go.

So you block the time.

You've communicated to the people on your team.

100

They know what's happening.

101

You're benefiting from all those amazing hormones and those anticipatory networks.

102

Then, step two, you set the goal.

103

And the goal is an output and it's specific and it's broken down into sub goals.

104

Yes.

105

And by the way, you've got in here, a diary.

106

So if you've got a daily planner of sorts, something like this, I want you to treat your to -do list, your massive task list.

107

I know you've got one.

108

We all have one like your refrigerator.

109

Do you have urgent items on your to -do list?

110

Like what is the thing?

111

Did you defrost chicken?

112

Because that's a ticking time bomb that needs to get used.

113

So every single day you wake up in the morning and you're about to choose what are my, I call these, by the way,

114

in our lab, MITs, your most important tasks.

115

Your MITs or your most important tasks are the one, two, maximum three things on any given day

116

that you would want to accomplish if you want your day to be a success.

117

So we've got a little chart there, I think, of the MITs, right?

118

Yeah, we do.

119

Every single day, I want you to, in a way, open up the refrigerator, open up the pantry, open up the freezer.

120

And I want you to ask yourself first, first, how much time do I have available today?

121

Three hours.

122

That's a good day.

123

That's a good day.

124

Like uninterrupted focus time.

125

Not uninterrupted, but I can make it uninterrupted.

126

Beautiful.

127

We'll take it.

128

Three hours is beautiful.

129

Yeah.

130

Now you open up the fridge, the pantry and the freezer and you ask yourself with this three hours, What are my MITs?

131

What are the most important tasks that if I were to do them today would make my day a success?

132

Another phrasing for this that we've done research on is, what will your future self thank you for?

133

It's an interesting question because we often reach for the easiest things.

134

And there's the thing that we're not quite ready to do yet because we don't have the information.

135

And maybe it's a little bit out of our era of competence we don't like finance, we don't like investment, we don't like operations.

136

So we avoid that and we kind of, you know, it's like opening the fridge as you say.

137

And we reach for the thing that we know we love, like, and we do that.

138

Those are LITs.

139

LITs, like an email, a DocuSign, right?

140

I always say like toilet paper from Amazon or something, like whatever.

141

Like the little tiny things that will take five minutes,

142

a couple minutes, but it makes me feel like I can cross something off and it's like I've done the thing,

143

I've done the thing, I've done the thing.

144

These are the easy things to do that make me feel a sense of progress.

145

We consider these, by the way, these LITs fast dopamine.

146

And my humble opinion is most of the things that push our businesses forward,

147

the things that push our lives forward are typically here to the right.

148

They're the slow dopamine bits.

149

And I'm not suggesting, by the way, that you don't do LITs.

150

My suggestion is you identify one, two, or a maximum of three MITs that are actually going to push you towards your goals,

151

your long -term goals of things that actually matter.

152

And I assure you the LITs will fill in all of the other nooks and crannies for your day.

153

Like if you've got an uninterrupted hour, that's when you attack one of these MITs.

154

And then if you've got 15 minutes between some meetings and calls, you shove the LITs in there.

155

So MITs are most important goals.

156

LITs are least important goals.

157

Okay.

158

So going back to the focus sprint, when we said step two is set the goal, what you would ideally do,

159

and this is, by the way, you could do one of two different kinds of sprints.

160

You could do a sprint on one MIT.

161

And what you would do is you take that MIT and then you would actually break it down into small manageable chunks.

162

Okay.

163

Okay.

164

In order for me to do that big MIT today in this one hour of time, I'm going to spend 20 minutes on this,

165

15 minutes on this, five minutes on this, three minutes on this.

166

So you make an execution list, or you could do an LIT sprint.

167

You could do like 15 LITs.

168

Are we assuming that people will know what the MIT is?

169

Like, I look at this list of 69 things on my to -do list.

170

How do I, is there a way for me to know which one is the most important?

171

If you don't know, then I would, that would urge us to take an even further step back and sort of do

172

a bit of awareness training on what your long -term goals are.

173

Where do you want to be, both personally and professionally, let's say, in five years?

174

What is your Everest?

175

What is your Everest?

176

If you have a sense of what your Everest is, you then ought to have a sense of what your next step is.

177

If Everest is that way, you're not going to go this way.

178

That way is also quite dangerous.

179

And I will say this.

180

I'm a huge fan of talking about death because I find that it puts everything into perspective.

181

My humble opinion is that the best framing is to really think about yourself on your deathbed.

182

is if you take yourself onto your deathbed and you think to yourself, and truly, by the way,

183

you can visualize this right now, even with me.

184

Let's say you're the tender age of 110 with all of the modern technology and longevity medicine that's going to come out.

185

What, looking back on your life, do you need to have experienced,

186

accomplished, done in order for you to leave with a smile on your face?

187

And to just say, it's been real.

188

I did good.

189

I had an amazing life.

190

I did what I wanted to do here, and I'm ready to go.

191

See what's next.

192

What's your answer to that?

193

i want to have loved deeply

194

i want to and this is my own

195

and i don't know where this comes from we probably need a therapist

196

i'm on with us to unpack this one

197

but i'm a firm believer in servant leadership i think

198

i've been put on the planet to to help in whatever ways

199

that i can so my job is to serve

200

and to make this world a better place with what I do and what I can bring to the table.

201

And that's my obsession.

202

And it's come at a great cost of not doing a lot of other things

203

and not having a lot of what maybe other people see as fun or personal sacrifices,

204

but it seems to be the flavor of my mind,

205

is that I'm squarely focused on building better systems for humanity.

206

It was very clarifying when you asked me to do that as well, because when I closed my eyes and started thinking about my deathbed,

207

I was in a room, and what I noticed was first and foremost, who was there.

208

That was the first thing.

209

And then my second thing was, what do they think of me?

210

So I imagined my romantic interest being here, and then I imagined all of my kids being around on the bed.

211

And I imagined what they thought of their dying father.

212

And there was really like three things that I wanted them to think.

213

I wanted them to think that I achieved things that they can too, and to be evidence of that.

214

The second one was around that I'd made the world a better place.

215

So they were clear on the philanthropic impact that their father had had.

216

So that was really clarifying because it basically gave me three clear priorities, which are like family and having a big family,

217

being a good role model to them, and then them having evidence that me being here was net positive to planet.

218

But it was really clarifying, because there's really three things that matter.

219

So that gives you your direction.

220

Yeah, it does.

221

So if you wake up every single morning, now with that level of clarity… I can go, the Skittles are not going to bring me closer.

222

Fuck the Skittles!

223

Yeah, fuck Skittles.

224

Like, what is that?

225

In what way?

226

Who on their deathbed is sitting around and going,

227

damn i wished i watched more netflix netflix please don't come after me who's sitting around going damn

228

i wish i spent more time scrolling and less time with my kids

229

or less time on my mission on my obsessive mission like nobody um brawny ware is a hospice nurse

230

and she sat with many many dying individuals what an honor to do such a thing

231

something that I hope to do in my lifetime

232

is to sort of exercise my death doula skills and to be with folks who are passing on.

233

And what an honor it is to sit with them because, oh boy, you get some clarity.

234

So she asked these people, what are your regrets?

235

And she would keep a log of the answers they gave.

236

And the number one regret across all of the people that she asked this question to who were dying was,

237

I wish I lived a life more true to myself.

238

Cared less about what others thought.

239

So for you, Stephen, it sounds like all

240

that matters to you at the end of the day is what your family thought of your accomplishments

241

and how you spent your time.

242

It's how you think.

243

And by the way, it's not even them because you'll never really know what the other person thinks.

244

We come into this world alone and we do die alone, no matter how much we love each other.

245

This is one of the paradoxes I find of love and human connection,

246

is that from that first cry that a newborn screams out when they're born, they're crying out for connection.

247

They're scared and they're saying, wait, I feel disconnection in this moment.

248

I was connected before and now I feel disconnected.

249

And they're seeking connection.

250

I think humans, we are...

251

Thank you.

252

seeking this connection and this belonging for the rest of our lives.

253

But the paradox of it, the mindfuck of it, if I may, is we'll never get it.

254

We die alone.

255

Like, I will never understand your mind.

256

This is the fascinating thing about consciousness.

257

You have your consciousness.

258

I have mine.

259

And even moment to moment, my consciousness now in this moment is different than it was the last moment I've changed.

260

things continue to change and evolve.

261

The same moment never repeats itself, which means the same self never repeats itself.

262

Every second that's going by, I am in fact Sahar v 100 million and then the next moment it's another and the next moment it's another.

263

Like we continue to be dynamic, but that's its own little rabbit hole.

264

But on that own little rabbit hole, there's moments, I completely agree and accept what you're saying.

265

There are these moments when you just feel like your consciousness is doing the tango with someone else's.

266

It is intertwined.

267

And you can, as I say, everyone can think of those moments when you look at someone and you go, I don't know what it is,

268

but at some deep level, me and this person, our consciousness is dancing.

269

It's connected.

270

And that's a very real thing.

271

I experienced it a lot on this podcast because you know, I sit here with someone for three hours, talk about their childhood, their trauma, whatever.

272

You feel a deep, deep sense of connection to this other human being sometimes.

273

It can be a spiritual experience in a weird but enjoyable way.

274

I think you hit the nail on the head there.

275

I think it's spiritual.

276

I think it's energetic.

277

I think when we feel that experience of what, by the way, feels like flow, I don't know if it feels that way to you,

278

but you feel in flow with the other.

279

If you and I can connect in that plane, and I felt it, by the way,

280

even when we were just doing that bit about the deathbed and talking about consciousness.

281

And I felt your eyes just all of a sudden zoomed in.

282

And I even was, I wasn't really focused on you necessarily in that moment.

283

There was something about me expressing, I think what is necessary for two humans to have that flow together,

284

together, that energetic dance together, is a loss of the sense of self.

285

I think the self must die in those moments, and it does when we completely lose ourselves in this we.

286

I think when we are stuck in our own self and identity, then I am aware of another.

287

I am aware of your perception of me, and you will be aware of my perception of you.

288

But I think those moments where it feels just magic and we've completely blended,

289

that I'm no longer thinking about you as an other and I as I.

290

I and you have become this energetic we.

291

But again, that bit more spiritual.

292

No, but it perfectly dovetails into work

293

because we can all think of flow states where we dropped into work and three hours passed.

294

We had no idea that time was passing.

295

We were so in.

296

And it, to some degree, feels the same as those moments.

297

Like, when I'm really into my work, I just, time does stop, and I'm so glad it did.

298

I didn't even notice time was a thing.

299

And that's actually the same as being a podcast.

300

When you have really great conversations, you walk out and you go, what, four hours?

301

What the f* happened?

302

Like, so...

303

Okay.

304

So you've set your goal, you have your execution list, you've taken your MIT, you've broken it down,

305

you've made it as easy and simple as like a list of LITs.

306

Yes.

307

Another way, by the way, to describe this is an MIT slow dopamine is like a rat going through a maze

308

and there's a big hunk of cheese at the end of the maze.

309

But that's a lot of work.

310

That is a long, arduous journey to get to that hunk of cheese.

311

Whereas fast dopamine and LITs are like little bits of cheese that you're like, can you just eat that crumb?

312

And it's like, sure, that seems easy enough.

313

Eat right there.

314

Right.

315

So the goal is to make your MITs as easy as a list of LITs.

316

And how you do that is you take that big hunk of cheese and you sprinkle it throughout the maze.

317

So you make your big Everest seem like a series of one step to the next step to the next step.

318

Lao Tzu said it best.

319

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

320

My husband just climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

321

Oh, wow.

322

Yeah.

323

Amazing things that I do not choose to do.

324

You said no to that.

325

I said no to that.

326

That's exactly what I do know how to say no. It's typically with really difficult physical feats.

327

I have my own, but I prefer the mental ones.

328

But yeah, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

329

And when he came back, he said that the mantra of these amazing Sherpas that take you up and down, that come with you.

330

By the way, they're superhuman.

331

Like literally running up and down this mountain, even with all of the elevation, as if it's nothing.

332

It's like drinking water with them.

333

It's amazing.

334

And carrying a bunch of shit with them.

335

It's amazing.

336

Magic.

337

Magic.

338

But he came back and he said what really stuck with him, and it's become a thing that we say to each other sometimes.

339

And all of these amazing guides would keep telling everybody, hey, pole pole.

340

Slowly, slowly.

341

Pole pole.

342

Pole, pole.

343

Slowly, slowly.

344

It's the only way up to the top.

345

If all you focus on is the Everest, you will not get there if you don't focus on taking the step.

346

Every day, a little closer, a little closer, a little closer.

347

You speak to Olympic athletes, they do the exact same thing.

348

That's what I was thinking of.

349

I was thinking of sitting here with Sir David Brailsford, who's the guy quoted in the first chapter of Atomic Habits,

350

turning the British cycling team around, marginal gains.

351

Beautiful.

352

He's a good friend of mine on and off camera.

353

And everyone knows about the marginal gains idea, focus on the smallest things.

354

He said to me on air, he said he banned his team from thinking about the podium, which is very much what you're saying as well.

355

And he really got them focused on like today's work.

356

So this phrase emerged that I say to my team, I've said it three times this week, pedals over podiums.

357

And what that means is like, really focus on the pedals today.

358

Because he said that when he had Christopher Hoy,

359

you know, again, he took the British cycling team from being down and out to the greatest of all time.

360

When Christopher Hoy was thinking about the world record or the podium, whatever, his time would get worse.

361

And when he got Christopher Hoy, if he got him to sort of drop into a meditative state and ban him thinking about that,

362

not only would his time get better around the velodrome, but Christopher Hoy would get off the bike and say he couldn't remember the cycle,

363

which I think is this flow state.

364

It is.

365

Other remarkable thing that he said to me off camera was he went,

366

Stephen, when we started focusing on the small things and broke goals down into really, really small goals, people stopped leaving at 5 p .m

367

and started staying till 1 a .m in the morning because we felt like we were going somewhere.

368

And this is what I referred to as from that conversation as the progress principle, which is like the feeling of progress.

369

And there's this incredible

370

Harvard Business Review study where they asked people what their favorite day in work was, and it was when they had a small feeling of progress.

371

So it really resonated with me when you said,

372

turn the like MITs into these LITs because the reason I like the LITs is because I get the progress principle.

373

Yes.

374

I get the like, oh, I'm making, I feel like I am going somewhere.

375

Yes.

376

The MITs, it's hard to get that feeling unless you do what you just said, which is breaking them down.

377

Yeah.

378

If you love the Dariova CEO brand and you watch this channel, please do me a huge favor,

379

become part of the 15 % of the viewers on this channel that have hit the subscribe button.

380

It helps us tremendously.

381

And the bigger the channel gets, the bigger the guests.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

79 sentences

The 15% Rule: How to Learn Faster | Andrew Huberman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

274 sentences

A 4-Step System to Process Information with Extreme Clarity

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

232 sentences

How to Train Your Brain to Enjoy Hard Work | Andrew Huberman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

74 sentences

The lost art of accomplishment without burnout | Cal Newport for Big Think +

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

107 sentences

How to Quickly Improve Focus - Andrew Huberman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

227 sentences

How to Lock In and Actually Get Things Done | Andrew Huberman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

83 sentences

5 Minutes a Day to Feel More Energetic and Focused (No Motivation Needed)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

391 sentences

The Morning Routine That Sets Up Your Entire Day | Andrew Huberman | Raj Shamani Clips

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

178 sentences

Neuroscientist: How To Change Your Brain (Andrew Huberman)

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

235 sentences

Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

37 sentences

HOW TO MASTER ANY SKILL FAST

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

115 sentences

Neuroscientist: "DELETE Your Social Media NOW!" - Here's Why!

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Neuroscientist Reveals SIMPLE Way To 10x Your Focus”. This video has 380 sentences and 4393 words to shadow. The speech runs for 22:39. The speaker talks fast, about 194 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sprint noun	/spɹɪnt/	A short race at top speed.
pole noun	/pəʊl/	Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.
consciousness noun	/ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/	The state of being conscious or aware; awareness.
execution noun	/ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/	The act, manner or style of executing (actions, maneuvers, performances).
output noun	/ˈaʊtpʊt/	Production; quantity produced, created, or completed.
spiritual adjective	/ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/	Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
calendar noun	/ˈkæl.ən.də/	Any system by which time is divided into days, weeks, months, and years.
slide noun	/ˈslaɪ̯d/	An item of play equipment that children can climb up and then slide down again.
clarify verb	/ˈklæɹ.ɪ.faɪ/	To make or become clear or bright by freeing from impurities or turbidity.
energetic adjective	/ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/	Possessing or pertaining to energy.
maze noun	/ˈmeɪz/	A labyrinth; a puzzle consisting of a complicated network of paths or passages, the aim of which is to find one's way through.
podium noun	/ˈpəʊ.di.əm/	A platform on which to stand, as when conducting an orchestra or preaching at a pulpit; any low platform or dais.
boost verb	/buːst/	To lift or push from behind (one who is endeavoring to climb); to push up.
regret verb	/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/	To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.
input noun	/ˈɪnpʊt/	The act or process of putting in; infusion.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
open up verb		To open.
come back verb		To return to a place.
sit around verb		To spend time sitting idly, not doing anything important.
sit down verb		To assume a sitting position from a standing position.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
follow up verb		To take further actions remaining after an event; to continue, revisit, or persist; especially, to maintain communication or verify.
get off verb		To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.

Sentences worth repeating

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

One, you've got your massive to -do list, yes?
You're going to shop from that to -do list.
You're going to break it down.
If you're not going to finish it, how is that motivating?
What's your answer to that?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If you don't know, then I would · if I may, is we'll never
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has allowed · you've done · you've experienced
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	two, which is · goal, which is · priorities, which are
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is set · i've been put · was connected

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 110 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, therapist /ˈθɛɹəpɪst/, deathbed /ˈdɛθˌbɛd/, philanthropic /ˌfɪl.ənˈθɹɑ.pɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: consciousness /ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/, execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, perception /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/
Long words — get the stress right: execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, energetic /ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/, refrigerator /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒ.əˌɹeɪ.tɚ/, adrenaline /əˈdɹɛnəlɪn/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.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 sprint, pole, consciousness.

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: Neuroscientist Reveals SIMPLE Way To 10x Your Focus - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

JaackMaate Reveals His Regrets

Why Israel Adesanya's Lowest Moment Was Winning The UFC Title

The REAL Reason 80% of Men Get Rejected

A Powerful Technique To Seduce & Influence Anyone: Robert Greene

The REAL Reason Trump Started The Iran War

The Invisible Effects Of Childhood Trauma | World-Leading Physician Gabor Mate

If YOU Plan To Have Kids, You NEED To See This

Godfather of AI WARNS: "You Have No Idea What's Coming"

How To Market and Sell To ANYONE… | Josh Kaufman

If YOU Can’t Focus, You NEED to See This (Science Backed)

If YOU Give Me 20 Minutes, You'll Become Financially Free

The REAL Reason You're Being Lied To About AI

Why You Have No Friends... | Simon Sinek

World Leading Physician View On ADHD: Gabor Mate

The REAL Reason AI Is Already Escaping

THIS Is The Fastest Way To Get Dementia… | The Brain Doctor, Dr Ann Mckee

AI Expert WARNS: "You're Not Ready For 2027"

If YOU Give Me 17 Minutes, You'll Never Be Broke Again

The 15% Rule: How to Learn Faster | Andrew Huberman

A 4-Step System to Process Information with Extreme Clarity

How to Train Your Brain to Enjoy Hard Work | Andrew Huberman

The lost art of accomplishment without burnout | Cal Newport for Big Think +

How to Quickly Improve Focus - Andrew Huberman

How to Lock In and Actually Get Things Done | Andrew Huberman

5 Minutes a Day to Feel More Energetic and Focused (No Motivation Needed)

The Morning Routine That Sets Up Your Entire Day | Andrew Huberman | Raj Shamani Clips

Neuroscientist: How To Change Your Brain (Andrew Huberman)

Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic

HOW TO MASTER ANY SKILL FAST

Neuroscientist: "DELETE Your Social Media NOW!" - Here's Why!

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?