Shadowing Practice: Sales Call: Pitching Software to a Small Business - Learn English Speaking with Video
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32 sentences
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1
Afternoon! I'm Tom, from a small software company in town.
2
Ugh, you're the third salesperson in here this week.
3
You've got two minutes, while the bread's in the oven.
4
Fair enough. Actually, I'd rather ask a few questions first.
5
How do you take orders for custom cakes at the moment?
6
Phone calls, mostly. I write them all down in this notebook.
7
And does anything ever slip through the cracks?
8
Well... funnily enough, we lost an order last Saturday.
9
A whole wedding cake. It was an absolute nightmare.
10
Ouch, that sounds stressful. That's exactly what we solve.
11
Customers order online, and everything lands in one place.
12
You'd even get a reminder the day before each order.
13
Sounds lovely. But how much is it going to cost me?
14
It's thirty pounds a month, with everything included.
15
Thirty pounds? That's a lot for a tiny bakery!
16
I understand. But how much was that wedding cake worth?
17
Hmm... about four hundred pounds, actually.
18
So if it saves one order a year, it pays for itself.
19
Fair point. But honestly, I'm hopeless with technology.
20
And I simply don't have time to learn something new.
21
That's what everyone says, and I completely get it.
22
Most owners pick it up in about ten minutes.
23
Ten minutes? Really? I find that hard to believe.
24
Don't take my word for it. Try it free for a month.
25
I'll set everything up myself, so there's no extra work.
26
Free for a whole month? So, what's the catch?
27
No catch, and no contract. You can cancel anytime.
28
Alright, you've convinced me. Can you show me how it works?
29
Absolutely! How about a quick demo on Monday morning?
30
Monday's perfect. Come early, before the morning rush.
31
Brilliant! I'll bring the coffee... or maybe you will!
32
Ha! Deal. And you can try our croissants, too.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Sales Call: Pitching Software to a Small Business”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pounds, cake, month. This video has 32 sentences and 302 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:09. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 11 of its 32 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 14 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| croissant noun | /kɹəˈsɑnt/ | A flaky roll or pastry in a form of a crescent. |
| funnily adverb | /ˈfʌnəli/ | In a funny or amusing manner. |
| salesperson noun | A person whose job is to sell things, often in a shop or store. | |
| ouch | /ˈaʊt͡ʃ/ | An expression of one's own physical pain. |
| bakery noun | /ˈbeɪ.kə.ɹi/ | A place in which bread (and often other baked goods such as cakes) is baked and/or sold. |
| hopeless adjective | /ˈhoʊplɪs/ | Without hope; despairing; not expecting anything positive. |
| notebook noun | /ˈnoʊtˌbʊk/ | A book (physical or digital) in which notes or memoranda are written. |
| stressful adjective | /ˈstɹɛsfəl/ | Irritating; causing stress. |
| oven noun | /ˈʌ.vn̩/ | A chamber used for baking or heating. |
| demo noun | /ˈdɛm.oʊ/ | A demonstration or visual explanation. |
| reminder noun | /ɹɪˈmaɪndə(ɹ)/ | Someone or something that reminds. |
| cancel verb | /ˈkæn.sl̩/ | To cross out something with lines etc. |
| nightmare noun | /ˈnaɪt.mɛɚ/ | A very unpleasant or frightening dream. |
| anytime adverb | At any time. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Ugh, you're the third salesperson in here this week.
- Actually, I'd rather ask a few questions first.
- How do you take orders for custom cakes at the moment?
- That's exactly what we solve.
- Can you show me how it works?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like croissant, funnily, salesperson.
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.