Shadowing Practice: Scaling Hiring at Amazon with Amazon Connect | Amazon Web Services - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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I work in Amazon PXT, People, Experience and Technologies.
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We build the software needed to hire the Amazon candidates to scale the Amazon needs.
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We hire more than 1 .2 million candidates a year.
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We need the software and infrastructure to operate, to hire, to interview.
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With Amazon Connect, we were able to leverage some of the power of the video channel, and we were able to virtualize our process within three months.
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We're able to roll out a virtual appointment in the US and in the UK, and we were able to reduce the waiting time of our
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candidates to 20 minutes in a queue rather than 3 hours on site.
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One noticeable outcome for our agents was the reduction of their average handling time by 30 %
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when we migrated to Amazon Connect, especially with the adoption of the agent workspace where we built
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customized guided experiences for them to deal with common situations they might face with candidates.
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Some of the improvements we've seen in the marketing space is a reduction in the cost to hire by 90%,
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especially with the adoption of Amazon Connect outbound campaigns to reach targeted customer segments.

Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

If you want to master business English—especially around tech, operations, or HR—this video is gold. It’s packed with real-world examples of professionals discussing scaling hiring, using tools like Amazon Connect. Practicing with it helps you sound confident in meetings, presentations, or client calls. Plus, the conversational tone makes it perfect for shadow speech: repeat phrases aloud to mimic rhythm and clarity. Whether you’re prepping for a job in tech or just want to level up your professional vocabulary, this dialogue gives you practical, usable language.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Let’s break down key phrases to add to your toolkit:

  • "We were able to leverage some of the power...": "Leverage" is a pro way to say "use effectively"—great for showing you can apply resources. Practice saying it with the stress on "lev-ER-age" to sound natural.
  • "Reduce the waiting time of our candidates to 20 minutes": This structure ("reduce [X] to [Y]") is essential for discussing improvements. Try swapping "waiting time" with "cost" or "error rate" to adapt it.
  • "Especially with the adoption of Amazon Connect outbound campaigns": "Adoption of [tool]" is common in tech talks. Use it to explain how teams implement new systems—perfect for shadowing technique practice, as it flows smoothly in fast speech.

Common Pronunciation Traps

Watch out for these tricky words:

  • "Infrastructure": It’s easy to mumble "in-fruh-STRUK-chur"—focus on the "struk" part to avoid slurring.
  • "Virtualize": Stress the second syllable: "VIR-choo-uh-lize"—don’t rush the "choo" sound.
  • "Targeted customer segments": "Segments" can trip you up—say "SEG-ments" (short "e") instead of "see-ments."

Use a shadowing app or shadowing site to loop these phrases. Pause, repeat, and compare your tone to the speaker’s—you’ll nail the rhythm in no time. Remember, shadowspeaks (repeating immediately after the speaker) is the best way to build muscle memory for natural speech.

Grammar in this video

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

StructureIn the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowwe've seen

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 →