Shadowing Practice: SIGNS YOU'RE A CONVERSATIONAL NARCISSIST - Learn English Speaking with Video

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35 sentences
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If you go into a conversation thinking all about yourself, how can I be impressive?
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How can I be smart and funny?
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And how can I get them to like me?
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It's quite selfish and it's a lot of pressure.
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There's some people that roll up and they talk about themselves and that's what they want to talk about.
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Conversational narcissist.
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These are people in conversation and this is when they'll answer for themselves.
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They'll tell you all about their goals and they'll tell you the most deepest things that you did not want to know.
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And that's when you get like verbal vomit.
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You have a choice.
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You can either try to teach them that that's not the way
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that they should be in conversation and you can literally say, is it my turn yet?
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Do you want to hear about mine?
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Do you want to hear about my goal?
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If this is the person you're going to invest in and you care for and you like, you have to stand up for what you want to share.
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Where does that conversational narcissism come from? In security.
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They're trying to impress you.
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They're trying to find something to raise your eyebrows.
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But they don't realize that the more they talk, the more you're like, ugh.
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Some conversational narcissists are aware of it and hate themselves for it.
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They literally know what's happening and they're like, why?
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Why am I doing this?
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But they can't stop because they're so scared of the awkward silence.
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We asked a couple thousand people, what is your greatest conversational fear?
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I thought it was going to be rejection or judgment.
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No, it was awkward silences.
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4 ,000 people.
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Their biggest conversational fear is not being rejected.
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It's running out of things to say.
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How do they fix it?
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Curiosity.
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I do believe in like assertive curiosity.
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Not just the follow -up, like tell me more.
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The what, the how, the why, the when.
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They would recover from it by being aggressively or assertively curious about you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “SIGNS YOU'RE A CONVERSATIONAL NARCISSIST”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: conversational, conversation, themselves. This video has 35 sentences and 340 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:19. The speaker talks fast, about 257 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. 11 of its 35 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:

WordPronunciationMeaning
conversational adjective/ˌkɒnvə(ɹ)ˈseɪʃənəl/Easy in conversation, chatty.
narcissist nounOne who shows extreme love and admiration for themself.
curiosity noun/ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/Inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring.
assertive adjective/əˈsɝtɪv/Boldly self-assured; confident without being aggressive.
assertively adverbIn an assertive manner.
eyebrow noun/ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/The hair that grows over the bone ridge above the eye socket.
narcissism noun/ˈnɑɹsəˌsɪzm/A self-centered personality trait in which the person is infatuated with their own characteristics and image that are idealized while others and their…
vomit verb/ˈvɑmɪt/To regurgitate or eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; puke.
aggressively adverbIn an aggressive manner.
rejection noun/ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/The act of rejecting.
verbal adjective/ˈvɜː.bəl/Of or relating to words.
impress verb/ɪmˈpɹɛs/To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably.
scare verb/skɛɚ/To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
selfish adjective/ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
follow up verbTo take further actions remaining after an event; to continue, revisit, or persist; especially, to maintain communication or verify.
roll up verbTo dominate by accumulating; to become dominant by accumulating.
stand up for verbTo speak or act in support or defense of (a person, a cause, a belief, or the like).

Sentences worth repeating

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

  • How can I be smart and funny?
  • Do you want to hear about mine?
  • Do you want to hear about my goal?
  • They're trying to impress you.
  • Why am I doing this?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, they'll, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: conversational /ˌkɒnvə(ɹ)ˈseɪʃənəl/, rejection /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/, selfish /ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/
  • Long words — get the stress right: conversational /ˌkɒnvə(ɹ)ˈseɪʃənəl/, curiosity /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like conversational, narcissist, curiosity.

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 →