Shadowing Practice: Steve Jobs Speech - Best Motivational Video - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Music It's
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a thousand songs in a pop.
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The iPod.
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If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.
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Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
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Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward.
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You can only connect them looking backwards.
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So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
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You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing
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that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even
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when it leads you off the well-worn path.
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And that will make all the difference.
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I was lucky.
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I found what I loved to do early in life, when I was 20.
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The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about it.
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I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.
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You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers.
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Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
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And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
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If you haven't found it yet, keep looking and don't settle.
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As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
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And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.
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So keep looking, don't settle.
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When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like, If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.
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It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, if today were the last day of my life,
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would I want to do what I am about to do today?
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And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
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Remembering
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that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
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Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death,
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leaving only what is truly important.
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Remembering
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that you are going to die is the best way I
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know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
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are already naked there is no reason not to follow your
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heart no one wants to die we gotta risk everything great artists Dylan Picasso new they risk failure and
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if we want to be great we gotta risk it too
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even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there
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and yet death is the destination we all share No one has ever escaped it.
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And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
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It's life's change agent.
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It clears out the old to make way for the new.
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Right now, the new is you.
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But someday, not too long from now, you will truly become the old and be cleared away.
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Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.
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Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
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Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
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Don't let the noise of others' opinion drown out your own inner voice.
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And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
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They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
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Everything else is secondary.
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Were the words, Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
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It was their farewell message as they signed off.
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hungry, stay foolish.
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And I have always wished that for myself.
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Because people will never stop believing that they can get more out of something.
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Whether it be their jobs, their marriage, their money, their lives.
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It's the belief in the limitless, the impossible.
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And no matter what you dream, you can do it.
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When you grow up, you tend to get told the world is the way that it is.
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Your life is just to live your life inside the world and try not to bash into the walls too much.
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That's a very limited life.
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Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact
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and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that are no smarter than you.
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And you can change it.
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You can influence it.
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You can build your own things that other people can use,
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is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is just there and you're just gonna live in it versus embrace it,
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change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.
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And once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.
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Here's to the crazy ones.
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The misfits.
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The rebels.
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The troublemakers.
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The round pegs in the square holes.
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The ones who see things differently.
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They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.
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You can quote them, disagree with them,
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glorify or vilify them about the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
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Because they change things.
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They push the human race forward.
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And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
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Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
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And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
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Stay hungry, stay foolish.
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Thank you all very much.
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Thank you.
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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?
This Steve Jobs speech is a goldmine for english speaking practice—it’s packed with powerful, natural language that balances emotion and clarity. The conversational yet impactful tone makes it perfect for the shadowing technique: repeating phrases aloud in real time to mimic rhythm, intonation, and stress. By shadowing this video, you’ll not only build confidence in expressing big ideas but also learn to connect with your audience—skills that matter in everyday conversations and presentations. Plus, the timeless messages about passion and purpose keep practice engaging, so you’ll stay motivated to improve.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Let’s break down key structures to boost your fluency:
- Conditional sentences: “If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in…” This third conditional form talks about hypothetical past events—great for sharing life lessons. Practice saying it to master the “had + past participle” and “would have + past participle” pattern.
- Imperative phrases: “You have to trust…”, “Don’t waste it…” These direct commands are essential for giving advice or stating beliefs. Notice how Jobs uses them to emphasize urgency—copy his tone to sound more persuasive.
- Metaphors: “Death is life’s change agent.” Metaphors make language vivid. Try rephrasing it (“Change is a gardener, clearing old growth”) to practice creative expression.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Watch out for these tricky sounds to improve english pronunciation:
- “Typography”: The stress is on the second syllable: “ty-POG-ra-phy.” Many learners misplace it on the first—listen closely and repeat to get it right.
- “Karma”: Pronounce it “KAR-muh,” not “kar-MAH.” The short “a” sound is key here.
- “Dogma”: The “g” is soft, like “dawg-muh,” not a hard “g.” Mimic Jobs’ smooth delivery to avoid sounding stiff.
For extra practice, use a shadowing app to slow down the audio and match his pace. Remember, shadowspeak (the art of shadowing) is about more than just words—it’s about capturing the feeling behind them. Keep at it, and you’ll soon speak with the same clarity and conviction as Jobs himself!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't found · I've looked · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was replaced · be cleared · be trapped |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who want · dogma, which is · ones who see |
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.