Shadowing Practice: Struggling to Say No? Here Are My Scripts to Set Boundaries with Clients - Learn English Speaking with Video

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This one's juicy.

Ready?

Come on in.

Have you ever worked with a client and they maybe just went a little too far with the asking?

And now you're like, how the hell do I set a boundary?

On this episode of Dear Jamie, that's exactly what we're talking about.

Let's do it.

Dear Jamie, I have landed my first client, but they take up most of my time.

I have already assisted this client by providing services beyond their package, yet they keep demanding for more.

How do I set boundaries with my clients and ensure they only receive what they paid for?

First, congratulations on your first client.

Let's celebrate that.

That's incredible.

And one thing that we're always going to be navigating is learning and growing as an entrepreneur.

What's working?

What's not working?

What's needing support?

What's not needing support?

What went well?

And what can I improve on?

Now, with any kind of boundary setting, something that I would really suggest is anytime someone is onboarding, whether this is a one -to -one service,

whether this is an online program, is clearly stating deliverables in a contract or an agreement

and making sure that they are fully aware of what's inside scope and what's outside of scope, when things are going to be delivered,

when they can expect things, if there are any kind of issues with anything, how to resolve them together,

and just having this clear layout of this is what's in scope

and this is what's out of scope will support you in

being able to help them understand what you are there for

and what they are paying for and what is something that might be an additional charge.

Now, when you have a client that is maybe asking for more that might be out of scope, you can kindly say, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.

I would love to be able to do that.

However, this deliverable is out of scope for what we have a current agreement around.

If you would like to discuss adding this to your package or adding this to your deliverables, I would be more than happy to discuss what additional investment that would look like.

Would that feel good for you?

This gives a way of being able to reiterate the original agreement

and also be able to be very open -minded and professional around sharing that you'd be happy to do additional things.

There might be times where they might ask for something that is outside of your area of genius or out of scope.

And it might just not be your main focus or something that you excel in or even specialize in.

And you can even say something along the lines of, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.

I would love to be able to support you with this.

However, this is not necessarily my area of focus.

And I would love to be able to refer you out to someone

that I deeply trust and who will be able to support you in that specific space.

If there's a certain point where maybe you started with this client

and you didn't set those clear expectations that that's okay you can do

that moving forward it's not a big deal at this point what you want to remember is

that if you have put up any new boundaries or supportive frameworks

or guidelines around your time your services and the energetic reciprocity between you

and the client if anyone really does not treat you well after putting up

that boundary that is a clear indication that there is not an energetic respect of each other's time or each other's values.

Now, if I ever had a client where I put up a boundary in a very kind

and respectful way and they didn't accept that with respect,

I would clearly recognize right now you really only care about you and you don't care about the exchange between us both.

And someone who cares and has values and actually cares about their service providers

or cares about their coaches or cares about the people they're working with, cares that they're putting up a clear framework of expectation and deliverables.

And that happens all the time in business.

Every single day, there's always somebody either changing their boundaries or changing their frameworks or changing their expectations.

And that's okay.

That's just how business works.

So if there's a situation where you didn't put boundaries in place or expectations in the very beginning, that's okay.

What you can state moving forward is saying, hey, I really respect you as a client

and I'm making a couple changes in my business

and I would love to be able to update you on what's happening with specific services,

specific deliverables, and to go through what it looks like moving forward if we continue to work together.

And being able to just have an open conversation around, hey, I'm sending you over a new contract

or you can send a contract or an outline with maybe a loom with a video,

helping them understand and making sure that the energy of your care and consideration for working together with them really comes through.

People who care about people and care about services will respect the fact

that you are a business owner and you have very clear line in the sand here.

I feel like it's important to share that you're not doing anything wrong

and you're not doing anything bad and you're not hurting anyone's feelings

and you're allowed to change and you're allowed to create structures

that support your energy and support your time and support you as a person.

This is the last thing I'll say on this.

I want you to recognize that you're going to be okay, you're going to be amazing,

you are going to be so solid no matter what they say back.

Whether they are upset, whether they are happy, whether they no longer want to work with you, at the end of the day be proud of the boundaries

and the space in which you get to exist in your business

and sometimes people are not going to be pleased and sometimes they will be.

And no matter what, it's your business.

You get to decide your energy.

You get to decide who you want to work with.

And if someone's not happy or treats you with not a lot of respect for you putting up clear boundaries,

there are so many different kinds of experiences that we can have in business.

And trust me, I've heard a lot of them and I love supporting you through it.

If you have any questions on something specific that you're navigating and you would love some feedback and or some coaching, then I'm here for you.

You can submit your questions anonymously and everything you need is in the show notes below.

Okay, I'll see you next week.

Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Struggling to Say No? Here Are My Scripts to Set Boundaries with Clients”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: client, scope, boundaries, clear, deliverable. This video has 89 sentences and 1179 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:31. The speaker talks fast, about 181 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.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
boundary noun	/ˈbaʊndɹi/	The dividing line or location between two areas.
deliverable noun	/dɪˈlɪvɹəbəɫ/	The tangible end product; that which will be delivered.
expectation noun	/ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/	The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen.
navigate verb	/ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt/	To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course.
energetic adjective	/ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/	Possessing or pertaining to energy.
anonymously adverb	/əˈnɒnəməsli/	In an anonymous manner; without a name.
guideline noun	/ˈɡaɪdˌlaɪn/	A non-specific rule or principle that provides direction to action or behaviour.
reciprocity noun	/ˌrɛsəˈprɑsəti/	The characteristic of being reciprocal, e.g. of a relationship between people.
reiterate verb	/ɹiːˈɪt.ə.ɹeɪt/	To say or do (something) for a second time, such as for emphasis.
specialize verb	/ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/	To narrow in scope.
onboard adjective	/ɒnˈbɔːd/	Carried or used on or in a vehicle or vessel.
juicy adjective	/ˈd͡ʒuːsi/	Having lots of juice.
respectful adjective	/ɹɪˈspɛkt.fl̩/	Marked or characterized by respect
excel verb	/ɪkˈsɛl/	To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something.
outline noun	/ˈaʊtlaɪn/	A line marking the boundary of an object figure.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
put up verb	To place in a high location.
move forward verb	To cause to make progress.
come on in verb	Synonym of come in (“to enter”).
come through verb	To come into a room or other space through a door or passageway.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
take up verb	To pick up.
work together verb	To be coworkers with someone; to share a workspace with someone.

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	Have you ever worked · have landed · have already assisted
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	someone who cares · People who care

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 24 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, didn't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/, indication /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: deliverable /dɪˈlɪvɹəbəɫ/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, energetic /ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/, anonymously /əˈnɒnəməsli/, reciprocity /ˌrɛsəˈprɑsəti/

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 boundary, deliverable, expectation.

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: Struggling to Say No? Here Are My Scripts to Set Boundaries with Clients - Learn English Speaking with Video

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