Shadowing Practice: The #1 Skill That Multiplies Every Other Skill - Learn English Speaking with Video

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If you were teaching a 101 course on communication

and there's a student who is kind of on the fence about whether or not they should take it, whether or not they should sign up,

what would you tell them to get them off the fence to take the communication class?

I would say to them, if you ever want to influence anyone or lead anyone or advocate for anything you care about,

if you ever want to do any of those things becoming an outstanding communicator will make you better at

that will make you better at that

or will help you do it in the first place

and is it just about influencing people at work

or are there other like broader situations

that i think every situation benefits from better communication your interpersonal

relationships your family relationships your professional relationships whether you even want to go and make those connections and reach those people.

I think if you feel more at ease about communicating live, it is such an advantage in every aspect of your life.

Do you think most young adults are just born good communicators or is it something that they have to learn and train?

I think even the best communicators need to learn and train and hone their skills.

I do think some people are born better at it than others.

But it's not like, I always say this about people always bring up singing.

Like, oh, I can't sing.

I just wasn't.

I do think singing is something, you know, you can train and you can hone the craft

and you can do a lot to make yourself a better singer.

But singing to me seems like something that's much more you have it or you don't.

Whereas communication, there's so much more room to grow and learn and improve no matter how good you are at it.

Even the very best speakers have one challenge that they know.

They're like, oh, I know I'm really long -winded.

I know I have to be more concise.

They can work on that.

It's really something for everybody in terms of improvement.

And what have you seen just, I mean, you've been in this, not communication game explicitly, but performance, law school.

What have you noticed about the risk of not being a good communicator?

What happens if you don't actually learn how to be an effective communicator?

The things that you learn and the things that you have to offer

that you bring to the table will stay with you.

They won't reach anyone else.

So you come up with a great idea or you land on something that might be really valuable to other people.

And it doesn't because maybe you're not going to be willing to express it

or you're you're not going to express it well, or you're not gonna bring the passion that you actually have to talking about it because you're holding yourself back,

I think that's the risk is then it just stays with you.

Then it doesn't spread.

The human connection doesn't flourish.

I had a professor in college who told me one time

that an A plus insight delivered in a B plus way

is always going to lose to a B insight delivered in an A plus way.

It's so true.

And I bristle every time someone's like, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

I don't agree.

I think it is what you say.

What you say is of critical importance.

But I love the way that that person put it

because what you say is very important

and how you say it will help its importance be heard it'll help it land yeah

and the funny thing is like it's so important and yet

so many of us are scared of communicating i saw a stat

when we were preparing for this

that 75 percent of my generation is scared to speak publicly to speak in front of people

and i mean you know this is

that could be raising your hand in class to ask a question definitely it could be like contributing to seminar.

It could be you're in a job interview.

But why do you think communication is so scary for us?

It's because we know we'll be evaluated and we're scared of being evaluated poorly.

We're scared of feeling embarrassed.

We're scared of misspeaking, of getting it wrong, of saying something someone thinks is horrible or cringeworthy.

We're all scared of someone walking away from us speaking and being like, I don't like that person.

That was terrible.

That's scary.

That's really scary.

And generally when you do public speaking, the faces that you get, because people in the audience don't know how scared you are

and they don't feel responsible for making you feel better generally with great exceptions.

But usually the faces that you're getting while you're speaking are like, And that's just not natural.

It's the worst.

That's not natural.

You don't get that nonverbal, the nodding and the uh -huhs and the mm -hmms.

They're all just sitting there like, what?

What are you going to say?

Right.

It's terrifying.

It's so scary.

Of course people are scared.

Did you have like a time when you were first performing

that you can remember just being terrified of stepping out on stage?

The whole time.

I think it's why I truly I think it's why I care

so much about trying to help people not go through that because I thought there was something terribly wrong with me.

I would always say to people like, oh, I just I have the worst nerves.

I remember standing backstage and I loved nothing more than performing and being on stage.

It was all I ever wanted to do.

And we would finish, you know, a month of rehearsals of practicing and thinking of nothing but the show and I remember standing backstage and thinking, how do I get out of this?

Like how, what can I tell them?

I'm sick.

What can I tell them has happened

that will excuse me from having to go out there because the idea of stepping out on that stage, even though it was all I wanted to do, was too scary.

It was too scary.

Yeah, and so I just think the whole time I was feeling that way, whether it was on stage or even then teaching a class

or going into court and trying to argue something for the first time.

Any of those things that were making me nervous, the narrative for me, at least, along the way was, this is a me problem.

And this is something I should not experience.

Not feel.

I wish someone had told me

that it was the most normal thing in the world and that it could be a superpower to have that extra energy.

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So wait, say more about nerves.

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How does being nervous connect to public speaking or getting in front of a crowd and saying something?

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So most people, and I see this in every context with my clients at law firms, with my law students, with my mock trial students,

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certainly, most people feel nervous when they're going to stand up in front of other people.

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It's like very minor exception that doesn't feel that way.

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And the connection is that everybody experiences it completely differently and in completely different settings.

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For some people standing up in a huge room of hundreds of people is fine, but sitting one -on -one in a setting like this would be their nightmare.

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And then other people, this is completely comfortable if it's just a conversation one -on -one,

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but then other situations, like a small group at a meeting or something.

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What are some of those inward or outward signs of nervousness?

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Oh, gosh.

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I've heard them all.

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Most people feel like a tightening in their throat.

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That's why you see people reach for water a lot.

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Tightening in throat?

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Tightening in throat, sweaty palms, shaky hands, heart beating faster.

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A lot of people feel warm, like feel a flush happen to them.

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All kinds of different things.

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I have people describe all the time that they just feel like they blank out.

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Wow that nerves cause them to kind of space.

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Like forget what they're going to say?

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Forget what they're going to say.

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Wow.

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Not be able to listen to someone else who's talking.

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If they have to respond, all of the sudden, it's like the words aren't going in.

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Oh my gosh.

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That's scary.

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What about from a, like if I'm sitting in the audience and there's a speaker, what would be some outward signs of that speaker being nervous?

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Is it like their body language is weird or they're speaking softer or something?

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Usually people race.

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They talk quickly?

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They race through it.

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They start speaking really quickly.

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I think in an effort to just let's get this going.

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Let me just keep spitting out words until it's finished.

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A lot of times it leads to not engaging,

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to kind of just like picking a spot on the wall and just talking and going.

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Yeah, I also, I love what you said earlier about how some people are scared of the one -on -one interactions

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and some people are scared of the audience.

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I had a friend who, he told me he's, when he's in a crowd he feels more safe

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because there's not like a single person

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that he's like oh my gosh are they judging me right now right

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but i think most people including me feel totally fine with like the one -on -one stuff

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and where they struggle is the oh i gotta give a presentation at work

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or oh i guess i gotta get in the courtroom right

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is there do you have any like can you think Can you give any stories from people

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that you've coached or even from your own life where not handling nerves properly really ruined our performance,

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our presentation, an opportunity?

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I can't think of anything specific, but I can think of rooms I've been in when a speaker clearly feels so uncomfortable that.

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they race through and their nerves are so palpable that it makes the room uncomfortable and ruins the moment, ruins the speech.

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Only because we, as the audience members, we don't want the speaker to feel uncomfortable.

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We root for the people generally because it's so awkward when we feel that discomfort.

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It's so cringy.

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So we're rooting for the speaker.

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It is, it's we all wanna feel like everyone's comfortable.

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283 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 154 sentences and 1786 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:23. The speaker talks at a natural 172 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

scare /skɛɚ/ (verb) — To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
scary /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ (adjective) — Causing fear or anxiety
nerve /nɝv/ (noun) — A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.
ruin /ˈɹuː.ɪn/ (noun) — The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
throat /ˈθɹoʊt/ (noun) — The front part of the neck.
uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ (adjective) — Not comfortable; causing discomfort.
gosh /ɡɑːʃ/ — A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm.
tighten /ˈtaɪ.tən/ (verb) — To make tighter.
exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/ (noun) — The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.
presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/ (noun) — The act of presenting, or something presented.
fence /fɛns/ (noun) — A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or forms a perimeter enclosing the lands of a house, building, etc.
communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ (verb) — To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell.
insight /ˈɪnsaɪ̯t/ (noun) — A sight or view of the interior of anything; a deep inspection or view; introspection; frequently used with into.
evaluate /ɪˈvaljʊeɪt/ (verb) — To draw conclusions from examining; to assess; to appraise.
backstage /bækˈsteɪd͡ʒ/ (adjective) — Relating to, or situated in the area behind a stage.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

get in (verb) — To get into or inside something, literally or figuratively.
root for (verb) — To support (a favored person, team, or result).
bring up (verb) — To mention.
come up with (verb) — To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
get out of (verb) — To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go in (verb) — To become obscured by clouds.
go into (verb) — To get involved in; to investigate or explore.
go out (verb) — To leave, especially a building.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 49 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, cringeworthy /ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒˌwɜːði/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/, presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, communicator /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪtə/

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 scare, scary, nerve.

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 seen · have you noticed · has happened
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are just born · are born · be heard

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: The #1 Skill That Multiplies Every Other Skill - Learn English Speaking with Video

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