Shadowing Practice: The dangers of being agreeable | Amy Edmondson - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Psychological safety is the belief that interpersonal risks like speaking up with an idea,
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a concern, a question, even a mistake, is feasible.
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It is not the belief that all of those things are easy.
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It's the belief that's expected around here.
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There are many misinterpretations of what psychological safety means.
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One of them is that it means being nice.
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And in some ways that's almost the opposite.
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Because being nice at work
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or in a social setting is often code for don't say what you're really thinking because it wouldn't be nice.
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It's about dialing it up on candor, telling the truth, even when it might be uncomfortable, and especially when it's uncomfortable for you.
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Sometimes you are at work and you want to ask a question and you're just thinking, this is probably a stupid question.
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People are going to expect me to know this already.
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And it is tempting to just sit back and wait and see what happens.
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In order for you to learn you got to ask that question.
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In order for others to learn you might be asking a question that other people also have.
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Chances are pretty good that that's the case.
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Psychological safety is virtually synonymous with a learning environment.
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You can tell if a group has psychological safety if they seem to be energetically sharing their views, often disagreeing.
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You should see conflict.
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You should see people asking questions.
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You should see people listening intently to each other.
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That's a psychologically safe environment.
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I would say that what you really want is that learning environment, that dedication to learning, and a commitment to high standards.
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And that's where the real high performance happens.
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I'm going to describe three strategies that you can use to build psychological safety in your organization.
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And the first one is a kind of stage setting strategy.
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And that's where you step back and you remind people of the nature of the work we do.
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So you're calling attention to aspects of the work that make people's voice valuable.
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Otherwise, people will operate unconsciously with the assumption that it's always safer to hold back.
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You've got to set those expectations that know it's always necessary.
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When in doubt, lean in, speak up.
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In a patient care situation, for example, saying things like, I might miss something, I need to hear from you.
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Or let's say I'm the pilot of an airplane, I might say something like, I've never flown a perfect flight, I'm going to need your help.
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The second strategy is to ask direct questions.
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Ask what I would call good questions, the kind that focuses on some issue that matters.
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How's the project doing?
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Or where are you in taking care of that patient?
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Ask people to reveal some of their thinking, some of their experience.
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And when someone asks you a question, they've shown you that sort of moment of respect that says, I care about what you see, what you think, what you know.
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So that's creating psychological safety almost automatically.
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Actually, even when you're confident that you think you know the answer, it is still helpful to invite others voices in through a
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good question you may in fact not actually know you may be surprised
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that you can still learn from what others are seeing
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that you might have missed the third strategy is all about how do you respond
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when someone brings you bad news or when they disagree with you or when they
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share an idea that you think is wacky, how do you respond?
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Respond productively. Be appreciative and forward-looking.
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Appreciative means something like, hey, thanks for that clear line of sight.
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It just makes it a little reward, right?
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I took the interpersonal risk of speaking up and I got a little reward.
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Someone said thank you.
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Someone listened.
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Someone acted like it mattered that I was there.
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And forward-looking means sometimes your first instinct will be, how did that happen?
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Or I disagree, sort of backward-looking.
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And it ought to instead be, how can I help?
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Or what ideas do you have about what to do next?
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Always putting that emphasis on the opportunity to keep moving forward in a changing world.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “The dangers of being agreeable”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: psychological, safety, belief, respond, strategy. This video has 59 sentences and 711 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:06. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| disagree verb | /dɪsəˈɡɹi/ | To fail to agree; to have a different opinion or belief. |
| appreciative adjective | /əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/ | Showing appreciation or gratitude. |
| interpersonal adjective | Between two or more people. | |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| candor noun | /ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/ | The state of being sincere and open in speech; honesty in expression. |
| energetically adverb | In an energetic manner; with great energy. | |
| intently adverb | /ɪnˈtɛntli/ | In an intent or focused manner. |
| misinterpretation noun | An instance of misinterpreting. | |
| productively adverb | In a productive manner. | |
| psychologically adverb | In a psychological sense. | |
| synonymous adjective | /sɪˈnɑnɪməs/ | Having a similar (sometimes identical) meaning. (See Usage notes below) |
| unconsciously adverb | /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/ | In an unconscious manner; unknowingly |
| backward adjective | /ˈbækwɚd/ | Situated toward or at the rear of something. |
| feasible adjective | /ˈfiː.zɪ.bəl/ | Able to be done in practice. |
| instinct noun | /ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/ | A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| speak up verb | /ˌspik ˈʌp/ | To talk more loudly or clearly. |
| hold back verb | To act with reserve; to contain one's full measure or power. | |
| sit back verb | To recline while still in a seated position, with one's back on the frame of the seat. | |
| step back verb | /stɛp ˈbæk/ | To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: appreciative /əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/, unconsciously /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/, dedication /ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, assumption /əˈsʌm(p).ʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: appreciative /əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, synonymous /sɪˈnɑnɪməs/, unconsciously /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/, dedication /ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like disagree, appreciative, interpersonal.
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.