Shadowing Practice: What They Teach at the Top (That You Don't Know) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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What do these people have in common?
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And Scott said almost apologetically that there was one common quality that every single one of these individuals possessed.
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An indefatigable work ethic.
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Welcome to Moments with Marty, your short sharp shot of leadership insight to help you stay
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on track between our weekly episodes of the No Bullshit Leadership podcast.
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In episode 254, which we released about 18 months ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott J.
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Miller.
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Scott is the host of Franklin Covey's On Leadership podcast.
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And over the six years that he's been hosting On Leadership, Scott has interviewed some of the all-time greats in leadership, business and life.
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He's interviewed household names like Deepak Chopra, John Maxwell, Matthew McConaughey and Malcolm Gladwell.
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He's also sat down with people who made breakthrough contributions to our understanding of what modern leadership requires,
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like Amy Edmondson, who originally coined the phrase psychological safety,
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and Daniel Goleman, whose iconic 1995 book brought emotional intelligence into the public consciousness.
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So although we only do interviews extremely rarely on No Bullshit Leadership, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview the interviewer.
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It was sort of like spending time with Graham Norton or Joe Rogan or David Letterman.
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What Scott has learned from the luminaries who found major success
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in a variety of different fields is something we can all learn from.
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My opening question was, what do these people have in common?
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And Scott said almost apologetically that there was one common quality that every single one of these individuals possessed,
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an indefatigable work ethic.
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Now he said, and I quote, they live balanced lives, but they just have a level of responsibility they feel to invest
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and to teach and to listen and to keep going.
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So I don't know that they're that much smarter than you and me, maybe not, but I do think that they outwork most people.
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Okay, this sort of breaks the narrative a little, doesn't it?
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We're told to work smarter, not harder.
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We're told to try to seek balance.
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We're told to pursue our purpose, which by the way, seems to have taken on a dangerous subtext where purpose is seen as an alternative to hard work.
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But here's the thing.
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To reach the heights of success that you see in these exceptional individuals, working harder than everyone else is just table stakes.
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It's the entry ticket you need to hold before you can try your hand at success.
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The second attribute that Scott identified as a common success factor was an abundance mentality.
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As he said, there's not a scarce bone in their body.
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They usually feel compelled to share and to pollinate ideas and to make connections.
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In other words, they all have an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality.
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The third attribute that Scott identified was what he called a beautiful balance between courage and vulnerability, both of which are leadership competencies.
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He said, They're very comfortable sharing that a book flopped, or a course didn't work, or a keynote imploded.
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They're confident enough to share with you what went wrong, as well as what went right.
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Scott was at pains to explain something that seems obvious at a superficial level, but really struck him quite deeply.
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There's no such thing as overnight success.
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In Scott's words, every one of these people had years of writing books and maybe their sixth book took off,
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or they toiled in a leadership space for a decade before they really got traction.
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There's no such thing as overnight success, and when there is, it's usually ill-gotten or fleeting.
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But what almost all of them have in common is you'd
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be shocked to see how long they worked before they became an overnight success.
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For more depth on this insight, have a listen to episode 254 of the No Bullshit Leadership podcast, What the Best Leaders Do Differently.
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We'll leave a link in the show notes.
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I really hope you enjoyed this moment and that it gives you that extra little spark to Be a no bullshit leader.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “What They Teach at the Top”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: leadership, Scott, success, common, bullshit. This video has 47 sentences and 680 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:30. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mentality noun | /mɛnˈtæləti/ | A mindset; a way of thinking; a set of beliefs. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| overnight adverb | /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/ | During or throughout the night, especially during the evening or night just past. |
| apologetically adverb | In an apologetic manner; by way of defense, apology or excuse. | |
| indefatigable adjective | /ˌɪn.dɪˈfæt.ɪ.ɡə.bəl/ | Extremely persistent and untiring. |
| ethic noun | /ˈɛθ.ɪk/ | A set of principles of right and wrong behaviour guiding, or representative of, a specific culture, society, group, or individual. |
| attribute noun | /ˈæt.ɹɪˌbjut/ | A characteristic or quality of a thing. |
| abundance noun | /əˈbʌn.dn̩s/ | A large quantity; many. |
| possess verb | /pəˈzɛs/ | To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own. |
| insight noun | /ˈɪnsaɪ̯t/ | A sight or view of the interior of anything; a deep inspection or view; introspection; frequently used with into. |
| compel verb | /kəmˈpɛl/ | To overpower; to subdue. |
| competency noun | /ˈkɑm.pə.tən.si/ | The ability to perform some task; competence. |
| implode verb | To collapse or burst inward violently. | |
| keynote noun | /ˈkiːˌnoʊt/ | A speech that sets the main theme of a conference or other gathering; a keynote speech or keynote address. |
| luminary noun | /ˈluməˌnɛɹi/ | One who is an inspiration to others; one who has achieved success in one's chosen field; a leading light. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pass up verb | /pɑːs ˈʌp/ | To refuse (not accept); forgo. |
| take off verb | To remove. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- My opening question was, what do these people have in common?
- We're told to work smarter, not harder.
- We're told to try to seek balance.
- We'll leave a link in the show notes.
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 | has interviewed · has learned |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is seen · be shocked |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, we're, couldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: ethic /ˈɛθ.ɪk/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: superficial /ˌsupɚˈfɪʃəl/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/, exceptional /ɪkˈsɛpʃənəl/, consciousness /ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: mentality /mɛnˈtæləti/, indefatigable /ˌɪn.dɪˈfæt.ɪ.ɡə.bəl/, competency /ˈkɑm.pə.tən.si/, luminary /ˈluməˌnɛɹi/, superficial /ˌsupɚˈfɪʃəl/
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 mentality, podcast, overnight.
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.