Shadowing Practice: Why you should "steel man" other people - Learn English Speaking with Video
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A straw man is when you simplify or exaggerate somebody's position to make it an easier target.
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It's a target that you can then bat down with adversarial ease.
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For example, if an atheist says that Christianity is just worshipping some bearded man in the sky, that is a straw man,
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because I've yet to meet a Christian who would accept that as a representation of their religion.
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Of course, if a Christian then says
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that an atheist is somebody who does not believe in anything at all
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or that life has no meaning or that we can just do anything that is also quite likely a straw man.
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The problem with a straw man argument is
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that not only does it not address somebody's actual points but it poisons the entire debate.
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It's a kind of bad faith argument that sees conversations as a brawl
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and that truth is just one weapon in the arsenal in a war to win at all costs.
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But there is a better way.
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The opposite of a straw man is a steel man.
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This is where you not only try to represent somebody's position as faithfully as you can and with respect, but you do so in the best possible light.
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You spend a great deal of attention double-checking that what you think somebody's position is, is what that person is actually trying to argue.
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A great example of this in action, I think, is Alex O'Connor.
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I've yet to see a video of his where he willfully
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misrepresent an argument just to make it an easier position to attack.
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In fact, he'll often spend a great deal of time trying to reach a mutual understanding of the position
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and only then will he criticise it and only then will he do so politely.
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In my experience, if you take the time to actually inquire about what somebody actually believes, you'll find a far greater nuance and often far greater agreement than you might have thought at the start.
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For example, only the most dastardly and venal of politicians are actually doing it for themselves.
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I think that most politicians want to make society and the world at least a bit better.
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It's just that the right and the left-wing arguments about how to do that will differ.
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It's long been pointed out that calling your political opponents the enemy
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or evil or idiotic without saying what that means is not only childish, but it's bad for philosophy, it's bad for democracy, and it's bad for politics.
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In his 2013 book, Intuition, Pumps, and Other Tools, the philosopher Daniel Dennett laid out four rules, one of which sounds remarkably like a steel man.
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These are rules for a good debate, and this is what they are.
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First and most important is that you should attempt to express your target's position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says things like,
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well, I wish I had put it like that as well.
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For example, if somebody says to you that social media is inherently evil, you can say to them, well, do you mean that there is some content that is addictive
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and dangerous and that young people especially shouldn't be expected to resist that addiction as much as adults?
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Second, you should list all of the ways that you and your opponent agree on things.
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You might say that, yes, okay, we both agree that there are aspects of social media that are dangerous, that we should have greater regulation and that the conversation should focus mostly on young people.
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Third, you might recognize the ways in which your partner has taught you something new.
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For example, you might say, oh, I didn't know that people today are on average on social media two hours a day.
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Fourth and finally, only then after all of this can you go on to then try and criticize or reject that position.
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You might say, I don't actually think that we should ban all social media.
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In Plato's dialogues, you'll often see Socrates lining up his opponents with a steel man argument.
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A huge part of the dialogue involves Socrates clarifying, laying out and even strengthening the other person's position.
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For example, in the Gorgias, Socrates pauses and reframes Callicles' position about strength and domination, often making it sound more coherent than Callicles himself.
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In Republic, when his opponent argues that justice is nothing more than the interests of the strongest, Socrates doesn't caricature it or simplify the idea.
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Instead, he builds it up into the best version of itself, before then showing why it might be wrong.
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Debates today are often about trying to grab the six o'clock headlines or ride the viral wave with an entertaining gotcha moment.
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But the Socratic method was about understanding fully before disagreeing deeply because that's the spirit of the steel man.
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Of course, Plato's dialogues are not podcast transcripts.
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They are fictionalised accounts of Plato's version of Socrates debating Plato's version of his opponents.
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But the fact that Plato was so willing to present rival opinions in such a strong and positive light, before then pulling them apart,
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reveals just how far we have drifted in what we call a good discussion.
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And in fact, this is why Plato was so suspicious about debates.
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He called debates stupid and dangerous.
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Because according to Plato, debates are very rarely about truth or philosophy.
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They are about ego and pride and winning at all costs.
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Plato often criticises the sophists who, amongst other things, were professional debaters and they would teach other members of the public how they could win at debates.
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They taught people certain tricks and tactics to speak well, how to argue well and how to make the opponent look a bit silly.
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Plato hated these kind of debates
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because it reduced philosophy to a competition where both parties would try to outwit
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and outspeak each other in a kind of game.
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The Greeks called it heuristic and the heuristic debater would appeal to the audience.
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They would mock their opponents.
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They would resort to any fallacious argument they could so long as it meant they could win.
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Plato thought that these debates were not just some harmless fun
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because the big problem with heuristic is that those who are watching the debate confuse the winner with the truth.
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But just because somebody has won a debate through wit and professional tactics doesn't necessarily mean that they are right.
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For Plato, truth and philosophy is a much longer collaborative and dialectic process.
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In many ways, the problem of strawmanning and ridiculing invented beliefs will not go away.
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Point scoring and cheering to the crowd were present in ancient Greece
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and they are here in modern primetime TV debates as well.
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But the steel man is something
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that we can try to bring back into everyday conversations with the people we interact with weekly.
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Because what Plato and Dennett both knew is that if you are to actually grow in your beliefs, you have to see debate as a constructive act and with good intentions.
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Debates are not adversarial opportunities to make your opponent look like an idiot.
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They are opportunities to become better and to grow.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 73 sentences and 1211 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:27. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| opponent noun | /əˈpəʊ.nənt/ | One who opposes another; one who works or takes a position against someone or something; one who attempts to stop the progress of someone or something. |
| straw noun | /stɹɔ/ | A dried stalk of a cereal plant. |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| dialogue noun | /ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/ | A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals. |
| belief noun | /bɪˈliːf/ | Mental acceptance of a claim as true. |
| tactics noun | /ˈtæktɪks/ | The military science that deals with achieving the objectives set by strategy. |
| politician noun | /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/ | One engaged in politics, especially an elected or appointed government official. |
| criticize verb | /ˈkɹɪtɪsaɪz/ | To find fault (with something). |
| atheist noun | /ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/ | A person who does not believe in deities or gods. |
| necessarily adverb | /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ | Inevitably; of necessity. |
| trick noun | /ˈtɹɪk/ | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. |
| everyday adjective | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions. |
| deeply adverb | /ˈdi(ː)pli/ | To a deep extent or degree; very greatly. |
| reveal verb | /ɹɪˈviːl/ | To uncover; to show and display that which was hidden. |
| rarely adverb | /ˈɹɛəɹli/ | Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lay out verb | /ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/ | To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase. |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| line up verb | /laɪnˈʌp/ | To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running. |
| point out verb | To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, I've, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: atheist /ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/, faithfully /ˈfeɪθfəli/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, worship /ˈwɝ.ʃɪp/, addiction /əˈdɪkˌʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, collaborative /kəˈlæb.ə.ɹə.tɪv/
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 opponent, straw, argue.
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 taught · have drifted · has won |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been pointed · be expected · are fictionalised |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | somebody who does · those who are |
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.