Shadowing Practice: Your Brain Shuts Down in Interviews — Here's the 60-Second Fix - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
709 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Why your English disappears during job interviews and how to fix it.
2
You know, you prepare for a job interview, you think you're ready.
3
You should get the job.
4
You can do the job, you know you can do the job.
5
But then you get into the job interview and all your English just seems to disappear like someone unplugs your brain.
6
What happens?
7
Why does this happen?
8
And how can you fix this?
9
So when you do a job interview in English, you speak naturally, effortlessly, fluently,
10
and of course, most importantly, confidently.
11
Because in job interviews, you know,
12
the interviewers, they're not just looking for what you say.
13
They're not just looking at what you say.
14
Like how you answer the question.
15
Like what exactly you say.
16
They're looking at how you do it.
17
Meaning your body language, your tone, your eye contact, the feeling, the emotion, your confidence.
18
And that's probably, if you want to look at the most important one in terms of emotion, they want to see confidence.
19
Most important, confident, as you answer the questions.
20
So it's not just about giving the perfect answer.
21
It's about doing it in a perfect way.
22
An answer that's not quite perfect,
23
but is confident, that is usually better than an exactly perfect answer that's not confident,
24
that doesn't sound confident, that you don't look confident when you say it.
25
They're also looking for friendliness.
26
And more important than friendliness is your kind of social abilities, right?
27
They want to feel a social connection,
28
like you can work with and communicate well with other people,
29
because most jobs require you to work with other people.
30
Now, if this is a job where it's just you alone, you're going to be working in a little office by yourself
31
or at home totally by yourself and never deal with another person, maybe they don't care about that.
32
But most jobs you need to deal with someone else.
33
You have to deal with your boss, right?
34
So they want to see and they want to feel,
35
more importantly, feel that you can and will have a good relationship with your boss.
36
You're not going to cause them problems.
37
And you're going to have a good relationship with the other people already working there, your co -workers.
38
And if this is a management position you're trying to get,
39
they want to definitely see that you know how to connect with people, have a good, warm relationship with people,
40
so you'll be a good manager, so you can manage other people under you at the job.
41
So they need to feel some of that warmth and human emotion and connection.
42
They want to see that also.
43
So confidence, right?
44
You know you can do the job.
45
You're confident you can do it.
46
You look and sound confident as you give your answers in the interview.
47
And then that warmth, that human connection, that emotional human connection.
48
They know where they feel that you are good with other people, that you'll be a good part of the team.
49
You're not going to cause problems, right?
50
Just to put it in a negative way, job interviewers, they're looking for problems.
51
They want to get rid of people who are going to cause problems. And why?
52
Because they've had bad experiences in the past where they hired the wrong people.
53
And those wrong people, what are the common problems?
54
Well, one common problem is they don't get along with it.
55
They cause problems with other people.
56
They fight with their co -workers.
57
They're backstabbed.
58
They're gossiping.
59
They don't do what the boss tells them to do.
60
They make the boss stressed out and have a bad relationship and bad communication with the boss.
61
They hate that.
62
They don't want that.
63
So they're looking for problems like that.
64
And then, of course, the other problem,
65
bad experiences that they had in the past are they hired the wrong person who couldn't really do the job.
66
They hired someone who they thought might do the job.
67
They're looking on their resume.
68
It seems like they should be good,
69
but then they get in the job and they're actually not good and they make mistakes and cause big problems.
70
Maybe cause a lot of time to be wasted, money to be wasted or lost.
71
They don't want that either.
72
Okay, so they're looking to avoid those problems in a job interview.
73
So I'm going to tell you exactly how to communicate these two things and to avoid your brain being unplugged,
74
because when your brain gets unplugged because you're stressed in this situation, and it is stressful, you don't sound confident and you don't connect.
75
So you fail both of those and you don't get the job.
76
All right, let's get into it.
77
This is the effortless English show with a joke.
78
Funny me and students, your English breakthrough starts now.
79
Okay, first let's talk about the cause of this, this feeling that your brain gets unplugged,
80
the feeling that you can't perform, you can't use what you know.
81
You know a lot of words in English, but then you get into a job interview and suddenly you can't remember them all,
82
especially when you need them or that you can speak quite well, you know, fairly fluently, good enough.
83
But then you get into the job interview and suddenly like you're not fluent anymore and you're struggling to communicate.
84
So why does it happen?
85
So this is a brain issue.
86
It's in your physical brain.
87
There's a part of your brain called the amygdala.
88
Amygdala.
89
The amygdala is, some people call it, fright or flight.
90
It's basically, or freeze is another reaction.
91
This is kind of the primitive, the very simple part of your brain,
92
emotional brain, when you're in danger that tells you to fight or flight means run away.
93
So fight, run away, or freeze.
94
These are the three things that happen.
95
These happen to animals, right?
96
Animals in danger like a rabbit.
97
What will it do? like that part of the rabbit's brain, the amygdala, the same part of the brain.
98
It's super stressed.
99
It's super afraid.
100
So the rabbit is not in the person too.
101
You're not going to think about anything else but survival.
102
And when that happens, you have three basic choices.
103
Most animals will do three things.
104
They'll fight.
105
If they can fight, they'll fight.
106
If they think they can survive by fighting.
107
If they don't think they can do that, like a rabbit against a wolf, They can't fight.
108
So what do they do?
109
Flight or run away, right?
110
They run.
111
That's what rabbits usually do.
112
They run.
113
Or sometimes they freeze, right?
114
If they think the wolf hasn't seen them yet, they just freeze.
115
They don't move at all, right?
116
It's like they're just frozen there.
117
They can't do anything.
118
And they can't move.
119
Right?
120
And some animals do that.
121
There's an animal in the United States called a possum, and that's their number one thing.
122
When they're in danger, they freeze.
123
They actually, they play dead.
124
They'll just fall over and go, and pretend to be dead, right?
125
They freeze under that super stress and fear.
126
Well, as a human, same basic three responses we have, right?
127
If you're really in danger, like if you were in the woods and a bear was coming to eat you, okay, attack you, your amygdala,
128
that part is kind of deep down, kind of near the brain stem, the corner of the bottom,
129
more of the brain, and it would start firing.
130
And all your higher thinking, right?
131
You wouldn't be thinking about philosophy or mathematics or foreign languages at that time, right?
132
Your amygdala would take over your brain and you would just only think, fight, run, or freeze.
133
That's it and you'd make that decision depending on your experiences and how big the bear was and how much,
134
you know, if you had a gun or not, if you had a gun, maybe you'd start shooting and you'd fight, right?
135
If you were scared of animals and lived in the city and never seen a bear before, you might freeze, not know what to do,
136
just kind of, as the bear comes to get you.
137
Or a lot of people just run like crazy.
138
Right?
139
Well, a job interview is, you're not going to die,
140
but it is an extremely high stress situation if you really want the job and you really care.
141
It's tough.
142
Someone's sitting there staring at you, asking you all these weird questions.
143
These are not normal life questions.
144
You don't usually hear them.
145
Not usually even questions you think about most of the time.
146
And you know that every time you give an answer, they're grading you, right?
147
They're looking for your weaknesses.
148
You know that.
149
They're looking for problems.
150
They're looking for mistakes.
151
And if you don't do well, you don't get the job.
152
Maybe you don't have enough money, right?
153
So it's not quite survival, but it is very high stress.
154
And so just like with the bear, the amygdala starts that part of your brain, the survival part, the primitive,
155
simple part kind of takes over, becomes very active.
156
And when that happens, the higher parts of your brain, like the frontal lobe, which is the front part of your brain,
157
which has kind of higher thinking, decision making, you know, philosophy, you know, all our kind of high,
158
you know, great thoughts and even like things like foreign language, you know, all that kind of stuff.
159
maybe doesn't turn off completely because it's not a bear, right?
160
But it still becomes less.
161
It kind of less energy.
162
Specifically, what happens is less energy,
163
less blood, less oxygen, less electrical energy goes to the high parts of the brain and more goes to the amygdala.
164
So how does that feel?
165
How it feels is that you feel like your thinking becomes more difficult.
166
especially things like a foreign language, like English, or trying to solve some difficult problem,
167
or give an answer to a strange or difficult or unusual or complicated question, right?
168
That requires you to do all this problem solving and it's more abstract.
169
All of that starts to feel difficult because
170
that part of your brain is not getting as much energy as it usually does.
171
And what happens is when your brain, you want to, what, fight, run away or freeze.
172
Well, in a job interview, you're probably not going to fight.
173
You're not going to punch the job interviewer in the face because you're stressed.
174
You know, that's not good.
175
And you're not going to get up and run out.
176
Although some people will do this, right?
177
Some people, not exactly that, but in a high stress situation, they'll just, they won't go or maybe they sit in the waiting room
178
and when it's almost their turn they just leave before they get called.
179
This happens with actors for example.
180
An actor needs to go and audition, they need to go and stand in front of and do a speech or something for a play,
181
but they get so scared then they just they run away
182
and they don't before they before it's time for them to do it.
183
But still most people won't run away.
184
So what's the third one?
185
Freeze!
186
And that's the one that usually happens in job interviews.
187
Again, it's not a bear, so it's usually not 100 % freezing, like where you can't talk, can't move, nothing.
188
But what it does mean, it's kind of like a partial, a part freezing, where again, a lot of your brain slows down and doesn't work.
189
Like, it's like it's not moving, it's not working.
190
And you just kind of, right?
191
It's a kind of freezing and this is what's happening in a job interview.
192
So it's a physical thing happening in your brain.
193
So it's not your fault.
194
It's not your fault.
195
It's normal.
196
This happens to everybody under stress.
197
Now the good news is we can train,
198
we can practice and train for stressful situations so that this happens less,
199
so that we can keep thinking at a higher level even during stress.
200
Because if you practice a stressful situation again and again and again, it gets less stressful, becomes familiar.
201
And then you're able to think more.
202
I mean, this is what military training is about, right? Because what?
203
That's actually life or death, right?
204
You've got a gun, someone else, the other side has guns and they're shooting at you and the military,
205
the army wants you to be able to stand up and shoot back and
206
listen to what the officers are saying and do different things.
207
But what most people want to do
208
if they're getting shot at by bullets is want to jump on the ground and hide, right?
209
Or run as fast as you can.
210
So the military has to train that situation, practice and train it again and again and again
211
and again with the soldiers so that they can think better in that high stress situation and perform better.
212
It's a similar idea.
213
Luckily a job interview is not as stressful.
214
So let's get into some examples like for example number one common common question you know it tell me about yourself.
215
So you get in, you're already nervous about the job situation in general, but these specific questions can shoot your stress up for different reasons.
216
Why does it feel dangerous? Because it's completely open.
217
It's an open question because most people don't know what to say.
218
You could say anything.
219
Well, I'm 200 centimeters tall.
220
Tell me about yourself.
221
What do you talk about?
222
Exactly, right?
223
It's so open and you know they're looking for mistakes.
224
You know they're looking for weaknesses.
225
You're not really sure what they want from this question.
226
So that feels quite stressful and dangerous.
227
That question will shoot up your stress.
228
There's too many possible answers.
229
So you're already in this stress situation and now your brain is just like,
230
looking for answers to this incredibly vague, open question.
231
So how do you overcome it?
232
Through training, you need to practice this question, answering this question confidently in a warm,
233
confident way again and again and again and again many times before the interview.
234
And you want to do it, hopefully, in a higher stress situation.
235
I'll tell you how to do that at the end.
236
And then as you train more and more, then when you hear the question, instead of, you already know,
237
well, I know what to say to this one.
238
And that's the good news about job interviews is probably 90 % of the questions are used again
239
and again and again in all job interviews.
240
Tell me about yourself.
241
What's your strength?
242
What's your weakness?
243
What's your plan for five years?
244
Sometimes they throw in weird surprise questions, right?
245
It does happen.
246
But most of the questions will be standard, right?
247
They'll be, they're not normal life questions, but they are pretty common and you can learn about them.
248
In fact, I have a job interview guide.
249
So I give you a formula exactly how to answer the top 21 job interview questions in English.
250
I'll give you a formula.
251
I'll tell you exactly, say exactly this for all of those, 21 of them.
252
So it's my job interview guide for 21 perfect answers to job interview questions in English.
253
Just comment jobs, J -O -B -S, comment jobs on my Instagram or on my YouTube,
254
and I'll send you that guide.
255
I'll send you a link to get it.
256
It's got, it's a PDF guide, and I have each question, and then I tell you, This is why they're asking the question,
257
and now this is exactly how to answer it to give a strong answer and get the job.
258
And I do it for all those 21 questions.
259
So you can use that guide, and it will help you train and practice really for any job interview.
260
It'll work in your own language, but it'll definitely help you in English as well, especially in English.
261
So get it comment jobs, comment jobs below on Instagram or YouTube.
262
Okay, so let's get back to tell me about yourself.
263
So, for example, you can use this exact formula.
264
I'm a blank.
265
It means blank is you have to put your information.
266
So, I'm a, and then give your job title.
267
I'm a computer programmer with, next blank, how many years of experience?
268
With 10 years of experience in, and then whatever, industry. in the financial industry.
269
What I'm most proud of is, and then you say one specific achievement, one specific success you had in your job.
270
And that's it.
271
That's the formula.
272
And this is what my job interview guide gives you.
273
So it just gives you a formula like this.
274
They'll be blank, so you have to put your own information in there, but it tells you exactly what to do.
275
So you just fill in your own information.
276
What I recommend is you just write it out.
277
Write it out for yourself.
278
So you put, tell me about yourself, and then underneath, write out your answer.
279
Use the formula from my guide and just put in your specific information in the blanks for the formula.
280
And then after that, you'll practice it and study it.
281
So it's all in your head and it'll come out even when you're stressed.
282
So another example, skill questions.
283
Right?
284
A skill question.
285
So you can freeze here because your brain is again, you're stressed, but your brain needs to search through a lot of years of experience.
286
I think skill questions are a little easier if you're good at what your job, but still, you know, they might...
287
ask you, you know, like, you know, like, tell me about a time when you,
288
you know, wrote a great program.
289
I'm not a computer programmer, but, you know, tell me about, you know, a software project you worked on.
290
Now, again, if you don't practice for this, if you don't prepare for it, you might have too many things in your head.
291
You might think, well, that's an easy question for me to answer.
292
I I have experience.
293
I've done a lot of things.
294
And in normal life, it would be an easy question.
295
But when you're stressed out in a job interview, you might suddenly find your brain freezes.
296
It's like public speaking, standing on a stage.
297
You should be able to just stand there and talk to the people normally.
298
What's the problem?
299
But the problem is stress when all those people are looking at you.
300
And suddenly, you can't talk the way you used to.
301
And the same thing can happen here.
302
Suddenly, you have so many years of experience, you can't think of an example quickly, like your brain's turning off.
303
So you want to practice it.
304
Pick one or pick a couple, right?
305
And you want to write it down and prepare, right?
306
Use the formula in my guide.
307
And, you know, there's a formula called the STAR method.
308
There's another formula called the CER method, C -E -R.
309
The STAR method is this, situation, task, action, result.
310
This is very standard, okay?
311
So situation, you'd say, the situation is when and where did you do this?
312
So you'd say, in my previous company at IBM, right?
313
My previous job, in my job before at IBM.
314
Task, you say, what did you do?
315
I needed to make a better database program.
316
Action, the next part of the formula.
317
So I decided to.
318
What did you do?
319
What did you contribute?
320
What problem did you solve?
321
I decided to whatever.
322
Some technical thing.
323
Okay.
324
And then finally result, the most important part of this formula, result.
325
The result was fewer database crashes and the company, we saved $10 ,000.
326
because we didn't need to waste time fixing crashes as much.
327
I don't know, something like that, right?
328
I'm giving a technical example.
329
I'm not a programmer myself, but you get the idea.
330
That result part is the most important part, right?
331
Why is it important, right?
332
Because some people will say, well, you know, at my last job, I don't know, say you're a security guard.
333
At my last job, you know, I would stand in front of the building and make sure there were no problems.
334
And, you know, that you're just describing what you did. So what?
335
That doesn't make you special in any way.
336
But if you say, well, my last job, I was security guard at a software company.
337
And, you know, every during the day, I would have to go around and around the building every hour.
338
And one time there was this like crazy person on drugs and he was trying to break into one of the windows.
339
And I had to grab him and put him on the ground and hold him.
340
And then I was able to hold him down and call the police.
341
The police came and solved the problem.
342
So the company, I saved the company from being broken into.
343
They didn't have any damage to their building.
344
Right?
345
You see, right?
346
That's the result.
347
The result is the benefit to the company.
348
There was no damage to the building or whatever.
349
Right?
350
The action is you held them down.
351
So that's a good little formula you can use as well, especially for skill questions.
352
Again, I've got all this in my interview guide.
353
Just comment jobs, J -O -B -S, on Instagram or YouTube, and you'll get that guide, a link to the guide.
354
Okay, now the next one, the next kind of question is probably the toughest.
355
Some people call this a curveball.
356
This comes from baseball slang.
357
A curveball is in baseball one person throws the ball the pitcher
358
and the other one tries to hit it and a curveball and
359
when the person throws it instead of it going straight
360
it curves it goes in kind of like it can it moves
361
and like a like a part it curves around
362
so harder to hit it
363
because it's the ball's not just coming straight in it's moving in a like a half circle
364
so a curveball just mean a curveball question.
365
If you say, oh, that question was a curveball, it just means unexpected, surprise, strange.
366
So this is when they...
367
just ask you some question and you have never thought of this question before.
368
It's a question, you've never seen it in any job interview guides.
369
You've never seen it in any job interview books.
370
You've never heard of it.
371
And they'll do this.
372
Why are they doing it?
373
Why do they ask a weird curveball question?
374
Right?
375
Like, let's just say they say, if you were making a milkshake,
376
would it be better to make a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milkshake?
377
That would be a super weird question, right, for a job interview.
378
If you're interviewing to be, again, a computer programmer, and they ask you that question, you'd be like, what the hell?
379
Right?
380
Super weird.
381
So why would they ask a question?
382
You got to think, are they just being weird for no reason?
383
They're trying to see how you react to surprises.
384
They want to see how do you deal with stress and unknown things happening and surprises happening.
385
They want to see will you panic, will you freak out, will you freeze, or you just stay cool and calm.
386
And the truth is, for this kind of weird question, it really doesn't matter what you say.
387
The answer is, there's no right answer to this, right?
388
The point is not, what is the answer?
389
The point is how you react.
390
Do you stay calm and confident or do you get kind of freaked out and stressed out, right?
391
So some people might, you know, maybe they're doing well and they're answering all the technical questions.
392
They're answering the skill questions.
393
They're ready.
394
They get some weird question about milkshakes and they might just go, um, uh, and right.
395
And their eyes start kind of, uh, and they start, uh, uh, uh, and they don't know what to say.
396
And you can see all their confidence just falls apart.
397
and that's what the job interviewer is looking for.
398
They're like, ah, if something unexpected happens, this person falls apart.
399
This person can't handle it.
400
They, uh.
401
So the number one thing for this is to stay calm and you don't have to answer fast.
402
Just, you know, you can kind of stall and that's what I recommend is a little politician technique.
403
It's something politicians do many, many, many times.
404
You've all seen this on the news.
405
A politician, a president, a congressperson, anybody, some political person.
406
They get asked a difficult question.
407
What do they do?
408
They answer a different question.
409
They don't even answer it.
410
They avoid it.
411
They'll just say, here's a good phrase.
412
Say it like this.
413
Hmm, that's interesting.
414
That reminds me of, and then just talk about anything you want.
415
Right?
416
You say, that reminds me of.
417
You slow down you can pause and say, well, let me think.
418
That's fine.
419
You can say, let me think.
420
Right?
421
Give yourself a minute.
422
Don't get so panicked that you just feel like you got to
423
start talking nonstop because that's when you'll just start talking crazy, right?
424
Just say, hmm, well, let me think.
425
That's interesting.
426
Well, that reminds me of.. and then just talk about anything it reminds me of.
427
It reminds you of.
428
So instead of answering the question, what milkshake is the best to make.
429
You could just say, you know, that reminds me of, you know, I took my kids to an ice cream shop a couple months ago and,
430
you know, they were, they wanted to get milkshakes and they were kind of arguing over which milkshake to get.
431
We were going to share one and,
432
you know, I had to sit down and discuss with them how we got to work as a team and that,
433
you know, we can't always get exactly what we want and basically mediate,
434
help them solve the conflict and find a solution, a compromise where they would both be happy.
435
So I didn't even answer the question exactly, did I?
436
But I did give an answer that is actually useful for a job, solving a conflict, working together, right?
437
And it was only a little bit connected to the actual question.
438
So for curveball questions, totally fine to do that.
439
In fact, you probably should do that.
440
Salary.
441
This is a great question, by the way.
442
If they start asking you about salary, that's a positive.
443
Does it mean you got the job?
444
No, but it means they're at least thinking about you.
445
Because if they're not thinking about you, if they decide absolutely not, they're not even gonna mention salary probably
446
so why does this one create stress well
447
because money right money plus you're talking in English plus there's authority the person you know and different cultures,
448
different people get uncomfortable talking about money.
449
And maybe you're taught, oh, I shouldn't be greedy and ask for too much.
450
And what if I ask for too much?
451
What if I don't ask for enough?
452
And so what you want to do is, once again, this is in my job interview guide, Comet Jobs, J -O -B -S.
453
But I'll give you the basic ideas.
454
You want to give a range.
455
This is really simple, right?
456
At this point, they're not offering you the job yet.
457
If they offer you the job, you start negotiating your salary.
458
But often they'll just say something like, well, what are you looking for for salary?
459
Something vague like that.
460
Why do they ask that?
461
They want to see if you want too much or too little.
462
If you say too little, they think, oh, maybe you're actually not so good.
463
Right?
464
Otherwise, you would ask for more.
465
If you ask for too much, they think, well, this person is too expensive for us.
466
They're overqualified.
467
So, of course, the easy way to do it is another like politician trick is you just give the range.
468
You give a low to a high range and then just say something in the middle.
469
Then you're saying, well, you can say based on my experience and my research.
470
So you can say, you know, you research this job and you have experience, right?
471
I'm looking at a range.
472
I'm looking at a range of X to Y.
473
I'm looking at a range of $10 ,000 to $20 ,000 a month.
474
Make it a fairly big range.
475
Because then, especially if you really need and want this job, well, probably it's going to fall somewhere in the middle.
476
So let's say the company might be thinking, we want to pay about $11 ,000 a month.
477
So if you say, I'm looking for $8 ,000, it sounds like you're too low.
478
If you say, I want $20 ,000, you sound way too high.
479
But how can you guess?
480
Sometimes they tell you exactly how much.
481
It might be in the ad.
482
But sometimes they don't tell you what the salary is, and you don't want to guess wrong.
483
It's impossible to guess exactly.
484
So just give a big range, and then later you can negotiate if they offer you a job.
485
Okay, finally, the close, the ending.
486
Why is this tough at the end of the interview?
487
What do they usually ask?
488
Do you have any questions?
489
Do you have any questions?
490
This is a typical way for them to answer.
491
Okay, well, that's all we have.
492
Do you have any questions?
493
And a lot of times people say, oh, no, no, I'm okay.
494
But you want to, and why do people do that?
495
Because they're just like, oh, finally, right?
496
You're stressed out.
497
Your adrenaline pumping that gives you energy.
498
It's probably getting low now.
499
And you're probably starting to get tired.
500
And you just want to get out of there.
501
You're like, oh, finally, it's over.
502
So naturally, what a lot of people want to do is just say, no, I don't have any questions.
503
And then just get out.
504
Or ask one stupid, lame question, some fake question you don't care about.
505
But most people don't even ask a question.
506
Because they just want to get out of there which I understand, but it's not going to hurt you if you do that,
507
but you'll have a stronger finish.
508
You want to finish strong.
509
Start strong, finish strong, because that's what they remember.
510
They remember the last time they saw you.
511
So you want to finish strong, so you want to have a question that makes you look good.
512
Because remember, it's all about making yourself look good.
513
So the purpose of having a good question at the end or good questions is just to impress them.
514
Right?
515
To make yourself stand out, be different, look better.
516
So this is not the time to negotiate.
517
This is important, okay?
518
Really important.
519
Because another mistake people make is at the end of the first interview, at the end of the interview, they'll ask questions like, well,
520
how much vacation is there? or, you know, how many sick days do I get or do I have to work overtime?
521
They start trying to ask about benefits, basically.
522
Big mistake.
523
Don't do that now because you're in a weak position, okay?
524
You're in a weak position still because they have not offered you a job.
525
When they offer you a job, that's the time to ask about benefits, time off, and not only ask about it, but negotiate it.
526
So if they want you, if they say, hey, we want to offer you the job, we like you, that's the time you say,
527
okay, well, in that case, what are your benefits?
528
Do you have health insurance?
529
How much vacation time every year?
530
And if they say, well, you get one week of vacation a year, you could say, well, you know, actually I'm looking for more than that.
531
And you can start maybe again, you can get more.
532
Okay.
533
But don't do that now.
534
Don't do that before they offer you a job.
535
You don't want to do that in the interview.
536
You want to do that in the negotiation after an offer.
537
So what's the kind of question?
538
You want to ask them questions about their business.
539
You know, what's the biggest project you're working on now?
540
What is the biggest problem you're experiencing right now in your department or in your company or on your team?
541
Well, what's the most important trait, the most important thing you're looking for in a new person?
542
You know, what's the number one thing I could add to your team that would make your team better?
543
These are the kind of questions you want to ask at this point, at the end of the interview.
544
All right.
545
So finally, at the point, you've got all these little formulas.
546
You get my guide.
547
It's free, by the way.
548
It's a free guide, of course.
549
Free.
550
It's free.
551
Just comment jobs, J -O -B -S, below get a link, go there, download the guide.
552
In the guide, you'll get 21 interview questions.
553
I recommend write them down, okay?
554
Write them down and put in your information.
555
There'll be blanks, right?
556
There'll be spots to put in your own information.
557
Just use the formulas and put in your own information.
558
But then that's step one.
559
But that's not enough, right?
560
Because step two is practicing.
561
It's not enough just to write it out because in the job interview, you might forget it all.
562
Right?
563
Especially under stress.
564
So step two is you need to practice those questions under stress.
565
How do you do that?
566
Here's what I recommend.
567
What happens when you get stressed?
568
Your breathing gets higher, faster.
569
Your heartbeat gets faster.
570
Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
571
Right?
572
So you can actually kind of imitate this with just some exercise.
573
So here's what I recommend.
574
Put on some exciting music.
575
Jump up and down in the room.
576
Jump, jump, jump, jump.
577
As high as you can.
578
And try to get your heart rate and your breathing high, high, high.
579
As high as you can.
580
You want to be like, Okay, if you want to go outside and run some sprints, run for 30 seconds as fast as you can.
581
Rest for 20 seconds.
582
And then run another 30 seconds as fast as you can.
583
get your heart rate and your breathing high high high then come in
584
get your paper with your job interview answers okay let your breathing slow down enough until you can talk
585
but your heart's still beating
586
and then practice giving your answers right read out the question tell me about yourself tell me about yourself
587
and then give your answer while your heart's beating hard and fast while you're still breathing a little bit heavily
588
and when you give your answer have your shoulders back your head up put a smile on your face even
589
if it's a fake smile put a smile on your face try to be warm and confident warm and confident
590
while you give your answers and then you know when your heart rate calms down enough you start feeling relaxed
591
Do it again.
592
Jump, jump, jump, or sprint, whatever you need to do.
593
Get your heart rate back up high, and then do the next few questions.
594
Keep doing that, so that every time you practice answering these job interview questions, you're doing it when your heart is beating fast.
595
This seems simple, but you will be amazed how powerful this is.
596
This is incredible.
597
What do most people do?
598
Most people practice just sitting down.
599
They got their, let's say they have their, a book about job interviews, or they've got, they've written down some answers, and they'll just kind of,
600
you know, read the question and then they'll give their answer.
601
Maybe they'll ask someone else to read the question and then they'll give their answer to them.
602
They might do it where they're, they try to give a good answer and they practice with a little bit of energy.
603
Some people do that, which is better, but it's still not the best.
604
But still, that whole time, what's the problem?
605
It's just practice.
606
It's just your friend or, you know, your roommates asking you the question.
607
You're in a relaxed place.
608
There's no stress at all.
609
Your heartbeat is not going to be up.
610
You're not going to be breathing heavy at all.
611
You're not going to.. have any kind of physical reaction or stress?
612
None.
613
Because you know there's no fear in that moment.
614
It's hard to make yourself be afraid in that moment when you're practicing, but what you can do is copy,
615
create the physical reactions of fear, heart rate and breathing.
616
It's so powerful.
617
When you do this, when you practice in this way,
618
by doing sprints or jumping up and down really hard and getting your heart rate really high.
619
Then you practice your questions and your answers again and again and again.
620
You need to do this for a couple of weeks, okay?
621
Not just one day.
622
You need to do this for a few weeks, especially if you're trying to get tough jobs where your interviews might be quite difficult.
623
You do this, what you're going to find is you'll go into the job interview and yeah,
624
your heart's going to be beating, especially the first interview.
625
It's going to be beating faster.
626
You're going to feel some of that nervous energy, but guess what?
627
You're used to performing when you feel that way.
628
You're used to giving calm, warm, confident answers when your heart's beating fast, when your breathing is a little fast.
629
So it's not going to bother you.
630
Most people, if they freak out because they've been calm, calm, calm before the interview, suddenly they call their name, they go into the room,
631
the heart starts beating faster.
632
They're feeling all these weird stress feelings in their body and they freak out, right?
633
Makes them more and more nervous and afraid.
634
They don't know how to handle those feelings right in the middle of the job interview while they're getting asked questions.
635
But you will know because you've practiced and you've practiced and you've practiced feeling that way.
636
This is nothing new.
637
It's just like the soldiers in the army training.
638
It's the idea.
639
Right?
640
You're used to your heart beating fast when you talk about job interview questions, when you give your answers.
641
You're used to smiling and appearing confident and sounding confident and giving great answers when your heart's beating fast.
642
You're used to it.
643
And because you're used to it, what's also going to happen is that after you do one or two job interviews and you do great,
644
and you realize, whoa, I'm ready for this, you're actually going to start to feel more calm.
645
Your heart actually won't beat so fast anymore.
646
You won't feel so nervous anymore.
647
And after you do several job interviews practicing like this, you actually will just start to feel quite calm and confident.
648
You won't even need to pretend anymore.
649
You'll just walk in and you'll be calm.
650
You'll be confident.
651
You'll be warm.
652
It'll just happen automatically.
653
But you got to train it first.
654
And that's like the situation of a soldier, what they call a veteran soldier, right?
655
A soldier who's been in a lot of battles, right?
656
They've been fighting for one year, two years, lots and lots of fights and battles and now they go into the fight
657
and they're quite calm compared to the new guys, right?
658
They're not as afraid anymore.
659
They think clearly, right?
660
That's how you will be in job interviews.
661
And then you get the great situation where you get more and more and more job offers.
662
Because just getting one job offer, okay, it's nice if you don't have a job.
663
Yeah, you want a job and you need some money.
664
But it's a much better situation to have five job offers at the same time.
665
Five different companies who say they want you.
666
Come join us.
667
Because now when you have five job offers, now you can really negotiate and you can figure out which is the best.
668
And you can get the most money and the best benefits.
669
Because if one company is trying to be cheap, then you can say, well, you know, I'm talking to this other company.
670
They've offered me a job too.
671
Don't lie, but if it's true, then certainly tell them.
672
So if they say, yeah, we want to offer you $15 ,000 a month and we'll give you one week vacation a year,
673
you can say, well, you know, I like your company.
674
Honestly, you're my first choice.
675
But this other company is offering me $20 ,000 a year and three weeks vacation every year.
676
and really that's important to me.
677
I want to be paid what I'm worth
678
and I work hard and I feel that having some vacation and rest time is important.
679
So you can negotiate like this and then you can go to the best company
680
and get the best benefits and then they start negotiating
681
and you get different companies trying to pay you more and give you more benefits.
682
It's great.
683
It will happen.
684
But you got to practice this in this way, okay?
685
You got to train yourself.
686
It's not enough just to read some books about job interviews.
687
It's not enough even just to, you know, practice answering the questions sometimes.
688
You got to do it in this way with that heart rate beating fast.
689
And you need to use the formulas I give you in my job interview guide.
690
So one last time, comment jobs, J -O -B -S, below.
691
That's Instagram and YouTube.
692
And you'll get a link.
693
Download this job interview guide.
694
It's got a formula for 21, the 21 top most common job interview questions, exactly how to answer a formula.
695
And I just told you how to practice after you have that.
696
All right, lots of love to you.
697
You will get great jobs.
698
And you'll get yourself into this great situation.
699
This is the situation you want.
700
multiple job offers, many job offers, not one company saying they want you, three companies saying they want you, four companies saying we want you,
701
five companies saying we want you, we want to hire you, you're the one we want.
702
That puts you in such a strong position in your career and you will do it.
703
All right, comment jobs below.
704
Get my free job interview guide in English.
705
Comment jobs, J -O -B -S.
706
Lots of love to you.
707
See you next time.
708
Bye for now.
709
Get it now!
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B12
This is The BEST Method For Learning English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B270
Unlock Your Potential: Storytelling Beats Generic Answers #shorts
American AccentBusiness EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B21
Pronunciation Training Techniques
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B26
Steve Kaufman | Meeting and Chatting in Osaka
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B12
Learn English Vocabulary
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B14
Master Job Interviews: Conquer Nervousness & Stress! #shorts
American AccentBusiness EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B13
Iman's VIP Program Success Story
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
English Job Interviews
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B111
5 Career-Defining Questions: Unlock Your Dream Job! #shorts
American AccentBusiness EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B11
What is the SECRET to making goals?
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B16
Best Way For You To Speak English
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
5 Interview Questions Decide Your Career
American AccentBusiness EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B21
Become Financially Free
American AccentBusiness EnglishWorking Adults
B17
Your English Level | Don't Compare
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2Think Like a Champion, Speak Like a Native (Book Club Part 2)
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A24
Effortless English Welcome
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B11
Effortless English Rule 2 Don't Study Grammar Rules!
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C138
Effortless English Rule 1 English Phrases
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B29
Never Quit English
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
Fluent In 6 Months | The Secrets To Faster Success
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B11
475 sentences
Answer Question "Why Do You Want This Job?" | Job Interview | English Podcast For Beginners
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B21
79 sentences
How AI Is Ruining Job Interviews
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B14
119 sentences
Odd job interviews. | 6 Minute English.
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B12
281 sentences
How to succeed in your JOB INTERVIEW: Situational Questions
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B15
161 sentences
How to Feel Less Shy Speaking English - Improve English Speaking Confidence Now!
British AccentInterview EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B26
67 sentences
How to Ace an Interview: 5 Tips from a Harvard Career Advisor
Interview EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
18 sentences
DON'T MAKE THIS INTERVIEW MISTAKE
Interview EnglishWorking Adults
B21
405 sentences
Answering behavioral interview questions is shockingly uncomplicated
Interview EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B15
23 sentences
Job Interview in English | Shadow and Learn #learnenglish #english #speakenglish
Business EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B14
249 sentences
Learn how to introduce yourself - Job interview tips
Business EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Your Brain Shuts Down in Interviews — Here's the 60-Second Fix”. This video has 709 sentences and 7210 words to shadow. The speech runs for 47:04. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 91% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 128 of its 709 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| formula noun | /ˈfɔː.mjʊ.lə/ | Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically. |
| freeze verb | /ˈfɹiːz/ | Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| negotiate verb | /nəˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/ | To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
| salary noun | /ˈsæləɹi/ | A fixed amount of money paid to a worker, usually calculated on a monthly or annual basis, not hourly, as wages. Implies a degree of professionalism and/or… |
| blank noun | /ˈblæŋk/ | The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim. |
| stressful adjective | /ˈstɹɛsfəl/ | Irritating; causing stress. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| hire verb | /ˈhaɪɹ/ | To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. |
| rabbit noun | /ˈɹæbɪt/ | A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail. (Those of the larger kind are instead called hares) |
| programmer noun | /ˈpɹoʊɡɹæmɚ/ | One who writes computer programs. |
| interviewer noun | /ˈɪntɚvjuɚ/ | One who interviews. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| run away verb | To flee by running. |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. |
| stress out verb | To become stressed. |
| fall apart verb | To disintegrate, to break into pieces. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| jump up verb | To move from one position to a higher position by one jump. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
| take over verb | To assume control of something, such as a business or enterprise, and sometimes by force. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What do you talk about?
- What's your plan for five years?
- I'm a computer programmer with, next blank, how many years of experience?
- Task, you say, what did you do?
- What if I don't ask for enough?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If they can fight, they'll fight · if you had a gun, maybe you'd start |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | they've had · hasn't seen · I've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be wasted · being unplugged · are used |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are · person who couldn · someone who they |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 250 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, they're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: negotiate /nəˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: negotiate /nəˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, unexpected /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/
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 formula, freeze, breathe.
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.