Shadowing Practice: Your Face Is Talking Even When You’re Silent - Learn English Speaking with Video
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60 sentences
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Everyone has different degrees of facial control.
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So I have a pretty high degree of facial control just simply because I've activated those muscles for a long time.
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I learned microexpressions, I believe, in 2010.
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And so I've been practicing activating my facial muscles.
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So the first thing to do is sit in front of the mirror, and this is a good exercise for everyone,
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and look at your face at rest.
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What is your face doing?
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Do your corners of your mouth point downwards?
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That means you're probably at rest going to look sad, right?
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because we have
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that upside down you are they neutral great neutral are you
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lucky enough to have your corners of your lips angled up people probably think
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that you're always positive or peppy
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so that's the first thing to look at second do you have any vertical lines between your eyebrows
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that means that people probably will see you as angry even
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if you're not so those are the two really big ones
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that you want to see at rest
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when you're at rest look at the other micro expressions are you using any other facial activation
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so for example i have a friend who always defaults to the disgust micro expression.
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I've talked about him before.
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He tends to think like this.
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So he always looks disgusted even if he's not.
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That's just his default expression.
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So look at your face at rest.
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That's the very first thing to do.
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Then see if you can activate your muscles to counter it.
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Some people can, some people can't.
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So if you can make your mouth more upturned and that feels natural to you, great.
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You might want to do that only when you're in public settings where you want people to socialize with you.
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It would be exhausting to do that all the time.
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But if you're networking or you're, you know, in the break room and you want people to approach you, then you might want to activate that.
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Like, so for example, I think I shared this a couple of years ago, I was on a podcast and they were like,
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Oh, can we turn on the video?
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That was an audio only podcast, but I was like, Oh sure.
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You know, he's like, I love to see you while we talk, even though it's only the audio.
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I was like, no problem.
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I turned on the video and it was, I regret it so much because I was so focused on the audio.
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I was letting my face be neutral.
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Well, my face neutral looks sad.
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And so after, you know, during the interview, he was like, you know, I know people can't see you right now, but you look really bored.
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And I was like, I am not bored, sir.
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I am just listening very intently to you
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and not thinking about my face because I was putting all of my energy into the verbal answers.
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And it was that moment that I was like, wow, when the stakes matter in an interview,
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socializing, it is worth it if you can to put energy into shaping your face into neutral or positive.
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So can you slightly upturn your mouth?
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Can you relax your eyebrows?
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I need to open my eyes a little bit wider.
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I have very large lids.
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I've been told this by makeup artists.
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And so when I'm at rest, I look a little more hooded.
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That's why he thought I looked bored is I was, that's just how I rest.
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So see if you can activate those, see if it's comfortable for you.
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And then it's a muscle.
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So literally work on those one at of time.
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See if you can just build those muscles up so that when you're in a public setting or a situation with stakes,
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you're able to turn those on.
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It is a muscle thing.
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So it's just like biceps or triceps.
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You sometimes work it out a little bit before it works.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Your Face Is Talking Even When You’re Silent”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: rest, muscle, neutral, facial, activate. This video has 60 sentences and 671 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:05. The speaker talks fast, about 217 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| neutral adjective | /ˈnuː.tɹəl/ | Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| facial adjective | /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/ | Of or affecting the face. |
| audio adjective | /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/ | Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight. |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| default noun | /dɪˈfɔlt/ | The condition of failing to meet an obligation. |
| 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… |
| stake noun | /steɪk/ | A piece of wood or other material, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a marker or a support or stay. |
| microwave noun | /ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌweɪv/ | An electromagnetic wave with wavelength between that of infrared light and radio waves. |
| disgust noun | /dɪsˈɡʌst/ | An intense dislike or loathing someone feels for something bad or nasty. |
| mirror noun | /ˈmiɹɚ/ | A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it. |
| angle noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/ | A figure formed by two rays which start from a common point (a plane angle) or by three planes that intersect (a solid angle). |
| regret verb | /ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/ | To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What is your face doing?
- Do your corners of your mouth point downwards?
- I've talked about him before.
- Can you relax your eyebrows?
- I've been told this by makeup artists.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I've, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: facial /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/, activation /ˌæktəˈveɪʃən/, socialize /ˈsoʊʃəlaɪz/, microexpression /ˌmaɪkɹəʊ.ɪkˈspɹɛʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: activation /ˌæktəˈveɪʃən/, microexpression /ˌmaɪkɹəʊ.ɪkˈspɹɛʃən/
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 muscle, neutral, activate.
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.