Shadowing Julian Treasure

Summary

Julian Treasure presents a practical account of speaking in ways that invite people to listen. He begins with habits that undermine communication, proposes four principles for trustworthy speech and then demonstrates tools available in the voice itself. The talk moves from the substance and intention of a message to its delivery, ending with a group vocal warm-up. His broader aim is more conscious speaking, listening and attention to the environments in which conversation happens.

Key points, in order

1. The habits he discourages include gossip, judging, negativity, complaining, excuses, exaggeration and confusing opinion with fact. Each can make the listener defensive, distrustful or unwilling to engage.
2. His HAIL framework brings together honesty, authenticity, integrity and wishing others well. He stresses that honesty benefits from consideration for the other person and that trustworthy speech requires actions to match words.
3. Register, timbre, prosody, pace, pitch and volume offer different ways to shape delivery. Treasure demonstrates how variation and silence can add meaning, while constant loudness or a monotonous pattern can obstruct it.
4. Before an important talk, he recommends warming up. The demonstration includes breathing, lip and tongue exercises, rolling an R and a sliding vocal siren, followed by a call to create and receive sound more deliberately.

Five useful phrases to practise

Choose a caption line to open Repeat mode. Listen, then say it after the speaker.

1. 3:22 The H, honesty, of course, being true in what you say, being straight and clear.
2. 3:37 The I is integrity, being your word, actually doing what you say, and being somebody people can trust.
3. 5:32 And there are amazing things you can do with breathing, with posture, and with exercises to improve the timbre of your voice.
4. 6:34 There's nothing wrong with a bit of silence in a talk, is there?
5. 7:45 Warm up your voice.

Based on the video’s captions. Original video: How to Speak So That People Want to Listen | Julian Treasure | TED · TED.

Everyday phrases from this video

• first of all
• pay attention

• Level: B1–B2
• Accent: British
• Length: 10 min · 154 lines to practise
• Speed: about 173 words a minute (faster than most talks)
• Words: about 1,660; the talk asks 15 questions
• Timing: Sada measures how far behind the speaker you are on every line

What to focus on in this talk

Treasure demonstrates the voice he talks about, so copy his tone as much as his words. In “It’s the only one that can start a war or say ‘I love you’”, listen to how he changes his voice for the last three words.

What this talk trains

Julian Treasure speaks for about 10 minutes: roughly 1,660 words in 154 caption lines. The pace stays fairly even, about 168 words a minute in the first quarter and 163 in the last. Overall it is faster than 46 of the other 66 talks on Sada. Its sentences average 11.2 words, no longer than the middle of the library (14.3), and 12.9% of its words fall outside the 3,000 most common English words (library middle: 12.9%). It asks 15 questions, so there is plenty of question intonation to copy. Phrases that fast speech often shortens come up again and again: “going to” (7 times) and “let me” (2 times).

Lines from across the talk, and what each one trains

One line from each quarter of the talk. Press a line to open it in Sada, ready to record. “Linking” marks words that run together: a word ending in a consonant sound joins the vowel that starts the next one.

1. 2:10 For example, if I see something that really is awesome, what do I call it?

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it. Linking: say “For example”, “if I”, “is awesome” without a break between the words.

2. 2:46 But is there a positive way to think about this?

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it. Linking: say “But is”, “think about” without a break between the words.

3. 6:38 We don't have to fill it with ums and ahs.

   “have to”: fast speech often shortens it to “hafta” when a verb follows. Listen for whether the speaker does here. Linking: say “fill it”, “ums and”, “and ahs” without a break between the words.

4. 7:49 Would you all like to stand up for a moment?

   “would you”: fast speech often shortens it to “wouldja”. Listen for whether the speaker does here. A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it.

Words that keep coming up

Words outside the 3,000 most common English words that Julian Treasure uses more than once. The number is how often each is said. Look up any you don’t know, then press it to practise the line where it first comes up.

• prosody ×5
• habit ×4
• warm ×4
• consciously ×4
• honesty ×3
• toolbox ×3
• instrument ×2
• powerfully ×2

How the pace changes through the talk

The fastest minute starts at 4:02 (about 214 words a minute): practise that minute once the rest feels easy. The slowest starts at 1:33 (about 148): a good minute to warm up with.

Measured from the caption timing, so the numbers are close, not exact.

How the talk opens: press any line to practise it

1. 0:13 The human voice: It's the instrument we all play.
2. 0:18 It's the most powerful sound in the world, probably.
3. 0:21 It's the only one that can start a war or say "I love you."
4. 0:23 And yet many people have the experience that when they speak, people don't listen to them.
5. 0:28 And why is that?
6. 0:29 How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?

How to practise this talk

1. Warm up on the slowest minute (from 1:33) or on the opening lines above.
2. Then take the chosen lines above one at a time: a question, linked words, a shortened phrase.
3. On each line, press Record and say it after Julian Treasure (Repeat) or along with them (Shadow), then open Compare and go again until every word is green.
4. Save the fastest minute (from 4:02, about 214 words a minute) for last.
5. At one minute a day you finish the whole talk in about 10 days, and Sada shows your first try against your latest.

More talks to practise

• Andy Puddicombe — All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes (B1–B2 · 171 words a minute · same level)
• Simon Sinek — Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe (B1–B2 · 169 words a minute · same level)
• Sir Ken Robinson — Do Schools Kill Creativity? (B2 · 165 words a minute · same accent)
• Sir Ken Robinson — Bring on the Learning Revolution! (B1 · 149 words a minute · same accent)

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