Shadowing Simon Sinek

• Level: B1–B2
• Accent: British/American
• Length: 12 min · 158 lines to practise
• Speed: about 169 words a minute (an average pace)
• Words: about 1,970; the talk asks 16 questions

What to focus on in this talk

Practise the sentences beginning with conditions and ending with their effects on a team.

What this talk trains

Simon Sinek speaks for about 12 minutes: roughly 1,970 words in 158 caption lines. The pace stays fairly even, about 161 words a minute in the first quarter and 162 in the last. Overall it is faster than 41 of the other 66 talks on Sada. Its sentences average 16.1 words, longer than the middle of the library (14.3), and 12.3% of its words fall outside the 3,000 most common English words (library middle: 12.9%). It asks 16 questions, so there is plenty of question intonation to copy. Phrases that fast speech often shortens come up again and again: “would you” (4 times) and “want to” (3 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. 1:50 What is that? That is some deep, deep emotion, when you would want to do that.

   “want to”: fast speech often shortens it to “wanna” when a verb follows. Listen for whether the speaker does here. Linking: say “What is”, “That is”, “deep emotion” without a break between the words.

2. 5:36 I said, "Why do you have treat us like cattle?

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it. One of the quicker lines: about 225 words a minute by the caption timing, against 169 for the whole talk.

3. 8:07 Would anybody be offended if we gave a $150 million bonus to Gandhi?

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it. Linking: say “Would anybody”, “offended if” without a break between the words.

4. 11:29 and when we ask them, "Why would you do that?

   “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 Simon Sinek 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.

• sacrifice ×8
• danger ×5
• cooperation ×4
• remarkable ×3
• treat ×3
• ourselves ×3
• afford ×3
• honor ×2

How the pace changes through the talk

The fastest minute starts at 3:47 (about 205 words a minute): practise that minute once the rest feels easy. The slowest starts at 0:51 (about 133): 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. 0:12 There's a man by the name of Captain William Swenson who recently was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor
2. 0:20 for his actions on September 8, 2009.
3. 0:25 On that day, a column of American and Afghan troops were making their way
4. 0:30 through a part of Afghanistan to help protect a group of government officials,
5. 0:37 a group of Afghan government officials, who would be meeting with some local village elders.
6. 0:43 The column came under ambush, and was surrounded on three sides, and amongst many other things,

How to practise this talk

1. Warm up on the slowest minute (from 0:51) or on the opening lines above.
2. Then take the chosen lines above one at a time: a shortened phrase, linked words, a question, a quick line.
3. On each line, press Record and say it after Simon Sinek (Repeat) or along with them (Shadow), then open Compare and go again until every word is green.
4. Save the fastest minute (from 3:47, about 205 words a minute) for last.
5. At one minute a day you finish the whole talk in about 12 days, and Sada shows your first try against your latest.

More talks to practise

• Simon Sinek — How Great Leaders Inspire Action (B2 · 171 words a minute · same speaker)
• Malcolm Gladwell — The Tipping Point I Got Wrong (B1–B2 · 168 words a minute · same level)
• Andy Puddicombe — All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes (B1–B2 · 171 words a minute · same level)
• William McRaven — Make Your Bed — Speech Excerpt (B2 · 169 words a minute · similar pace)

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