📙 Part 2: Describe a successful person you know

This episode's vocabulary

Hard-pressed (adj.) - having a lot of difficulties doing something, especially because there is not enough time or money.

Icon (noun) - a very famous person or thing considered as representing a set of beliefs or a way of life.

Influence (noun) - the power to have an effect on people or things, or a person or thing that is able to do this.

Under your belt (idiom) - learned or succeeded in, and now a part of your experience.

Self-help (noun) - the activity of you yourself providing what you need to help you solve a problem, end a habit, learn a skill, etc.

Authentic (adj.) - if something is authentic, it is real, true, or what people say it is.

Empathetic (adj.) - having the ability to imagine how someone else feels.

Hardship (noun) - (something that causes) difficult or unpleasant conditions of life, or an example of this.

Appeal (noun) - the quality in someone or something that makes him, her, or it attractive or interesting.

Philanthropic (adj.) - helping poor people, especially by giving them money.

To attribute (verb/usually passive) - to say or think that something is the result of a particular thing.

Resilience (noun) - the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened.

Empowerment (noun) - the process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you.

Questions and Answers

R: Well, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone more successful than Oprah Winfrey, to be honest with you. She is a media and I suppose cultural icon, with a lot of influence and achievements under her belt. It's even more surprising when you consider she didn't always have this amazing life. Actually, I think she had quite a troubled upbringing, if memory serves, so that should be even more inspiring. Like I said, she works in media as a television host and a producer. And I think she was an actress as well. Her most famous role is probably as the host of Oprah, which was a really popular talk show host. At least back in the 90s, and I think in the 2000s. It was on for decades. She highlighted various self-help and social issues and did things like celebrity interviews. I actually watched a few episodes myself when I was younger, and I thought she was really authentic and empathetic as well. And she was pretty open about overcoming personal hardships. So it's no wonder she has like such widespread appeal if she can establish this connection with other people so easily. I don't know much about it. But I'm sure she also does a lot of philanthropic work and has made a huge change in the lives of others. In one like particularly famous episode of her show, she gave everyone a car. And I think that was about 200 people, which isn't an insignificant amount to spend on such things. When it comes to the main reasons for her success. I think it can be attributed to her authenticity, resilience and ability to connect with people. Like I said, it happens on quite a profound level. She seems to become a real symbol of empowerment and inspiration for millions of people around the world. And if she hadn't made that effort, I think that would, well, that would make the world or would have made the world a darker place for many. And surely that has to make it worth something.

M: And what about your friends? What do they think about this person?

R: I haven't asked them actually.

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, describe a successful person you know. You can talk about a celebrity like Rory. Rory picked Oprah... How do you pronounce her name?

R: Oprah.

M: Oprah. Oprah Winfrey. If you don't know who she is, please google Oprah Winfrey.

R: Did you not know who Oprah was?

M: No, no, no, knew but maybe our listener doesn't. You know? But like...

R: Oh, they should know.

M: You can speak about Usain Bolt, or Messi, which is going to be the same person you talked about "Describe a famous athlete". Do you see the point, dear listener? You choose one person. Messi or Usain Bbolt. He's an athlete. And also he is a successful person.

R: I should have done that.

M: You see? Two birds with one stone. Also, a successful person could be somebody from your family. For example, your father or your grandfather or your great-great-grandfather 100 years ago was successful. Maybe your brother. You can also talk about yourself, dear listener, as a successful person and lie about your achievements and your career. But the point is, kind of to save time with preparation you can talk about the same athlete, the same person you chose in your topic "describe a famous athlete". So Rory talked about Oprah Winfrey. And you started off with this phrase, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone more successful than Oprah Winfrey.

R: Yeah. That just means it's difficult to find anyone more successful than her. I think she's a billionaire.

M: So, entrepreneur. She's an entrepreneur. Personality and philanthropist. What's a philanthropist?

R: Somebody who donates their time and money to charity and charitable causes.

M: Yeah, so you can say you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone more successful than Messi. Because everybody knows Messi. So, Oprah Winfrey, she's a media and cultural icon. So like Madonna. Madonna is a pop icon, right? Or Rihanna is a pop icon. Icon. So Oprah Winfrey has a lot of influence and achievements under her belt, which is an idiom. So if you have something under your belt, kind of you have it, could you give us another example with this phrase, under your belt, or under his belt, under her belt?

R: Oh, God, well, if we talk about the last famous person, Andy Murray's got a lot of achievements under his belt, he's won all of those trophies and medals.

M: Then you should add more things about this person, and you should know them, right? About this successful person. So she had quite a troubled upbringing. So troubled, well, she had problems in her childhood. So she had a troubled upbringing. Upbringing, like, parents brought her up. She got an education at school, and an upbringing in her family. Really? I don't know about her problems.

R: I don't know too much, either. I just know that she didn't have a very great childhood. But then did anybody?

M: She works in media as a television host. This show was on for decades. So the show was on TV for a very long time. So she interviewed celebrities. She did celebrity interviews, because she invited lots of people, yeah? And she asked them questions. And also she talked about social issues, and self-help during her shows. Rory, can you remember one particular show that you enjoyed?

R: Well, I did. Well, no, actually, I didn't. I just talked about one that everybody seems to know about. I don't remember anything in particular, I just seem to remember her being very engaging in terms of how she was talking to people.

M: So I watched a few episodes. And she was really authentic. So like genuine. She wasn't acting, but she kind of really meant it. Okay? When she cries. And she's empathetic. So if you're empathetic, what does it mean?

R: Well, it just means you understand other people's emotions.

M: Yeah. She's really empathetic. She has this ability to imagine how someone else feels. So kind of she feels you, she understands you. And maybe that's why she has become so successful. So she was pretty open about overcoming personal hardships. Hardships? Like problems, trouble. She overcame personal hardships. And it's no wonder. So it's obvious. We don't have any doubts that she has such widespread appeal. So appeal? Like attraction, people are attracted to her. So she's appealing to other people. And widespread? Well, pretty much in the States she's quite big, huge, a huge success. And also in other countries. What did you mean, when you said she does a lot of philanthropic work?

R: She just does a lot of charity work, I'm sure she's got her own charity. And that obviously helps change the lives of others if you're a billionaire.

M: So she has donated $425 million throughout her career. So she donated like $100 million to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa. Wow.

R: Oh, good for her. Hopefully, it made a difference.

M: So this is what we mean by philanthropic work. And we can say that she has made a huge change to the lives of others. When it comes to the main reasons for her success. So the main reason or reasons for her success, I think it can be attributed to something. So it can be attributed, so it's because of her blah, blah, blah. Right? So a nice phrase. So when it comes to the reasons for her success, it can be attributed to her authenticity. So she is authentic. So it's because of her authenticity, she's successful. And also resilience. What did you mean by resilience/

R: That's just your ability to keep going during difficult periods.

M: You can also use this word about Usain Bolt and Messi. So a famous athlete. They are resilient. They just keep going. Okay? So they are resilient. An adjective. And they have resilience, dear listener, which is a very nice ability. And resilience is a C2 vocabulary item.

R: Is it?

M: Oh, yeah, according to Cambridge online dictionary, C2. So resilience, is the ability to be happy, and successful after something difficult or bad has happened to you, okay? So because of my resilience, I succeeded, or she is successful due to her resilience. And also she has the ability to connect with people on a profound level. So on a deep level, so she invites you to her show, and she connects with you. So she feels you, she understands you. She's become a real symbol of empowerment. Rory, tell us about empowerment.

R: Well, empowerment is just giving yourself power and control over a situation.

M: So she's a real symbol of inspiration for millions around the world. What helped you organize this answer?

R: Almost everything in the prompt, although I just realized that I didn't actually say explicitly how I learned about them. All I said was, I just watched a couple of episodes of her on TV. I could have said more about where I'd seen her because you hear about her in different kinds of media. And of course, if you watch anything advertising, anything she's doing, that's quite important as well. So that's perhaps one big deviation. I didn't explicitly say, I know about her because. But as long as you mention how you might have, then that's fine. It wouldn't really compromise your score. But everything else flowed quite nicely, I explained who it was what she does, and why she's famous. So it all followed in the same way as the prompt, which is quite useful. And I finished off with a nice conditional, if she hadn't made that effort, I think the world would be not a nice place.

M: So, dear listener, choose your successful person. Okay? Stay tuned, and we'll get back to you in our speaking part three, where we talk about success.

R: Which is our specialist subject. Bye!

M: Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi