Richard St John: 8 secrets to success

Why do people succeed? Is it because they’re smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

Listening

Watch the TED talk, listen carefully and answer the questions below:

Comprehension Questions

 

1. Where did it all start?

 

2. How many interviews did he do?

 

3. Who said work was fun?

 

4. Who pushed Frank Gehry?

 

5. How many big things lead to success?

 

 

Gap-fill

 

Watch the video again from 00:12 to 00:37 and fill in the blanks:

 

This is really a two-hour (6) _________ I give to high school students, (7) _____ down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student, a (8) __________ and she came from a really (9) ______ family. And she wanted to make something of her life, and she asked me a simple little question. She said, “What leads to success?” And I felt really badly, because I couldn’t give her a good (10) _________.

 

 

True or False?

 

Listen to the material again and answer true or false to the following statements:

 

11. Freeman Thomas says “I’m driven by success”.

 

12.Carol Coletta says, “I would pay someone to do what I do”.

 

13. Rupert Murdoch has a lot of fun.

 

14. Goldie Hawn always knew she’d make it.

 

15. A lot of kids want to be billionaires.

 

Speaking

Here’s a question from the IELTS Speaking Part 3:

Describe something you did in your life that was a success.
You should say

– what you did
– when you did it
– what difficulties you faced
– and how you felt when you were successful

 

Answers:

1. on a plane
2. 500
3. Rupert Murdoch
4. his mother
5. 8
6. presentation
7. cut
8. teenager
9. poor
10. answer

11 (F) he is driven by passion

12 (T)

13. (T)
14. (F) she didn’t think she’d make it

15 (F) they want to be millionaires