PART 1 Expressions
1. Over the next year, a few more speaking requests started trickling in.
trickle: (v.) 滴；细细地流淌；慢慢地移动 (n.) 涓流；细流
The tears trickled down her cheeks.
The first few fans started to trickle into the stadium.
2. And then one day, I had an epiphany.
epiphany: (宗教) 对事物真谛的顿悟; （基督教中的）主显节 an occasion when you suddenly understand something
Epiphany is a Christian festival on the 6th of January which celebrates the arrival of the wise men who came to see Jesus Christ soon after he was born.
But near the end of the trip she had a sort-of epiphany.
3. I would just wing it and see what happened.
wing: (v.) to fly somewhere
a flock of geese winging down the coast
planes winging their way to exotic destinations
wing it: spoken, to do sth without planning or preparing it
We'll just have to wing it.
类似表达: improvise
I forgot to bring my notes, so I had to improvise.
4. When I finally got on stage, I still had some jitters for the first minute or two as I adjusted to the audience and the room.
jitters: informal, a nervous worried feeling, especially before an important event (注意： 复数形式！)
Officials feared that any public announcement would only increase market jitters.
5. But at the board level, we were at a stalemate.
stalemate: SYN deadlock, a situation in which it seems impossible to settle an argument or disagreement, and neither side can get and advantage
a last-ditch effort to break the stalemate/ deadlock
The discussions with the miners' union ended in stalemate.
Their talks have reached a complete deadlock.
6. That didn't sit well with Alfred, Fred, or myself.
not sit well/ easily/ comfortably with sb: if a situation, plan etc does not sit well with sb, they do not like it
7. That being said, they have a lot of experience and expertise in a lot of areas.
All this being said, this was not an easy decision.
that being said/ all this being said: 话虽如此 in spite of what has been said
8. You are now free to let your imagination roam -- and to contemplate initiatives and undertakings.
undertaking: 1. an important job, piece of work, or activity that you are responsible for
Starting a new business can be a risky undertaking.
2. formal, a promise to do sth
Both organizations gave an undertaking to curb violence among their members.
undertake: 1. to accept that you are responsible for a piece of work, and starts to do it
undertake a task/ a project/ a research/ a study etc
undertake to do sth: to promise or agree to do sth
He undertook to pay the money back in six months.
9. After the initial surprise had subsided, I overheard employees talking in the hallways about how excited and enthusiastic they were about the new possibilities that would open up.
subside: [səbˈsaɪd] 1.（洪水）退去； 2. （地面）下沉
3. if a feeling, pain, sound etc subsides, it gradually becomes less and then stops 减弱；平息
Simon waited until the laughter subsided.
4. if bad weather conditions subside, they gradually return to a normal state
The wind gradually subsided, and all was quiet.
subsidence: (n.) [səbˈsaɪdns]
10. This marked the beginning of the next leg of our journey to help change the world.
leg: one part of a long journey or race
the final leg of the Tour de France
PART 2 Sentences
1. We learned a great lesson: If you just focus on making sure that your product or service continually WOWs people, eventually the press will find out about it. You don't need to put a lot of effort into reaching out to the press if your company naturally creates interesting stories as a by-product of delivering a great product or experience.
2. I just went by three basic rules for my talks:
1) Be passionate.
2) Tell personal stories.
3) Be real.