Three IELTS speaking tips no one has probably told you about
12 February 2019
By Anisa Pinatih
I received 8.5 for my speaking skills in all three IELTS tests I’ve taken. Sounds like a brag I know, but bear with me. The first, I think is a beginner's luck. The second and third, I had plenty of time to practice and I used these three tips.
Tip number 1: Use non-verbal communication
Just like any face-to-face conversations, you can capitalise on non-verbal communication in the IELTS speaking test. The way you carry yourself, the way you sit, the way you shake hands, the way you dress, your gestures, eye contact, your facial expression, your intonation. These all are communication already.
In speaking part 2, for example, where you have to give a monologue. Use the intonation. In my last test, the topic was “Your most favourite season” Honestly, that’s a funny question because we only have two seasons here: hot and very hot. But anyway, I described rainy season, something like “I like it because when the storm is raging outside *hand wiping an imaginary window* I feel safe and cozy staying indoor looking out of the window. It’s a beautiful feeling and then I can have like a cup of *hands holding an imaginary cup* tea and banana fritter, sitting on a couch talking about some random stuff.”
Tip number 2: Use your imagination
In IELTS, your answers don’t have to be 100 per cent accurate like "I don’t usually celebrate my birthday, I did nothing in my holiday; I stay at home at the weekends; I usually sleep." No one knows anything about you, so if you say playing football in your free time instead of doing nothing, no one will know. Spicing things up a little can make the conversations more interesting. Use your imagination.
But of course, it's hard to make up a story entirely, so base the answer on reality. For example, if the topic is “The most interesting person you’ve ever met”, you can talk about a real person. In my case, I talked about my new workmate who's good at playing music, but when I described her I was almost like describing Taylor Swift.
Tip number 3: Show some real excitement
When someone is about to finish their turn in a conversation, you take your turn immediately yes? You don’t wait until the turn completely finishes, especially when you have the urge to reply because you’re excited. For example, an examiner may ask, “Do you think that consumer products made in the past are of a better quality than the products made tod—” You, “Absolutely!” and then you proceed with the explanation why an old BMW is still better than the newest Honda on many different levels.
Does that really work? I think so, if you show genuine interests, genuine agreement, genuine disagreement, excitement, and the like, you turn the test into a real conversation. Another example, “Many people think that weathers and seasons today are very unpredictab—” You, “I CANNOT agree more!” and then you go on about how things used to be better and how climate change has ruined everything.
Technically speaking, this is called latching, a conversational device people use in real life without realising it. We can use it to make the speaking test more life-like too.
