Tips and Tricks for IELTS Speaking

Staying cool, calm and collected before a test is something that some students find impossible. You might look like you have it all together, but deep down inside you are a bundle of nerves. I'm here to tell you that it's ok to feel nervous, and it's perfectly normal actually. Feeling a little bit nervous before an important test like IELTS is a sign that you're human.

Here are 6 tips and tricks to help you prepare for IELTS.

1. Take a deep breath before you start with your answer. Try to take deep breaths between ideas and sentences as well, long pauses might be bad, but short pauses between ideas are not.

2. For part 2, you will only have one minute to prepare. Do not write full sentences, instead write down some keywords. Keywords will help you through your talk and remind you of what's important.

3. Avoid memorising answers. Examiners will know believe me. Memorised answers sound mechanical and generic. Also, there are just too many topics for you to memorise and the chances of you getting the same topic in the real test is very slim.

4. Keep a record of your ideas and keywords. A lack of ideas is one of the biggest problems students have when preparing for IELTS. Your English might be good, and that's great. However some of the questions or topics are difficult to talk about, because you've never done it before. Do yourself a favour and create what is known as an "Idea Bank".

5. Make use of "Answer Structures" if you have trouble organising your thoughts. Answers Structures will help you stay on topic and not say too much or too little.

6. Questions determine tense. Using correct grammar in your answers are extremely important, so listen to the questions and pay careful attention to the verb tense. Use the same verb tense as the examiner. It's as simple as that.

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