HOW TO SPEAK
CONFIDENTLY
in
IELTS SPEAKING
KEITH O'HARE
About the Author
Keith runs The Keith Speaking Academy. He has
been working in international education for over
20 years as a teacher, teacher trainer, and
education manager.
He has helped over 40,000 students prepare for
their IELTS Speaking test with his online courses.
How to speak confidently in the IELTS speaking test is the number one
challenge for many students.
So, how do you do it?
Well there are things you can do when studying before the test, and
there are things you can do during the test.
Let’s look at both.
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Confidence comes from small successes, built
continuously over time.
So, start practicing speaking from an easy level.
Imitation is a good place to start – it builds pronunciation, vocabulary,
grammar.
How do you do it?
1. Begin repeating phrases from a low level audio/video (don’t read,
listen!).
2. Repeat and change a word.
3. Repeat and change 2 words
4. Choose more and more difficult audios to practice with.
For example, listen to this sample.
LISTEN NOW
The first sentence is
I live in London and I have lived here for around 5 years
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Now choose ONE word and change it. Let’s change LONDON for BEIJING.
Now say the sentence, but try to keep the same intonation and rhythm
as the original.
I live in Beijing and I have lived here for around 5 years.
Now change another word. For example, let’s change 5 YEARS for 3
MONTHS.
I live in Beijing and I have lived here for around 3 months.
Continue like this, with other sentences and also with other audio/video
files.
This is a simple technique, but it develops pronunciation, consolidates
grammar, and builds flexibility.
All of which will start to build your confidence.
This is just imitation but it is the foundation and a great place to start
today.
Practice a little, everyday.
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
We can also build confidence when we
face our fear
Many students have 3 big fears.
1. Speaking out in front of others
2. Making mistakes
3. Other people laughing at their English
In fact all 3 are interconnected!
We build confidence when speaking English every time we face our
fears.
When we speak out and make mistakes, then actually we see how we
grow and improve.
We can face these fears, by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone.
How can we do this?
Well, it’s easy to practice repeating at home alone, but you also need to
practice with other people.
So, you can find a teacher or a speaking partner online. Or you can
practice with other friends who can speak English.
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Where can you find speaking partners and teachers online?
To do that, try one of the services below.
www.italki.com
Pay per hour, professional teachers and community tutors (the latter
are generally cheaper), user-friendly platform, good sense of
community .
https://cambly.com
Specialise in teaching English, all teachers are native English speakers,
pay on a monthly basis, can record classes to playback.
https://www.hellotalk.com/
Language exchange, so you teach someone your language and they
teach you theirs. It’s free. Mobile app – chat based (so texting and audio
messaging). Group chats possible. Find partners worldwide.
Take one small step.
Decide to do it today. Don’t wait.
Connect with one person and start speaking.
Even just for 5 minutes. Push the comfort zone.
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
I learnt this one when I had to become a presenter and give academic
presentations for work.
So, the more you prepare, the more
confident you may feel.
A good way to prepare is to practice answering common IELTS
questions.
Practice, don’t memorise.
You know the key to getting a Band 7 is to show FLEXIBILITY.
How can you build your flexibility?
Simple, practice answering the PART 1 questions, BUT don’t practice
giving the same answer.
Practice answering the same question 3 times, but each time, make
sure you give a different answer!
This is how you start to build flexibility.
Find part 1 questions here
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
When we speak another language we sound different, and may even
look different.
Many speakers of other languages feel like they are a slightly different
person when they speak another language.
Almost like they are wearing a mask.
This is a powerful feeling that you can use to speak English with more
confidence.
If you are shy or nervous, this can disappear behind your mask.
Use your mask, not to hide, but to show the kind of person you want to
be when speaking English
…a confident speaker of English.
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
Confidence is identity
For me, Identity is at the heart of this problem.
Many students see English as a subject outside us.
Actually it’s not outside us, it’s a part of us.
Even with little English, we use it to…
give opinions,
say what we feel,
say what we like,
shout when angry.
Of course it is a part of us!
When we see our identity not as just ‘English students’, but as ‘English
speakers’ everything starts to change.
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Of course, we need to
keep studying
keep practicing speaking.
keep improving our skills.
We can also get a teacher or speaking partner who can encourage us.
However, psychology is at the heart of confidence, and I think
creating a new identity as an ‘English speaker’ is a great first step.
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
Don’t compare yourself to the ‘native-speaker’.
Don’t try to be like a native speaker.
Accept where you are, and then start
building from there.
Don’t lose yourself.
Be yourself.
You can be shy, quite, loud, nervous.
Just be you and let your English identity grow.
That’s fine.
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COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY
Confidence is something we have to practice
Have you noticed what happens when people say – ‘don’t be nervous’ –
it usually doesn’t work.
Not straight away.
However, we never say to people – ‘just play the piano’ – you can’t, you
need to practice!
Well, with confidence it’s the same. Confidence is a skill we need to
develop.
You can develop your confidence in speaking English by practicing all of
the above things.
The key thing is to keep at it. It won’t happen overnight, it takes time.
Be patient, and keep going!
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HOW TO SPEAK
CONFIDENTLY
DURING THE IELTS
SPEAKING TEST
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Now, the quick solution to speaking confidently in the IELTS Speaking
test is to fake it, till you make it.
Pretend you are confident, and your mind will begin to believe it.
Close you eyes and visualise yourself speaking confidently.
Sometimes this works, and if it does, great!
At the beginning of the test (The introduction of part 1), you want to
keep your answers simple and accurate.
If you start trying to use complex language at the very beginning of the
test, you put extra stress on yourself.
This will usually cause you to make mistakes.
Mistakes early on do not create a good first impression.
Keep it simple a the start.
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Short answers of maybe 3 to 4 sentences.
You will have lots of opportunity to show off more complex language in
Part 2 and 3.
When we are nervous, we don’t naturally smile.
However, when we smile, our bodies release endorphins and we
automatically relax.
This helps us naturally feel good and can help just a little to boost our
confidence.
So when the examiner begins Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 – use those gaps
to smile.
It will help.
I hope all of this tips, will help you eventually grow to be a more
confident speaker.
Find out more about my work at
WWW.KEITHSPEAKINGACADEMY.COM
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