Building Confidence · Speaking

Effective Speaking skills

To achieve your test score goals, you may need to improve your general Speaking skills in English, which includes working on your vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and oral fluency.

Effective speaking skills

WELL-ORGANISED SPEECH

Not only what you say but also how it is organised can have an effect on how well you achieve a speaking goal.

Always have your purpose in mind when speaking. Remind yourself of the key points and information you need to include to express your ideas. This will help you present yourself in a clear and direct way.
Use preparation time to plan what you will say first and what will follow. This can help you to avoid false starts, hesitation or long pauses when you speak.
Make sure you present your ideas logically and in a way that makes sense. This is easier said than done under pressure, but structuring what you say with an introduction, main body and conclusion can help you to organise your ideas.
State your purpose clearly. When starting to talk, make sure your first sentence states your main message clearly. This will set the scene for everything else you say and help you to stay focused on your goal.
Direct the listener through your ideas. Using signposting language such as Moving on to the next point … An example of this is … or In conclusion …, will help you to highlight key ideas and the relationship between them, as well as guide the listener to follow you.
Summarise what you have said to emphasise your main message. To make your summary as effective as possible, ask yourself what the key information is that you need to communicate, and how you can express it in the clearest way possible. This can be helpful with Retell Lecture tasks.
Link ideas appropriately. Using linking words and expressions can help you to link ideas and produce well-connected speech.

USE AND CONTROL OF LANGUAGE

Using a wide range of words and phrases demonstrates a good level of English. Using specific terminology will help you communicate your message more accurately.

Expand your range of vocabulary for talking about familiar and unfamiliar topics. This is vital to your Speaking skills and should be an ongoing and active learning process. Set targets for learning new words, phrases or expressions, and make sure you are clear about the meaning of any new words you learn. This can help you to prepare for tasks where you need to focus on specific language use or meaning (such as Retell Lecture, Answer Short Question and Describe Image).
Choose words and expressions carefully as you speak. Some words can seem similar but are used in different ways (e.g. increase and build up). Study and practise using synonyms and antonyms that you might want to use for specific purposes.
Assess your grammar knowledge. Refreshing your grammar knowledge and adding a greater variety of structures to your English will naturally improve your speaking skills. Identify tenses or grammar points that you find challenging and dedicate time to study them.
Learn specific grammar structures that help you to perform certain tasks. For example, ensuring you can confidently use comparatives and superlatives will help you talk about charts and graphs in Describe Image, while learning reported speech will help with Summarize Group Discussion tasks.
Use a variety of expressions to make your speech interesting. Using collocations and phrases will demonstrate that you have an understanding of how English is used by proficient speakers.

FLUENCY AND COHESION

How you speak can be as important as the language you use.

Improve your pronunciation. Recording yourself practising the task types, and listening back to check yourself is a good way to improve. Compare your answers with model answers, which can be found in the Digital Resources.
Improve your pronunciation of difficult words. Make a list of sounds that you find challenging in English and isolate the consonant or vowel sounds you have difficulty with. Spend time practising the sounds on their own. When you are comfortable doing that, practise the sounds within the words.
Use appropriate sentence stress and rhythm. These are both key to shaping meaning in English. Listen to how proficient speakers use stress and rhythm to emphasise certain aspects of their speech. Being aware of how both work can help you to express meaning in all speaking tasks.
Use intonation to divide up what you say. Look at how intonation separates sentences into meaningful segments. Using rising and falling intonation correctly can help the listener follow you more easily.
Practise speaking extensively on a topic at short notice. If you make mistakes, just keep going. This will help you speak spontaneously.
Think in English to speak in English. Trying to translate from your own language while speaking can slow you down or cause problems in your English. Practise speaking in English without relying on your first language.
Control your speaking speed and use pauses. Where appropriate, this can help the listener to follow you and allow you to gather your thoughts for your next point. You can do this by paying attention to punctuation while reading (e.g. in Read Aloud tasks) or thinking about where you might naturally pause when describing something (e.g. in Describe Image tasks).
Use synonyms to avoid hesitation. If you forget the English word for something, use a synonym to keep your description concise and avoid hesitation.

Effective speaking skills checklist

Think about your Speaking skills in English. Tap one option per row to identify your strengths and the areas you could improve. Your selections live in this page only — nothing is saved.

I feel confidentI could practise moreI need to improve my skills

WELL-ORGANISED SPEECH

0/11 answered · 0%

000

I am able to organise my thoughts quickly before I start speaking.

I start speaking by stating my main purpose.

I can organise my speech well by focusing on key points, giving details and examples to support what I say.

I can structure my arguments, ideas and descriptions logically in English.

I can structure sentences correctly in order to express meaning in a logical way.

I can begin to express my main idea or message clearly and precisely as soon as I start speaking.

I can use language efficiently to describe implications and summarise conclusions in a logical way.

I am able to identify key language on any topic that will help me describe it or talk about it.

I am familiar with specific phrases and useful language to guide the listener through what I am saying.

I can summarise an idea, retaining all of the key meaning and messages.

I can link my ideas together effectively.

USE AND CONTROL OF LANGUAGE

0/10 answered · 0%

000

My vocabulary knowledge is varied enough for me to express ideas on any topic, with sufficient detail and precision.

I can understand unfamiliar vocabulary from its context.

I can use words and phrases appropriate to the context at hand.

I understand the subtle differences between some key words or phrases in English and how to apply them.

I am familiar with a range of synonyms and similar phrases that I can use to express ideas in a variety of ways.

I can develop a complex idea within a short space of time.

I can demonstrate good control of English by applying useful expressions and phrases that help convey my message.

I have good grammar and can use a variety of grammatical structures correctly to express my ideas well.

I have specific grammatical tools that help me to describe, contrast and compare information.

I can identify and use formal or informal language for speaking in different situations or with different purposes (e.g. to inform, explain, apologise or repeat information).

FLUENCY AND COHESION

0/9 answered · 0%

000

I can speak clearly and articulate challenging words in English.

I can apply stress and rhythm effectively to convey meaning to the listener.

I can use specific language functions to link my ideas together so that they are clear to the listener.

I can pronounce most words accurately.

I have practised working with synonyms enough to be able to always find the words and phrases I need to express my ideas.

I try not to translate or think in my own language when speaking in English and thinking about how to express myself.

I am aware of the speed of my voice when speaking and can control it and adapt it to what I am saying.

I can apply pauses in the right places to emphasise what I am saying.

I can speak confidently, even when I am unfamiliar with the topic or have little preparation time.

Building blocks for test confidence

1

LISTENING SKILLS FOR SPEAKING

Improving your general Listening skills can help you prepare for speaking tasks, as many of the task types in PTE Academic require you to respond to something you hear (e.g. Repeat Sentence). Improving your Listening skills can help you to:

identify the topic, theme or main ideas of what you are listening to,
have a good chance of understanding what you hear in order to construct an appropriate response,
understand vocabulary and its meaning from context, even when it is unfamiliar to you,
identify information that is mentioned but not explicitly explained,
learn to balance thinking about what to say with listening at the same time,
identify key points necessary for constructing an appropriate response (e.g. Retell Lecture tasks),
pick up useful words, phrases and expressions to use when speaking,
understand meaning from the intonation and tone of a speaker,
follow oral sequencing of information and apply this to your own speech.

2

NOTE-TAKING

Note-taking can help you structure your speaking clearly and give you a point of reference so that you don't lose track of the ideas you want to express while speaking. In PTE Academic, note-taking is a good idea for some of the speaking tasks. It can be a useful strategy for gathering ideas together when under a strict time limit. In Summarize Group Discussion, for example, note-taking can help you catch all the key points from the audio track and then present them in your own words, all within the short space of time the task allows.

Try out different note-taking styles (such as spider charts, lists, visual representations of key points or bullet-pointed notes) and identify the note-taking method that works best for you. You may even want to develop your own techniques for rapid note-taking. Decide on your own abbreviations and symbols for getting points down quickly and practise using them.

3

TIME MANAGEMENT

For each speaking task, you only have a short time to prepare before recording your response. And some tasks often have strict time limits for recording your answer, which can make it difficult to fit everything you want to say into the available time.

Decide how you will use your preparation time for each task. Get used to this by practising giving responses within the time limits for each individual task (e.g. ten seconds for preparation and 40 seconds for response in Retell Lecture and Respond to a Situation tasks; 25 seconds for analysis and 40 seconds for description in Describe Image tasks).

4

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

You will need to think critically for some of the speaking tasks. Practise:

analysing, comparing and interpreting text and graphic data,
reflecting on a topic or information,
applying reason to what you see or hear,
structuring your arguments and thoughts on the information given.

Keys for confidence

Embrace your mistakes, as this is the only way you can improve. Nobody can speak with effortless fluency at first.

Embrace your own way of speaking. Worrying about sounding like a native speaker will only mean you are more cautious. As long as you can be understood, speak in a way that is natural for you. This will allow you to express yourself more effectively.

Practice makes for a good speaker. Surround yourself with English. Look for as many speaking opportunities as possible in order to work on improving your level.

Set yourself achievable speaking targets. Make a plan for improving the areas you have identified for working on your Speaking skills and stick to it. You can't improve if you only practise your strengths. Set aside time each week to focus on your weak areas.

Don't be discouraged if speaking doesn't go as planned. Be confident, correct yourself if necessary while speaking and move on.

For more support with Speaking skills, go to Useful language for Speaking and How to improve Speaking skills in the Digital Resources.