Speaking Part 1 lasts between 4-5 minutes and you will be asked questions about familiar topics, such as:

• Your job/studies
• Your family
• Your home
• Your hometown
• Your hobbies

Notice that these questions are all about you. It is considered easier than the other two parts because it is much easier to talk about yourself than more abstract topics, but that doesn’t mean it is not important.

Below are 5 Dos and Don’ts to make sure that you start your Speaking test in the best possible way.

Do # 1- Know What to Expect

You will probably be a little nervous and you don’t want any surprises that will make you even more anxious, so you must be aware of exactly what will happen when you walk into the room.

Before Part 1 begins four things will happen.

1. The examiner will introduce themselves and ask you what your name is. You can simply reply ‘My name’s _______’. Make sure that you use the contraction ‘name’s’ rather than ‘name is’. This will remind you to use contractions (e.g. I’m, We’d, they’ll) in the rest of the test.
2. The examiner will then ask you ‘What can I call you?’. You can simply say ‘You can call me_______’. If you have an English name, it is fine to use it, but make sure that you pronounce it correctly. If you can’t say your own name properly, it does not create the best first impression. If unsure, just use your normal name.
3. They will then ask you where you are from. Simply state “I’m from_____”. There is no need for you to give any extra information about your answers at this stage.
4. The examiner will finally ask to see your identification. Show it to them and then the test can begin.

By knowing these four things will happen you will be more confident and start the exam well.

Do # 2- Create a Good First Impression

My students often ask me, if they smile, are friendly and give the examiner good eye contact, will they get a higher mark. The answer is no and yes.

There is nothing in the marking criteria which says that being nice, or looking the examiner in the eye will improve your grade. However, being confident helps you because it will have an effect on your answers.

If you look at the floor and give the impression that you would rather be anywhere in the world apart from in the room with the examiner, you will normally give very short monotone answers and this will lower your score.

However, if you are open and friendly with the examiner, you are more likely to give natural sounding answers.

Don’t overdo the eye contact thing. It feels really strange when someone looks you straight in the eye for 15 minutes. Pretend that you are having a normal conversation with a friend. If you were looking at the floor the entire time, a friend would ask you if you were OK. If you were staring them dead in the eye, they would get a bit freaked out.

Pretend it is just a normal conversation and you will be fine.

Do # 3- Pretend You’re Interested in the Questions

Let’s face it, most IELTS questions are really boring. If you listen to someone answer a boring question you will notice one thing- their voice is monotone i.e. it does not go up or down in pitch at all, it sounds very flat. If you speak like this you will get a lower mark for pronunciation because one of the crucial factors you will be tested on is intonation.

When native English speakers talk, their voice naturally falls and rises depending on how they feel about what they are saying.

Imagine you are late for class, you walk into the room and the teacher says to you in a falling tone ‘Sit down, please.’ They are probably telling you, through their intonation, that they are not very happy with your lack of punctuality. However, if they said it with a rising tone at the start, they would probably be telling you they don’t mind that you are late and are happy to see you.

Similarly, if you pretend that you are interested in what the examiner is saying your intonation should become more varied. However, be careful not to overdo it and make your voice really high, or really low because you will sound like a crazy person.

Listening to native speakers talk and copying their intonation will give you a good idea of what natural intonation sounds like.

Do # 4- Extend Your Answers

There is no set amount of words or sentences that you should use in Part 1.

They shouldn’t be too short because you want to show the examiner that you can actually use English, so ‘I’m a student.’ is not really long enough.

However, they should not be too long either, because Part 1 is on familiar topics (family, work, hobbies etc.) and you don’t normally talk for 2 minutes when someone asks you where you are from. Also, you will have lots of opportunities to give longer answers in Parts 2 and 3.

As a general rule, if you only give a single sentence answer, with a single clause like ‘I’m from Ireland.’, then your answer is too short. I also don’t think Part 1 answers should ever have more than three sentences. Somewhere in between is just right.

Do # 5- Practice

It is a very bad idea to prepare memorised answers before your speaking test, but because Part 1 is very predictable, you should practice the familiar topics mentioned above in number one.

Try recording yourself and then listen back and think about the following:

1. Could you improve the vocabulary?
2. Did you make any grammar mistakes that could be fixed?
3. Did you speak fluently or did you speak at an unnatural speed?
4. How was your intonation?
5. Did you extend your answer enough?
6. Did you speak clearly?

Try again and keep practicing until you are really confident about talking about the common topics.