I've taken the IELTS speaking exam multiple times and I've discussed it with former IELTS examiners
from their point of view today I'll guide you through the crucial first minutes of the speaking
test helping you impress the examiner right from the start it's Asiya let's get started [Music]
let's begin right from the very start you'll be waiting in the corridor for the examiner to call
you in if you feel nervous before your exams I always do an exercise that helps me is to
breathe deeply and slowly imagining that you're feeling calm and confident your best self it's
proven to work The Examiner May immediately smile at you to put your t's or show no emotions at all
in any case try to communicate naturally and be friendly once they call you you can say hi hello
good morning nice to meet you look at the examiner and smile once you're in the room the examiner May
engage in a brief chat asking you how you are or how your journey was provide short natural
answers some examiners May chat with you for a few seconds while Others May begin the exam straight
away in any case here is how you can determine exactly when the assessment begins it's when the
examiner switches on the recorder and says this exam is recorded they will then provide their
name examiner number the date of the exam and your details but one of your exam has started
from this point on you have between four and five minutes for the introduction and questions
on three different topics that's not much time so make the most of it here are the first questions
you'll be asked what's your name provide your full name as it's written in your passport
State your given name or names first followed by your surname Julia Maria Fernandez or it's a
is less common as that's how we usually answer if the question is who are you not what's your name
at school you probably learned my name is which is more formal and is usually used in presentations
to a group of people what should I call you you can repeat your name again please call me asean
provide a short form of your name you can call me Alex or if you prefer give a
completely different name that you'd like the examiner to use just call me Bob the
next question is can I see your passport please don't just hand it in in silence say here it is
next where are you from this question often leads to misunderstandings you might have heard that you
should provide detailed answers to all questions as a result some candidates take this opportunity
to start describing their city or Village only to be interrupted by The Examiner after a couple
of sentences that's because you haven't reached the questions that require longer answers yet
this is just the introductory part so keep your answers brief I'm from Bangkok I've been living
here all my life that's sufficient notice that this short answer incorporates the present perfect
continuous tense which is quite a complex verb tense and it's a perfect opportunity to use it
here is another example I'm originally from Brazil but I've been living in Istanbul for a long time
however you don't have to use the present perfect continuous and from a small village called kulan
in the south of the country this introductory part is designed to collect some information about you
and usually lasts for about 30 seconds next new examiner will say something like now I'm gonna
ask you some questions about your first topic just a few topics are used to start your part one
worker studies Hometown home or family you'll be asked several questions about one of them if your
topic is work of studies then you'll be asked do you work or study depending on your answer the
follow-up questions will be related to either work or studies here are a couple of possible
answers I graduated last summer and I just got a position in a graduate program at the central bank
that's something I could have said once upon a time or I'm currently in the second year of
my bachelor's degree studying economics at the University of Wales as you can see these answers
are relatively short if you start giving a lot of details The Examiner will most likely just
interrupt you and move on to the next question why there are two reasons first it's easy to
learn the description of your work or hometown by heart if any of your answers sounds rehearsed The
Examiner will ask the next question second time management in the IELTS speaking test the examiner
must manage the time and ask you questions or three different topics they can't allow you to
talk for too long about a single question aim for about 20 to 30 seconds for a chance your response
is to simpler questions can be shorter well your answers to more complex questions can be longer
let's discuss interruptions remember if the examiner interrupts you it won't affect your score
most likely your examiner will interrupt you at some point during the exam they may
do it in different ways I've had examiners who were extra polite and subtly indicated
that they wanted to say something so I need to wrap up my answer quickly
but I've also had an examiner who didn't hesitate to interrupt me in the middle of a world by asking
the next question it might feel unsettling but rest assured that it doesn't impact your score
just be aware that it may happen and don't let it upset or distract you if the examiner interrupts
You by asking the same question again it's possible that your initial answer was slightly
off topic or to lengthy in such cases try to provide a more direct response to the question
if your topic is Hometown the first question will be do you live in a city or a village
please note that this question is different from the where are you from question asked in the
introduction it invites you to provide a bit more information how about this and habit the bustling
Urban confines of Manila which is categorized as a city of considerable magnitude and significance
I found it on the internet and it sounds weird no one talks like this
don't try to be original communicate naturally I lived in a little village until I was 10 and
then my family decided to move to a nearby City my dad found a great job there and the schools
were also much better this Sunset sounds so much more natural and if you think there is no complex
vocabulary or grammar that's fine if the question is simple the answer is likely to be simple too
you may get more opportunities to shine with your follow-up questions for example why do many people
leave their hometowns mostly because of work many young people see it as an opportunity to fly the
nest and get new experiences and this often means going away to University in some regions there
aren't many career opportunities at all and people have to go further afield to find decent jobs in
this answer we see plenty of interesting collocations and idiomatic expressions but
it still sounds natural let's have a look at them to fly the nest is to move away from parents home
career opportunities that's a great collocation well any opportunities that take you closer to
your career goals to go further afield is to go a great distance far away from home this answer
is coming from our ebook with over 40 challenging IELTS speaking topics used in real exams for each
tall bake you can find simple answers and topics specific vocabulary and if you have a bit of time
before your exam it's a great resource to practice and expand your vocabulary there is a free preview
too I'll link both in the description you know I've taken the IELTS exam a number of times and I
can tell you that each examiner is different some of them smile and appear very friendly others may
seem a bit strict moody or bored students have shared with me stories about examiners who seem
to be gazing out of the window while listening to their responses or even inspecting their
nails I hope your examiner will be attentive and create a comfortable atmosphere for you however if
that's not the case remember that they are still fully capable of assessing your skills accurately
focus on what you need to do and practice answering part one questions with the timer
answer between 10 and 12 questions on three topics and aim to talk for about five minutes
practicing with the timer is equally important in part two where the instructions state
talk between one and two minutes in reality you should try to speak until your time is
up and the examiner stops you I understand it's not easy especially with certain topics
and I've discussed one technique to extend the answer to two minutes in this video here
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye