In IELTS speaking rule number 1 is to speak. In practice what this means is that you only have a limited amount of thinking time and you cannot wait 10 seconds before you start to answer the question. Indeed, a 4/5 second pause is almost certain to be noted by the examiner. What you need to do is to start speaking almost immediately. How can you do do that?
Form not content
One basic point to make is that the examiner is much less interested in what you say than how you say it. This means that you don’t need to worry too much about giving the intelligent answer possible, just the most coherent answer possible. This, I suggest, is a mistake candidates frequently make: they try to be too intelligent and give smart answers. It’s a natural thing to try and do, it is how most exams work.
Thinking time
The next point is that in parts 1 and 3 you may not get any thinking time, but that doesn’t mean you have to start by answering the question. It means something else: you need to start communicating immediately. This is a super important point so let me give you an example to show what I mean:
“How do you think computers have changed the world?”
This is not a straightforward question, it’s a question you need a little time to think about. Obviously, the world is now a different place from 20 years ago, but it’s quite hard to give a clear answer. One reason for that is computers now affect our lives in so many areas: work, education, leisure. Now have a listen to this brief example:
Talk about the question
Do you see the point? I haven’t really answered the question yet, but I am talking about the question. While I am doing that, my mind is working and I am deciding what to say. I have given myself 20 seconds thinking time, but I am talking at the same time: there is nothing for the examiner to complain about provided I do go on to answer the question of course!
Learning the skill
Think about your own language
There is a definite skill involved here. The good news, however, is that it is a natural speaking skill that many people will use in their own languages: it’s not something specific to English. Very probably you will do something similar in your language and so the first step is to try and use English in the same way you use your own language.
Repeat the question
One more precise technique you may want to consider is repeating the question – something that is perfectly natural. In a second language it is perhaps less natural, so let me show you 3 different methods:
“If you could change your job or profession, what would you do?”
Method One – pick out key words
“My job? Change it? What would I do?”
This is simple to do. All you need is to pick out and repeat key words from the question. This natural English, but not very impressive.
Method Two – repeat the question
“If I could change my job what would I do?”
For this you need to listen well. It is more impressive to the examiner, but there is a danger you don’t get the question right.
Method three – reformulate the question
“So you’re asking what I would I do, if I could my job..”
The best, but most complex approach. To make this work you need to be able to make indirect questions. One key point is to make certain you get the word order right.
Direct question: “What would you do?”
Indirect question: “what I would do.”
To see this demonstrated, here is a video:
Thanks again for sharing the invaluable tips! For the method 3, it looks like a way to confirm that test takers understood the question, right?
What will happen if the test taker got the question wrongly? Will the examiner explain more?
No, sadly the examiner will quite possibly not help you if you start talking about the wrong thing. I would say, however, that it is not a disaster if you talk about the wrong topic once. The test is graded over 14 minutes or so. One mistake does not destroy everything else you have done – examiners look at the whole performance.
Another comment is that you should not talk and talk and just wait for the examiner to stop you. They may not. If you see that advice elsewhere, ignore it. The examiners have many questions to choose from and there is always another question they can ask you. So if you get a question you don’t know how to answer, don’t try to give a long, extended answer. Rather give a shortish answer saying “I’m not quite sure, but perhaps……”. Then wait for the next question which hopefully you can answer.
Finally, the speaking test gets harder in part 3. You can expect some tough questions there. It’s sensible to practise how to answer that sort of question.