Phase 1 Tips

In the first phase of the speaking test, the assessor will ask you questions about yourself. Research the topic! The assessor might say "Tell me about your parents' jobs." If you don't know anything about them, you will be stuck. It can be surprising how little people know about their own situation.

Consider this phase of the test meeting someone for the first time and telling them about yourself. Try to be relaxed and keep the conversation going. 

Don't worry about lying - this is not a test of if you are a good person. If the assessor says "Tell me about your hobbies and interests" and you reply "I don't have any" then you aren't saying enough to allow the assessor to assess you. In situations like this, lie. Make up the wildest story you can imagine.

Phase 2 Tips

In Phase 2 of the speaking test. You are asked to make a presentation on a topic. It will always be something person, like talking about a holiday you went on. After the test, many candidates suggest they didn't know about the topic which is why they couldn't answer the question. Clearly, this can't be the case. What they mean is they couldn't answer the question because they couldn't think of what to say. If this is the case for you, during the one minute you have to prepare, brainstorm your answer. For example, the assessor my ask you to talk about a holiday you really enjoyed. On you piece of paper, write down questions words:

Where?

When?

Why?

What?

Who with?

How?

Etc.

When you have asked the questions, answer them:

Where? Chiang Mai

When? last year

Why? celebrate end exams

What? climbed mountains / saw hill tribes

Who with? uni friends

How? bus from Morchit Etc.

If you then 'expand' (say as much as you can about) your answers you should fill up your two minutes easily.

One of the things you must do in both phases of the speaking test is show a range of grammar structures. In phase two you might be asked to talk about a holiday you had. This is the answer:

'We went to Thailand for our holiday last year. First we went to Bangkok and saw the Grand Palace. Then we went to Ayuthya and saw the ancient city. After that we went to Chiang Mai and met the hill tribes. Finally, we went to Chiang Rai and saw the hill tribes, too."

Although grammatically perfect, there are only a few sentence structures used. We could change this by changing the order of things:

"Before going to Chiang Rai and seeing the hill tribes we visited Ayuthya and went to the ancient city."

This adds another structure to the answer 'Before + Verb + ing' - this will improve your score. Take some time now to look at the answer above and consider as many ways possible including more sentence structures. 

You can't ask the assessor direct questions about a presentation topic, but it is permissible to 'scope' what you can talk about in a presentation. For example you can as I talk about the hill tribes in Chiang Mai?" The assessor will answer 'Yes' or 'No'.

Phase 3 Tips

Phase 3 is where the final score is given to a candidate. This is the part of the test where you must excel. Do the best that you can here without trying to hard or getting yourself into problems. Although a number of sources suggest that scores are averaged between the three phases of the speaking test, this stage is where the 'ceiling' is established - you can't get a higher score than your performance in phase 3.

Phase 3 is much more like a conversation between you and the assessor. Here he/she doesn't have a script and can ask you anything he/she wants. If you go off topic, the assessor will make attempts to make sure you stay on topic - there's no point in rehearsing a speech!

Amongst other things, in Phase 3 you will be asked to speculate about the future, give and opinion, suggest a solution to a problem, or describe a process or procedure. Try to come up with a complete answer. If you are asked how you would solve traffic problems world wide, don't just talk about buying more buses; consider where the money for the buses would come from, explain how you would raise the money for the buses and persuade people who to use them. This will certainly impress the assessor. 

Make eye contact with the assessor. Although theoretically you could speak great English with your head down, the fact is you may not come across as confident. Although there is no mark for confidence, you need to present yourself in as positive way as possible.