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Speaking

Know your first sentence

Eight tasks, each with its own shape. Learn what to say first, what fills the time and how to land the ending.

8 lessons, 43 minutes of reading

Start lesson 1Hacks for the section

Where the marks are

8 tasks, 15 minutes

The lessons

  1. Advise like a friend with a planTask 1, giving advice, 5 minGiving advice is easy. Giving ninety seconds of it out loud, without repeating yourself or running dry, is where marks go. Say their problem back, give three tips that each earn their time, and finish like someone who means it.1Name their problem first2Three tips, each with a because3Change how you advise each time4End on encouragement
  2. Tell one moment, not a summaryTask 2, personal experience, 6 minMost answers cover a whole week in a minute, so nothing in them ever happens. Choose one moment, build up to it, and slow down when you get there. The sixty seconds fill themselves.1It doesn't have to be true2When, where and who in one line3Slow down at the turning point4What it changed for you
  3. Describe it like a cameraTask 3, describing a scene, 5 minYour listener can't see the picture. Start wide, sweep across it in one direction, zoom in on one small story, then pull back for the mood. Sixty seconds, and you never get lost.1Wide, sweep, zoom, pull back2Name what you can't name3Say what's happening, not what's there4Lines to borrow
  4. Say what happens next, and whyTask 4, making predictions, 5 minMost people describe the picture a second time and add one "will" at the end. Run it forward instead: sure about the next few seconds, careful about tonight, with a clue behind every guess.1A range of certainty, from will to might2A clue in the picture for each guess3Soon, then later4Don't describe it again
  5. Win on two pointsTask 5, comparing and persuading, 6 minThe person you have to persuade turns up after you've chosen, with an option you've never seen. Pick for two strong reasons in the first minute, and the same two will beat whatever they bring.1Choose in the first minute2Compare on two criteria3Turn their preference into your reason4Argue against the new option, not the one you dropped
  6. Choose, then talk to the personTask 6, a difficult situation, 5 minNeither person in this task is the wrong one, so stop looking for the right one. Take the one you can actually explain to, then stop reporting and start talking.1Pick the one that's easier to explain2Speak to them, not about them3Feeling, reason, fix4Softeners that keep it kind
  7. State it, prove it twice, land itTask 7, expressing opinions, 5 minHaving an opinion is the easy part. Marks go at second seventy, when the reasons run out and the answer circles. Build it like a bridge: your side on one bank, two reasons holding it up, one weak spot braced, and your side again on the far bank.1Your view in the first sentence2Two reasons, two examples3One concession4Finish on your view
  8. Make them see it down the phoneTask 8, an unusual situation, 6 minMost answers say the thing is strange and leave the person on the phone with nothing to look at. Give the details in a fixed order, and the blur in their head comes into focus one sentence at a time.1Shape, size, colour, material, place2Compare it to things they know3Say what each part is for4Ask the question the prompt wants

The night before

Every lesson's card on one sheet. Read it once the evening before, and leave it at home.

Advise like a friend with a plan

  1. In the thirty seconds: their problem and three tips, in single words.
  2. Say the problem back. Three tips, each with a because, each started differently.
  3. Last ten seconds: their name, what they've done, what's next.

Tell one moment, not a summary

  1. In the thirty seconds: one moment, one person, one thing you could see.
  2. When, where and who in one line, then climb.
  3. Slow down at the top. End on what's different now.

Describe it like a camera

  1. In the thirty seconds: a direction and one story detail. No sentences.
  2. Wide, sweep, zoom, pull back.
  3. Stuck on a word? What kind, what it's made of, what it does.

Say what happens next, and why

  1. In the thirty seconds: three things already moving.
  2. Near and sure, then far and careful: about to, will, probably, may well, might.
  3. Clue in the present, guess in the future.

Win on two points

  1. First minute: two lines, and the option that wins both.
  2. Same two lines against the new option. Forget the one you dropped.
  3. Say their reason back: you said…, and that's exactly why…

Choose, then talk to the person

  1. In the sixty seconds, start both conversations. Take the one that keeps going.
  2. Say the name. Say you. Never "I would tell them".
  3. Feeling, reason, fix, and a warm last line.

State it, prove it twice, land it

  1. On your pad: your side, reason one, reason two, their best point.
  2. Side first. Then a person, a number and what happened, twice.
  3. At 1:15, say "So that's why" and land.

Make them see it down the phone

  1. Shape, size, colour, material, place. One sentence each.
  2. Compare each part to something they've seen, and say what it's for.
  3. At fifty seconds, stop and ask what the prompt wants.

Hacks for the whole section

Small things that hold in all eight tasks. None takes practice, only remembering.

  • ClockThe recording starts by itself

    When the preparing time ends, you're on. Have your first sentence ready before it does.

  • VoiceOne take

    Nothing can be recorded again. If you trip, fix it in a word and carry on: a quick repair sounds fluent, and a restart doesn't.

  • ClockLand before the bar fills

    Talk for as long as you usefully can, then finish. A sentence that ends at 0:55 beats one cut off at 1:00.

  • VoiceYour accent isn't the problem

    Clear, at a natural pace, is what to aim for. Speeding up to sound fluent costs more than it gains.

  • VoiceWatch the microphone bar

    You get to test the microphone before you begin. Speak at the volume you'll really use, and check the level doesn't sit low.