 Hi, I'm Bee. Today, I'm going to talk to you about how to prepare for the IELTS speaking test. First, I'll give you an overview of the speaking test. Then, I'll go through some strategies you can use to answer questions. And finally, towards the end, I'll give you some tips that you can use for the test. Let's get started! You'll be speaking with a certified examiner. The examiner is an expert English speaker and can come from a wide range of countries, including the UK, Australia, the US, and Hong Kong. The test is as close to a real-life situation as a test can get. The test lasts between 11 and 14 minutes and is divided into three parts. You are tested on a range of speaking skills. For example, number one, this includes your fluency and coherence. This is about your connected speech and the way you link ideas together. Number two, your lexical resource, which is about the range and accuracy of the vocabulary you use. Number three, your grammatical range and accuracy, which is about the number of errors you make and whether this affects your communication skills. And number four, your pronunciation, which includes how clear your speech is. Okay, so part one is like the introduction. What happens first in part one of the speaking test is that the examiner will greet you, introduce him or herself, and ask you to do the same. They will then check your identification. The examiner will then ask you some warm-up questions on easier topics such as family, work, study, and interests. See the examples on the screen. The topics in part one are designed to help you feel comfortable when speaking. You should try and relax so that you can speak as naturally as possible. Overall, part one will take approximately four to five minutes. After part one, you'll immediately move on to part two. During the second part of the test, the examiner will pass you a task card with your topic on it. The task card has the main topic which you will give a short talk on. It also has the main points that you should cover in the talk. You can use these points as headings to keep you on track during your short talk. So after you're given the card, you'll be given one minute to prepare yourself and make some simple notes before you start your talk. See the example on the screen. To make use of this minute to think of ideas and organize your talk. After your minute of preparation is over, you'll be asked to talk for one to two minutes on your topic. This time is entirely for you to speak. The examiner will not interrupt you while you're giving your speech. You should try to speak for the full two minutes. Don't worry about timing yourself. The examiner will tell you when the time is up. At the end of part two, the examiner might ask you one or two follow-up questions on the same topic. You can give short answers to these questions. This whole section will take between three and four minutes. The final part of the speaking test will be a discussion between yourself and the examiner. This discussion will be related to the topic you covered in the second part of the test. So following on from the previous example, you may be asked some questions like this. The main idea of part three is to give you an opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas and concepts around this topic. This part of the test focuses on your ability to express and justify opinions and to analyze, discuss, and speculate about issues. This section will last between four and five minutes. Now that we've covered the format of the test, let's go over a few tips and tricks to help you focus and succeed. Tip number one is to try to talk as much as you can. This means avoiding long silences where the examiner might think you're not confident in your language abilities. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you speak more than the examiner does. Try to put yourself at ease when you speak. Tip number two is to try to speak as fluently as you can. Avoid long eeemms and eeemms as this may make it appear that your vocabulary is limited. Tip number three is to develop your answers. Do not give simple one-word responses to the questions you are asked. Use your own knowledge and experience to give further explanation and examples. Try to make your ideas as clear as possible to the examiner. And remember, if you feel you're not sure about something in the question, don't be afraid to ask the examiner for clarification. That's tip number four. Tip number five is to train yourself to think and respond quickly in English. Practice effectively and do not rehearse specific answers to questions you think the examiner might ask. That's tip number six. The examiners are trained to notice when candidates do this and they will change the questions to something less predictable. Tip number seven is to record yourself giving answers and then listen back to your responses to get a feel for how you sound to the listener. This will help you pick up where you need improvement and you can focus on those key areas. And tip number eight is to get comfortable speaking to someone in English through practice. That's the best way to practice and this means you'll be ready for anything the examiner throws at you. Okay, we've come to the end of this video for the IELTS speaking test. Remember, the more you practice your speaking, the more confident you'll be when you actually take the test. Goodbye and good luck on your IELTS speaking test.