Preparing to Speak: Top tips for speaking preparation

Many students measure their progress in English through their confidence and ability to speak in English in ‘real-world’ situations. On top of this, 70% of teachers from our Global Teaching Speaking Survey stated that speaking was the most important skill. However, oral fluency practice is not always given the classroom time it needs. Following on from his recent webinar exploring how much time should be given to speaking practice, Philip Kerr returns with these tips for speaking preparation.

Give students time to prepare for pair and group work

To maximize opportunities for learning, and help students speak more confidently, give them time to prepare what they are going to say using the following steps:

  • Tell students first to think about what they want to say. They will focus on how to say it later.
  • Students write ideas on a piece of paper. Remind them to write words or short phrases, not full sentences. If they don’t know a word in English, they can write it in L1 at this stage.

Preparing to Speak: Top tips for speaking preparation