8 Amazing TOEFL Speaking Tips and Tricks for Your Success in 2024

Are you preparing for the TOEFL Speaking section and aiming for a high score in 2024? Achieving success in the TOEFL Speaking test requires more than just knowing the format; it demands effective strategies and practical tips. In this guide, we will share 8 amazing TOEFL Speaking tips and tricks to help you excel.

Whether you’re looking to improve your fluency, enhance your pronunciation, or develop better responses, these tips are designed to give you the edge you need. Read on to discover how to boost your TOEFL Speaking score and achieve your desired results in 2024.

TOEFL Speaking Tips

Table of Content

  • 5 Important TOEFL Speaking Section Tips for Candidates to Consider
  • Structure of the Speaking Test
  • Search for How to Improve TOEFL Speaking Score
  • Rule out Hesitation with Few Phrases
  • Do not Panic
  • Work on Body Movement
  • Other Important TOEFL Speaking Section Tips
  • Some Important Phrases – TOEFL Speaking Section Tips

5 Important TOEFL Speaking Section Tips for Candidates to Consider

The TOEFL speaking section consists of four tasks. Candidates need to complete them in 17 minutes. If you fail to complete them in 17 minutes, you will not pass in that segment. So, to secure better points you need to follow some tips and steps which will help you to pass in your upcoming speaking examination.

Structure of the Speaking Test

Before sitting for the TOEFL speaking test, you need to know about the structure of the speaking test. It will help you to prepare better to avoid any last-minute mistakes. Let us discuss.

Independent Tasks 1 and 2

The Independent Tasks 1 and 2 are the first and second tasks of the TOEFL speaking. Every candidate gets 15 seconds to prepare themselves and in the next 45 seconds, you have to give a speech in this independent category. Under this particular task, candidate have to provide their opinion from their personal experiences. With this task, the invigilator will check, how individually you can speak and logically identify the topics.

Integrated Tasks 3 and 4

Integrated Tasks 3 and 4 are a combination of the different tasks. In this, the candidate will get a 100 to 150-word long passage on a particular topic with a short audio clip related to the same article. You must read the article and listen to the audio at the same time or in 30 seconds. After that, you will get 1 minute to explain the relation between these two.

Integrated Tasks 5 and 6

Integrated Tasks 5 and 6 are the most complex part of the speaking. You need to listen to a conversation in task 5, for 2 to 3 minutes. The topics are mostly related to the campus related. Task 6 contains an academic lecture with a length of two to three minutes. You will get 20 seconds for preparation and you have to give a 1-minute of speech. You are allowed to take notes at this moment.

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Search for How to Improve TOEFL Speaking Score

ETS conducts the TOEFL speaking test. In this candidates get points as per their level of delivery of the answers. The score depends on the speaking and there are so many benchmarks including clarity, grip over vocabulary, number of grammatical mistakes, and confidence. Here are some important TOEFL Speaking Section Tips to improve your points.

  • Candidates need to provide their answers in a comprehensive language. You need to be clear about your ideas inforntof the examiner and only in that case you will get a high score.
  • Delivering relevant answers is important in the TOEFL Speaking test. You need to stick to the topic during the speaking and provide the reason and proper example to support your logic.
  • You need to provide fluent answers and examiners always check your fluency. Your fluency will help you to get a high score in speaking.
  • In the time of preparation, you need to focus on your vocabulary. You need to create a vocabulary base and use it smartly to get a high score. With this, you need to work on and maintain grammatical accuracy.
  • You need to be coherent. It is an important factor in the TOEFL Speaking session. A well-structured and organized answer with good logic will bring a high score for you.

Rule out Hesitation with Few Phrases

In the Asian context, it is a very common mistake that we pause when we talk in English. This is mainly happening due to the continuous idea-generation process in our brains. It is a fact that fluency and answering in the right order is a matter of years of practice. The fluency depends on the vocabulary and grammatical accuracy. Sometimes hesitation occurs when we can not find the right words while speaking. In this situation, you can use some filler words and phrases including ‘in others words’, ‘to put it differently’, and ‘what I was trying to say is.’

Do not Panic

There is most important thing to perform better in the TOEFL Speaking Section, is not to Panic. Candidates who have only a little time left with their preparation, must try to develop the habit of identifying the key points in the question. These key aspects may include reasons, examples, details, etc. Comprehensibility is a must in speaking. Candidate must have someone in their surrounding who can talk in English. With that person, you can practice the conversation. Your answers should be organized and formatted properly. You need to give the reason, your idea, and the example during the speaking test.

Work on Body Movement

Work on your Body Movement before the TOEFL Speaking examination as it is important for the exam. We all know that our body movements and hand gestures reflect how we communicate with other people. It also makes a speaker more confident. The candidate’s body posture gives an idea to the examiner about your confidence level, so you must maintain eye contact and sit straight before the examiner.

Other Important TOEFL Speaking Section Tips

Here are some TOEFL Speaking Section Tips when you are preparing for your upcoming TOEFL exam.

Speaking Tip #1: Practice instead of watching videos

Practice instead of watching videos. If you start to watch mock examination videos it will give an idea of how you can prepare yourself. Do not make it a habit. If you make it a habit, you will start to copy those answers and replicate them in your answers too. Do not copy-paste the answer and if your examiner feels that you are giving the copied answers, it will decrease your score. Be natural and practice giving the answers by yourself.

Speaking Tip #2: Record your voice

It is an effective process to do better in the TOEFL speaking test. While you practice on your own, you can record your answers and assess them to know your faults. It will help you to detect unnecessary pauses and grammatical errors which you can fix later.

Speaking Tip #3: Use a grading rubric to analyze your response

Sometimes you may feel that the exam is not fair at all. You prepared for the test with a set of suggestions but you might not get the same questions or patterns during the exam. Grading rubrics will help you to see things differently, particularly from the grader’s perspective. It is a way to think in the reverse way, what the examiner looking into your answers.

Speaking Tip #4: Find a study buddy

It can be an effective way to score better in TOEFL speaking. A study partner will help you to grow and you both can share your ideas. You can carry a conversation with each other to find the weaknesses and problems in your answers.

Speaking Tip #5: Pick the right time and place when you study

Everyone has a perfect time to study. During the TOEFL exam, you need to practice more and there is no place for distraction. The speaking is a segment for which you need to prepare yourself most.

Speaking Tip #6: Start the same way every time for each Question type

There are so many response types that you can use to bring variety into your answers as mentioned below.

Serial Number

Introductory Phases

1

I think/believe/feel that

Personally speaking

To be honest

I’ve never thought about this before, but

I have to say that

2

(introduce listening) Right off the bat, the man says that he doesn’t like

(introduce listening) The woman is perfectly fine with

(introduce listening) The man isn’t crazy about

It looks like there is a change on the university campus. You see

3

One interesting thing that I learned from the reading is that

The reading passage goes into detail about

(introduce listening) The professor provides a crystal clear example of this

4

I had never heard of (topic) until now, and it’s kinda interesting

The professor talks about

In the lecture, the professor discusses

Speaking Tip #7: Use a timer

Managing time in the speaking test is important and you need to practice the tasks with a timer. As we mentioned before there are six different questions you have to answer in the speaking test. As much as you practice your score will be better.

To practice for an independent speaking task, you can follow these 4 simple steps:

  • Read the speaking prompt
  • Set your timer for 60 seconds
  • Spend 15 seconds preparing your response
  • Spend 45 seconds responding

To practice for an integrated speaking task, follow these four steps as mentioned below:

  • Read and listen to the speaking prompt
  • Set your timer for 90 seconds (80 seconds for question four)
  • Spend 30 seconds preparing your response (20 seconds for question four)
  • Spend 60 seconds responding

Speaking Tip #8: Take advantage of speech-to-text technology

You can take the help of the technology during the preparation time. You can use Google Voice Typing to pronounce the feedback which can be more effective. The accessibility and ease of use made it more popular with the students. The feedback loop helps you to refine your pronunciation as well.

Some Important Phrases – TOEFL Speaking Section Tips

Here are Some Important Phrases for the TOEFL Speaking Section as mentioned below.

Some Important Phrases – Category

Examples

Providing Reasons/Points

The first reason/point is that…

To start… / To begin…

First of all… / Firstly…

In the first place…

This is because…

For one thing…

Introducing New Reasons/Points

The second reason/point is that…

Another reason/point is… / Another key point is…

Additionally… / In addition… / Also…

Furthermore… / Moreover…

On top of that…

Providing Details

Specifically…

In particular… / Particularly…

As a matter of fact… / In fact…

Notably…

Indeed…

To explain…

Providing Examples

For example…

For instance…

To demonstrate…

As an illustration… / To illustrate…

As an example…

Clarifying Points or Gathering Your Thoughts

In other words…

To put it differently… / To put it another way…

That is to say that…

What I was trying to say is…

Conclusion

TOEFL Speaking Section checks the capability of a candidate in the English language in an academic setup. So many candidates become nervous during the speaking segment of the TOEFL. The TOEFL speaking section consists of four tasks. Candidates need to complete them in 17 minutes. Candidates need to provide their answers in a comprehensive language. You need to be clear about your ideas inferno the examiner and only in that case, you will get a high score. Hope, these tips regarding the TOEFL Speaking Section will help you to score better in your upcoming exam.

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TOEFL Speaking Section Tips- FAQs

What does the TOEFL speaking section consist of?

The speaking section lasts 17 minutes and consists of four questions; each question has four parts: reading, listening, writing and speaking. The first question, an independent speaking question, requires you to give your personal opinion on a given topic.

How is the speaking part of the TOEFL?

You’ll get 15–30 seconds of preparation time before each response, and your response will be 45 or 60 seconds long. Speaking response: To respond, you’ll speak into the microphone and your responses will be recorded. Test time: It should take about 16 minutes to complete the Speaking section.

What is the format for TOEFL speaking?

TOEFL Speaking Question Format: Read, Listen, Speak. The second speaking question format gives you 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. For each of the 2 questions you read a short passage and then you will hear and watch (like in Listening) a talk related to the same topic of the reading.

What are the hardest sections in TOEFL?

Although the level of difficulty varies from person to person, the Speaking section is frequently mentioned as the most difficult part of the test, along with the Writing section. The TOEFL iBT Speaking section requires more than just language skills.

Is TOEFL speaking tough?

The speaking section of the TOEFL exam can be perceived as challenging by some test-takers. It requires you to express your thoughts clearly and coherently within a limited time frame.