Get Speaking with Prompts

What is a Speaking Prompt?

A prompt is either a short question, statement, or image that is used as a starting point for writing or speaking. In this activity, we will focus on speaking.

You will:

• read the prompt 

• talk about it for 15 - 20 seconds (minimum) to 2+ minutes. 

• do the activity daily so you’re practicing every day.

I share a speaking prompt every day in three places. You can find my prompts here:

• Get Speaking English Telegram Channel

• Get Speaking English Facebook Page

• Get Speaking English Instagram

You can also use your own prompts if you'd like. 

Overview of this lesson

The activities mentioned in this post should: 

• give you ideas about things to do with the speaking prompts so you can start using them to improve your English. 

• give you ideas about modifying your study habits if you've already been using the prompts. Hopefully you can start seeing even bigger improvements in your English. 

• help you if you've been struggling to pass an exam like the C1 Advanced or IELTS. If you've been struggling to get the scores you need, you probably need strategies to not only help you prepare, but also improve your overall level of English. These activities should help you fix any fossilized errors or help you build vocabulary and skills in areas where you're lacking knowledge.

What this lesson is not about

The activities below recommend repeating the same answers or phrases over and over again. However, this activity is not about memorizing answers for an exam.

Never pre-prepare or memorize templates for your Cambridge exams

Some students believe they can pass their exams simply by trying to predict topics and then pre-preparing and memorizing answers or templates to use. However, this will not work:

• Cambridge examiners are trained to spot memorized answers 

• Depending on the exam, memorized answers will not be counted towards your mark

• The examiner may interrupt you mid-answer to ask you about something else if they think you're reciting a memorized answer. 

However, repetition is the key to fluency. So, there will be a lot of repetition in these exercises. This is so you get comfortable saying the phrases, using the vocabulary, and saying things correctly.

Once you get the basics down, you'll be able to altar and add onto your answers. In the end, you'll become a more confident and fluent user of English. 

The basics

When answering a question, never give a one word answer, such as "yes" or "no".

Instead, expand on our answers to show off our English and find out what you know and won't know. This will give you more English to analyze while doing the activities mentioned in this lesson, and you'll have more opportunities to improve as a result.

A better strategy:

• • Answer the question directly

  • Expand by giving a reason (say why you said what you said)

  • Give an example which is relevant, logical, and clearly illustrates your point. 

You should use this strategy not only when doing this activity, but also with your teachers, tutors, language partners, and on your exams. You can even use it in real life in conversations in your native language.

Note: It is important that you answer the question directly. Some students think they need to impress the examiner so they start answers with long introductions. However, this is bad for a few reasons: it is often confusing and makes it sound like you didn't understand the question; also the examiner may interrupt you to move on to another question before you've gotten to your answer. Therefore, its much better to say the answer first and then add additional, supporting details after.

Bonus tip: Get a correction!

If you can, get someone to correct your text before reading. 

Who to ask: Anyone with an upper-intermediate or advanced level of English can help you - it does not need to be a native English speaker!

Step 2: Say it and record yourself 

• Get a device to record yourself on (your smartphone, tablet, a computer with a microphone, etc.)

• Read your answer while recording yourself

Step 3: Listen and check

• Listen to your recording and ask yourself:

  • • How was my pronunciation? Did I speak clearly or do I need to practice saying some tricky phrases or words?

    • How was my grammar? It's common for students to not read what's actually written on the page. Check that you have said and can here: the -S in third person singular verbs or plural nouns; the -ED endings of

Step 4: Record again

• Record yourself saying the answer again. Try fixing the mistakes you wanted to focus on. 

  • • You should be able to read it a little faster this time. Practice saying any difficult parts, if needed.

Step 5: Repeat the process

• Listen to your second recording. See what you can improve on. 

• Then listen and repeat a few times, until you feel more comfortable saying the words, and the phrasing sounds more natural.

This process is great because:

• It trains your mouth to create the movements needed when speaking English

• It helps train your listening (you are reading and hearing the words at the same time)

• It helps you memorize and get familiar saying the phrases and vocabulary, and hearing/speaking with correct grammar.

Repetition = Fluency. We need to say or do something hundreds of times before it becomes automatic and natural. This helps speed up this process.

Step 6: Try it from memory

If you want, try it from memory. To prepare for this, do the following:

• Read your script. Write down a few points to remember what you talked about. Keep everything in the same order (we basically want to try and recreate the same answer from memory). These could be:

  • • Key words 

    • Key phrases

    • The base form* of the verbs you used so you can practice conjugating them

• Say the answer again using the notes to help you

• Practice it a few times from memory. You may even want to try repeating it the next day or next week. You can also practice answer the same question in the future - it's always great to re-visit topics and improve or add onto them!

* base form = the verb without -S or any endings. For example, if my answer says: "Every day he goes to the store" my note might say "go" and "store".

Language Focus

When learning a language, it can be overwhelming (=it can seem like there's too much to do!). There are just so many things you need to know! 

At this level focus on learning:

• how to talk about yourself and your life (yourself, friends, family, community, school, work, home, etc.)

• how to talk about your likes, dislikes and preferences. Also try to explain why you feel the way you feel (for example: if you don't like something, try to say why, or if you love something, say why). 

Step 1: Prepare to speak

• Take the prompt and a pen and paper

• Think about your answer first. (Don't forget to answer the question, give a reason, and give an example)

• Write down a few notes to help you remember what you'd like to talk about

  • • If needed, you can look up words in the dictionary, look up information about grammar, or use the translator to translate some short phrases

Step 2: Say it and record yourself

• Get a device to record yourself on (your smartphone, tablet, a computer with a microphone, etc.)

• Say your answer while recording yourself. Use your notes to help you remember what you wanted to talk about

Step 3: Listen and check

• Listen to your recording. Do not skip this part. You cannot fix your errors if you don't know what they are so listen to yourself and see what you can improve on.

• Ask yourself:

  • • How was my pronunciation? Did I speak clearly or do I need to practice saying some tricky phrases or words? Do I need to double-check the pronunciation of some words? (You can listen to words at forvo.com). Do I need to practice saying some parts to make them clearer?

    • How was my grammar? For example, if the question was about the past, did you use past tense verbs in your answer? If talking about the past, did you use the present perfect when you should have used simple past? 

    • How is the vocabulary? Was I lacking vocabulary? Do I need to look up some words so I am able to say what I wanted to say?

Note: Did you make a lot of errors? That's okay! Try to identify your biggest errors first and work on those before the others. Read more about this here. 

Step 4: Listen again, but take better notes

Now prepare to say a similar answer again, but with your corrections:

• Listen to your recording and write down a few points to remember what you talked about. Keep everything in the same order (we basically want to try and recreate the same answer from memory). Your notes could be:

  • • Key words 

    • Key phrases

    • The base form* of the verbs you used so you can practice conjugating them

* base form = the verb without -S or any endings. For example, if my answer says: "Every day he goes to the store" my note might say "go" and "store".

Step 5: Record again

• Record yourself saying the answer again. Try to fix the errors you noticed the first time. 

  • • It should be a bit easier this time. Practice saying any difficult parts, if needed.

Step 6: Repeat the process

• Listen to your second recording. See what you can improve on. 

• Then listen and repeat a few times, until you feel more comfortable saying the words and the phrasing sounds more natural.

This process is great because:

• It trains your mouth to create the movements needed when speaking English

• It helps you memorize and get familiar saying the phrases and vocabulary, and hearing/speaking with correct grammar.

Repetition = Fluency. We need to say or do something hundreds of times before it becomes automatic and natural. This helps speed up this process.

Language Focus

This this level, you should already be able to talk about:

• • yourself and your life (yourself, friends, family, community, school, work, home, etc.)

  • your likes, dislikes, preferences and opinions 

but now you can add more details and be more specific.

You should also learn how to talk about other people and hypothesize about situations you are not part of (=make guesses and speculate). On the B2 First and C1 Advanced, for example, often those part 2 questions (and even part 3 and part 4 questions) are about other people and their experiences (for example, a question might be: "Why might they have done these activities?" or "How might this person be feeling?".  We can use the prompts to practice this kind of language: simply change the prompt, if needed. For example, if the question is directed at you ("What kind of movies do you like?") pretend it was directed to someone else and then say your answer ("What kind of movies might other people like?").

Step 1: Prepare to speak

You will want to adapt this activity depending on what you're preparing for and what you'd like to do in English. For example:

• • If you are preparing for an exam and want to practice answering short-answer questions, do not make any notes at all. Simply record yourself while talking about the prompt for anywhere between 20 to 60 seconds. Remember: answer the question directly, give a reason, and give an example (if there's time).

  • If you are preparing for a monologue (that is: a question where you need to speak about one topic for a few minutes by yourself) you should take a minute to make a few notes to remind yourself about what to say. Your notes could be keywords or short phrases.

Step 2: Say it and record yourself

• Get a device to record yourself on (your smartphone, tablet, a computer with a microphone, etc.)

• Say your answer while recording yourself

Step 3: Listen and check

• Listen to your recording. Do not skip this part. You cannot fix your errors if you don't know what they are. So many advanced-level speakers make mistakes that are easy to fix, but they don't know they are making them because no one has ever pointed them out before! Trust me, at an advanced level you'll be able to hear basic mistakes like errors with verb conjugation and plurals. 

• Ask yourself:

  • • How was my pronunciation? Do you need to double-check how to say some words? (You can listen to words at forvo.com). At this level, you can also think about:

      • • Sentence stress - at an advanced level, your intonation, tone and sentence stress should be more natural.

        • Syllable stress - it's common for words that share the same root to have different syllable stress depending on the kind of word. For example: economics, economy, economically, economist. Sometimes this even changes the meaning of the word (for example: the accent in the verb produce is different from the accent of the noun produce.). These details are hard to master, but you need to start paying attention to them at an advanced level.

    • How was my grammar? For example, if the question was about the past, did you use past tense verbs in your answer? If talking about the past, did you use the present perfect when you should have used simple past? 

    • How is the vocabulary? Was I lacking vocabulary? Do I need to look up some words so I am able to say what I wanted to say? Maybe you're trying to make your answers way too complicated to sound impressive (this is common). Try to focus on communicating clearly and worry less about using impressive "high-level" vocabulary

Common mistakes to look out for:

At this level, it's still common for advance-level learners to make the following mistakes:

• Mistakes with articles or forgetting the -S on plural, countable nouns when talking in general

• Forgetting the -S on third person singular verbs in the Simple Present

• Forgetting to pronounce the -ED ending in past tense verbs. Also, you may want to check that you are saying the sound correctly.

• Forgetting to use the -ING form of the verb after prepositions. Here's a list. 

It is hard to get a C1 certificate or band 7+ in IELTS if you are consistently making these kinds of errors when speaking, so use the activity to work on these answers.

You may also consider doing this activity as well to work on eliminating these bad habits. 

Note: Did you make a lot of errors? That's okay! Try to identify your biggest errors first and work on those before the others. Read more about this here. 

Step 4: Listen again, but take better notes

Now prepare to say a similar answer again, but with your corrections:

• Listen to your recording and write down a few points to remember what you talked about. Keep everything in the same order (we basically want to try and recreate the same answer from memory). Your notes could be:

  • • Key words 

    • Key phrases

    • The base form* of the verbs you used so you can practice conjugating them

* base form = the verb without -S or any endings. For example, if my answer says: "Every day he goes to the store" my note might say "go" and "store".

Step 5: Record again

• Record yourself saying the answer again. Try to fix the errors you noticed the first time. 

  • • Saying your answer should be a bit easier this time. Practice saying any difficult parts, if needed.

Step 6: Repeat the process

• Listen to your second recording. See what you can improve on. 

• Then listen and repeat a few times, until you feel more comfortable saying the words and the phrasing sounds more natural.

This process is great because:

• It helps you memorize and get familiar saying the phrases and vocabulary, and hearing/speaking with correct grammar.

Repetition = Fluency. Remember, we need to say or do something hundreds of times before it becomes automatic and natural. You can repeat your answer several times, if needed. Aim for getting the target errors you want to fix correct. It’ll be hard at first, but I guarantee, over time it will get easier, and also eventually you’ll be able to say the corrected version without even thinking. This will then let you be more flexible when using English, and you’ll be able to altar, change or add on to your ideas and answers in time. You’ll become more spontaneous, yet be correct at the same time  So, it’s a great process and it’s an exercise worth doing. 

Language Focus

At this level you should be able to:

• talk about a variety of different topics and talk about them at length

• talk about unreal or hypothetical situations

• use a large variety of tenses and grammar patterns

Note: advanced, C1-level English does not mean:

• Overly-scientific or academic language. You only need to know enough about a topic to generally talk about it, like you might in your native language.  You never need to absolutely everything about a topic, so do not memorize word lists filled with things you don't need; always learn vocabulary through context instead.

• Formal or complex English. These exams are never formal meetings. You're not giving a presentation, for example, or an academic lecture. They are more like chats between friends so do not force complex "high-level" vocabulary or phrases into your sentences when it's unnatural to do so. Also, avoid using language you don't understand.

Instead, aim for learning and using the same kind of language you'd use in everyday normal situations, such as with friends, colleagues, or even strangers on the street. This will really help with your fluency and make your answers more cohesive and easier to understand. 

Extending the prompts

At an advanced level, you should be able to use a range of tenses and be able to speak about topics at length. You can use the prompts either to practice your range or prepare for a monologue even when the questions seem simple. 

The IDPOF method

To expand on answers, I like to use what I can the IDPOF method. IDPOF stands for: Introduction Description Past Opinion and Future. 

Strategy:

• Get a pen and paper to make notes on.

• Take one minute to plan your answer. In a column write (vertically) the letters:

I
D
P
O
F

The letters stand for: Introduction, Description, Past, Opinion and Future

• Then write one or two key words next to each point to remind yourself about what to talk about under each category:

I - Introduction - introduce the topic by answering the question directly

D - Description - extend your answer by describing the topic

P - Past - talk about the past somehow in relation to the topic. For example, maybe you could talk about an experience you had with the topic, or talk about how it's changed over time

O - Opinion - share an opinion about the topic. This could be your opinion, or what others might think of the topic

F - Future - talk about the topic in the future. This could be what you'll do with the topic in the future, or how it might change, for example

• Then grab your recording device and continue with the activity as normal. 

This strategy should give you lots to talk about. You shouldn't have any problems talking for two to five minutes, just remember to stay on topic.