5 tips for preparing for Cambridge speaking exams

You scared me.

What are you doing here?

Preparing for my speaking exam.

Mm hm.

Hi guys, my name is Jiri.

Many of us are preparing for Cambridge English

qualifications.

We want to improve our speaking.

So in this bite-sized lesson, I’ll give you five useful tips

to help you when preparing for the speaking part of

your Cambridge exam.

Before I continue, don’t forget to hit

the like button and subscribe to the channel.

My first step is to know the format of your exam.

Learn the rules of the game before you start playing.

Here are just a few general questions which are always

good to answer.

How many parts are there?

What do I have to do in each part?

How much time do I have for each part?

To answer these essential questions, you can visit

the Cambridge Assessment English website and select

your Cambridge exam.

You can also find more information in the New

Learner booklet and watch our next video on the format

of Cambridge exams.

Once you know the rules, you can start preparing.

Tip two, the best advice ever is,

speak, speak, speak.

It's true, to really improve speaking,

you have to physically do it.

Here are some other tips which I found useful.

Find a speaking buddy and have regular chats

with them in English.

It can be a family member or a friend who can speak English.

Speak to yourself in English, on the sofa, while walking,

or in front of the mirror.

Record yourself.

It might feel a bit unnatural at first,

but you will get used to your voice eventually.

Recording yourself helps you become more aware of

your own speaking.

You can listen back and decide what you need to improve on.

Choose topics which are useful for your

exam and speak about these.

Try to speak about the same topic more times

on different days.

You will eventually have more ideas about what to say,

and focus only how to say it well.

Tip three, establish routines that work for you.

To feel safe, it’s best when you know where you're going and how

you want to get there.

Give priority to your preparation.

Set fixed times in your timetable and choose

a place where you study best.

Set realistic and measurable goals for yourself and keep

track of your progress.

It's okay to do less.

What matters is to do it well and do it regularly.

The better prepared you are, the more relaxed you'll feel.

Cultivate a positive mindset.

Just like in a sports match, having the right mindset can

help you perform better on the day of your exam.

Here are a few ideas on how to prepare your mind.

Visualise your success.

Imagine you making all necessary steps and passing your exam.

Seeing yourself succeeding often increases your confidence

and helps you to be ready.

Develop a growth mindset.

Try to avoid negative labels like fail or bad.

The fact that you don’t succeed the first time when practicing

often means that you have learnt something important and will do

better next time.

There are certain types of expressions which are always

useful to have in your bag.

What is your favourite activity?

Let me think about that for a moment.

The way I see it, our teacher would

be happy to receive a book.

That's an interesting idea, but I still think we should

choose the first picture.

To learn more useful phrases like these,

stay tuned for more videos on this channel.

How about you?

Which exam would you like to take and how do you prepare?

Write to us in the comments section.

Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in my next video.

Bye.