TOEFL Speaking Tips & Tactics

Each question in the TOEFL speaking section gives you a score on a scale of 0 - 4. 4 being the highest score for a question and 0 the lowest score. However, the only way to get a zero is to not answer or to ignore the questions and give a response on a different topic. You can also get scores with decimals such as 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 etc.

When recording your answer it’s easy to focus on giving a perfect response but it’s important to remember that your answer does not have to be perfect, just logical and coherent.

You are allowed to make a few mistakes as long as they do not change the overall meaning of your point. The key is to keep calm and to not stress.

When recording your answer keep it simple. You do not want to take unnecessary risks when giving your answer.

Always be aware of how much time you have. For independent questions you have 45 seconds to give a response and for the integrated speaking question types you will have 60 seconds to response. Make sure that you do not go over the time limits.

It’s easy to circle around your main point but with time restrictions in place make sure you go straight to your point. Remember that it’s better to finish a couple seconds early than going over a couple seconds past the time.

During the integrated part of the TOEFL speaking section you should greatly rely on your notes. It’s important to have organized notes so your response can be well organized and comprehensible.

Record yourself speaking prior to taking the TOEFL and listen to yourself to determine if you speak clearly and concisely. You will be surprised on how much you can improve by repeating this procedure over and over again.

Practice makes perfect, so continue practicing! We hope that these TOEFL speaking tips & tactics gives you an additional boost to practice for the TOEFL test!