7 Proven Storytelling Tips to Secure a High IELTS Speaking Score

Looking for the best IELTS speaking tips to enhance your IELTS speaking score? Your storytelling skills can contribute. Want to know how? Read along. 

Storytelling is a skill that can be extremely beneficial in increasing your IELTS Speaking Score. Yet, when it comes to boosting their IELTS speaking performance, students put in a lot of effort in other areas but forget about storytelling.  The article provides some fantastic IELTS storytelling tips. We’ll get to that shortly, but first, let’s look at the role of storytelling in the IELTS speaking exam.

Importance of Storytelling in IELTS Speaking Exam

As you are all aware, IELTS Speaking Test aims to assess test-takers’ English-speaking abilities. When a question is presented, the test-taker listens to it, answers quickly in short, and moves on. Though the approach is sound, it appears as a flat and typical approach to taking the IELTS speaking exam. Test takers striving for a high IELTS speaking score must think beyond the box to grab extra points from the section. 

Storytelling is a tried and true method for reaching the goal, allowing test takers to provide more detailed, natural and outstanding answers. It also enables the examiner to evaluate the test-takers’ speaking abilities in a better way.

Storytelling tips to secure a high IELTS band score

1. Plan your story

You can’t just say anything for the sake of telling the story. Your story should be well-organized and relevant, with amazing content. It should also have a natural and competent structure.

The structure of your story should be as follows:

Start 

Make a strong first impression. You can begin the story by introducing the involved people and places. The early part is critical to gaining or losing the listener’s interest, so it should be catchy.

 Details 

Include enough information. The details must be precise and pertinent. Including funny facts is a good way to relax both yourself and the examiner.

Conclusion

Finish with a good ending. Decent conclusions are required not only for the IELTS writing Exam but also for the IELTS speaking exam. Don’t just speak and then stop, as this may sound weird and may have an adverse impact on your IELTS speaking score. A logical conclusion is something the examiner wants so make sure you are providing the same.

2. Be confident 

Your confidence is one of the most important aspects that is checked in the IELTS speaking section. The same holds true for storytelling. If you become nervous, you will end up telling a story that makes no sense, and both your time and effort will be wasted. Hence, keeping nervousness at bay and being intellectual and focused while creating stories is absolutely vital. This nervousness can be beaten with regular and consistent practice. 

3. Speak at a natural pace

We understand that you have a limited time to complete the IELTS speaking exam, but speaking too quickly is not going to help you in any way. If you try to do so, you will make silly mistakes and lose your IELTS speaking score. Furthermore, because you only have 10-15 minutes to complete the IELTS speaking exam, you cannot afford to speak slowly. So, it is always prudent to choose a pace that will not hinder your way of attaining a remarkable IELTS speaking score.

4. Don’t be monotonous

The tone is a significant facet of telling a good story. A dull and monotonous language sounds as if you memorized the content, and examiners dislike such speeches. Speaking in a monotone tone invites the examiner to deduct your IELTS speaking score. Your voice should rise and fall in pitch as per the content. Emphasize the words that should be highlighted more. Allow for brief pauses as needed. Your voice should be full of energy and feel as if every word is coming from the bottom of your heart.

5. Use vocabulary cautiously

Repetitive and tedious vocabulary based on previously learned bits is seldom helpful to earning your aspired IELTS speaking score. Choose vocabulary that is both creative and explicit in presenting your message. Remember that simply selecting the appropriate vocabulary is not going to work. It is also paramount to pronounce the words correctly.

6. Don’t forget the time management

It’s certainly preferable to go with stories rather than short answers, but that doesn’t mean you stick to one answer. Keep in mind that you have a lot to get done in a short period of time. Extending a story for too long shows clearly that you will run out of time at the end of the day. Hence, it’s important to remember that time is ticking away.

7. Practice alot

No matter how many books you collect, tips you gather, and concepts you learn, all will be useless if you don’t practice steadily. You can do IELTS speaking practice with family members or friends who speak English well and can rectify your mistakes. There is a wealth of information available on the internet to assist you in the context. If you require professional assistance, you can seek assistance from local IELTS experts.

Endnote

IELTS speaking is not a fun time. In fact, many potential candidates are afraid of it. Without proper and sufficient preparation, the daunting section is difficult to crack. Though tough to master, storytelling provides a way to get the wished IELTS speaking score and should definitely not be overlooked.

For further information and assistance on the best IELTS speaking tips, reach out to our IELTS experts.