How can I deal with nervousness in a Speaking test?
A little bit of stress tends to improve performance, but too much can definitely cause you to do worse. Here are some ideas for dealing with stress in a Speaking test:
- Prepare to be nervous. It does no good just to *hope* that you won't feel nervous. Expect it. Have a plan for how you're going to deal with it.
- Visualise yourself in a test situation being asked a difficult question. How are you going to deal with it? Picture yourself following Chris' strategy. Pretend the examiner is your friend.
- Be prepared. If you know how to deal with each part of the test and you know your fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation is at the level you need, then trust your training.
- Don't book your test until you can consistently get the score you need.
- Breathe. Take deep breaths before your test to lower your heart rate, and take deep breaths between questions.
Chris has also made a podcast about how to deal with stress in the Speaking test.
