The PTE Academic speaking test can come across as a high-pressure performance. Under the clock and with the microphone looming, it’s tempting to get caught out by common mistakes that will bring your score down. But don’t worry! By knowing these 5 common errors and how to steer clear of them, you can greatly improve your confidence and your score.

Let’s get started!

Mistake 1: Speaking Too Fast or Too Slowly

The Problem: Many test-takers either rush through their answers, making their speech unintelligible, or speak at a snail’s pace, leading to awkward pauses and a lack of fluency. Both extremes negatively impact your “Oral Fluency” score.

Why it Happens:

Too Fast: Nervousness, a desire to cover all points quickly, or imitating native speakers without proper pacing.

Too Slow: Excessive thinking, difficulty in finding words, or attempting to be “too clear” by over-enunciating.

Example of “Too Fast”:

Consider the “Describe Image” exercise. Rather than: “This bar chart shows. the sales trends. across three quarters. during 2024,” a candidate will hastily say: “Thisbarchartillustratesthesalestrendsoverthreequartersin2024.” The words run together, and meaning is lost.

Example of “Too Slow”:

In “Repeat Sentence”: “The. university. offers. a variety. of. courses.” This produces staccato speech and suggests wrestling to get the sentence out.

How to Avoid It:

• Timed practice: Record yourself and play it back. Are you talking at a comfortable, natural rate?
• Prioritize natural pauses: Like in natural conversation, pause briefly after phrases or clauses.
• Speak clearly, but don’t slow down too much: Clarity is a product of proper articulation, not over exaggeration.
• Breathe: Regulate your breathing to assist in maintaining your pace of speech.

Error 2: Overlooking Intonation and Stress (Monotone Speech)

The Issue: Reading a monotonous, flat tone makes your voice unnatural and might make it challenging for the AI to comprehend your meaning. This affects your “Pronunciation” and “Oral Fluency” scores.

Why it Occurs: Lack of familiarity with English phonetics, attempting to be “neutral,” or just paying too much attention to content rather than delivery.

Example of Monotone:

In “Read Aloud”: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

Uttered with no rise or fall in tone, it sounds mechanical.

Preventing It:

• Listen attentively to native speakers: Notice how their voice rises and falls, where they stress words.
• Practice shadowing: Listen to a recording and repeat at once what you hear, copying the intonation.
• Learn sentence stress: In English, some words in a sentence are stressed in order to make meaning. For instance, “I “didn’t” say he stole the money” (someone else did). “I didn’t say “he” stole the money” (he did not steal it, someone else did).
• Punctuation as a guide: Commas tend to signal a gentle rise, and periods signal a drop.

Mistake 3: Inauthentic Pauses and Fillers

The Issue: Too many “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” or long pauses without speech distort your flow and flag hesitation, compromising your “Oral Fluency” rating.

Why it Occurs: Poor preparation, nervousness, groping for words, or back-translating in your head.

Example of Inauthentic Pauses/Fillers:

In “Retell Lecture”: “The lecture was on. umm. climate change. and. uhh. its impact. on the. you know. environment.” This makes the speaker sound uncertain and diverts attention from the message.

How to Avoid It:

• Prepare well: Familiarity with your content minimizes the need to look for words.
• Use note-taking efficiently: For activities such as “Retell Lecture,” brief notes can serve as cues.
• Practice connecting ideas smoothly: Employ transition words and phrases (e.g., “furthermore,” “however,” “in addition”) to tie your thoughts together rather than using fillers.
• Use natural, short pauses: A short, silent pause to gather thoughts is fine; long, uncomfortable pauses are not.

Error 4: Failing to Answer the Question Completely or Going Off-Track

The Problem: Although fluency and pronunciation are important, failure to answer the prompt directly or going off-topic will cost your “Content” score.

Why it Happens: Not understanding the question, dashing, or attempting to take up time with something not relevant.

Example of Not Answering Fully:

In “Answer Short Question”: “What is the capital of France?” If you reply only with “Europe” rather than “Paris,” you have not answered fully.

Example of Going Off-Topic:

In “Describe Image,” if the image is a bar chart of sales, but you begin to speak about the history of sales analysis in general, you’ve derailed.

How to Avoid It:

• Read/Listen to the prompt closely: Know precisely what is requested.
• Note keywords: Keep your answer centered on the key points of the question.
• Be focused: Each sentence should lead to answering the question or describing the image/lecture.
• Organize your responses: Even for short responses, having a clear start, middle, and end can keep you in line.

Error 5: No Confidence (Whispering or Mumbling)

The Issue: If you talk too quietly, mumble, or hesitate, the microphone might not be able to record your voice well, or the AI could mishear your words, influencing your “Pronunciation” and “Oral Fluency” scores.

Why it Occurs: Nerves, not feeling confident, or verbal habits of speaking softly.

Example of Lack of Confidence:

For any task, if your voice is hardly audible or you tend to mumble a lot, it would not be easy for the scoring system to properly evaluate your speech.

How to Prevent It:

• Practice out loud: The more you practice speaking English, the more at ease you would feel with your voice.
• Speak from your diaphragm: This will give you more power and control over your voice.
• Imagine you’re speaking to a friend: This should help you relax and talk naturally.
• Record yourself: Listening back to this should allow you to determine whether you are speaking too quietly.
• Believe in yourself: You’ve worked hard; now is the time to demonstrate what you do!

By being aware of these five typical errors and actually engaging in correcting them, you’ll be halfway to PTE Speaking section mastery and the grade you should get. Good luck!