Fluency is Boring. And that's the point.

How do I improve fluency in PTE Speaking?

Students often think:

My fluency score is low… so I need to speak faster.

And it doesn't work.

That's because fluency is NOT just speed.

Fluency is flow. It's the ability to speak without hesitation.

So don't be afraid to be boring. If you put too much pressure on yourself to produce perfect & perfectly interesting sentences, you will lose your flow.

As an example, take a look at my video on Respond to a Situation. Notice how simple my sample answer is? That's intentional!

I was boring - and proud of it!

Fluency follows Content

If you do not know what you are going to say, you will hesitate.

If you try to think up fancy vocabulary while speaking, you will hesitate.

If you do mental arithmetic while describing a graph, you will hesitate.

So fix the content problem first. When you are confident in your content, it becomes possible to be fluent.

Short sentences are your friend

There is no prize for producing the most complicated sentence in the room.

Compare:

The graph, which demonstrates several considerable fluctuations occurring over the duration of the period, can be observed to...

with:

The graph shows a clear increase. It starts at 20 and finishes at 65.

Which one are you more likely to say smoothly?

Exactly.

Short, correct sentences can dramatically reduce the amount of thinking you need to do while speaking. Using simple sentences might cause a 0.000001% drop in your Content score, but using long complicated sentences with poor rhythm will cause a HUGE drop in your fluency score.

Simple grammar & vocab gives you more mental space to let the words flow.

PTE is testing your English, not your maths

In Describe Image you will see graphs & charts with numbers.

Is it impressive if you can glance at the graph and report that something increased by 37.4%? Sure.

Is it necessary to get a good score? No.

Just say: It increased sharply. It started at 1 percent and went up to 38.4%.

Reporting the pattern is what gets you the points.

Stating the numbers exactly as you see them boosts your points even more.

But calculations?

Every unnecessary calculation is another opportunity to freeze.

Practise — but only after the strategy is right

This matters enormously.

Practice creates habits. It makes your habits automatic. That means you can speak without thinking. That gets you in the flow.

So - practice is good if the habit is good. It's not so good if you have spent three weeks in the flow, building a habit with a terrible Describe Image template.

Before you start doing 20 DIs or SGDs every day, make sure your basic strategy makes sense.

Then drill it. And practice, practice, practice.

Stop chasing Fluency & Pronunciation scores while you are learning

PTE scores you for content, fluency and pronunciation.

If you chase a good pronunciation score, your fluency will drop.

If you chase a good fluency score, your content will drop.

Chase a good content score first - & use an app that judges content correctly!

After your content is stable, you can build on pronunciation and fluency.

The goal is automaticity

Ultimately, good fluency - in life as well as in PTE! - should feel almost boring.

You know the idea you want to express.

You know how to organise your idea.

You speak.

You are not desperately searching for a fancy word.

You are not trying to impress anyone.

You are simply communicating the information clearly.

Get the content right. Make the structure automatic. Fluency will come after that.

That principle is a big part of how I teach Speaking in PTE Speaking Made Clear. See the book