The IELTS Speaking test is only eleven to fourteen minutes long, but for many candidates it is the most nerve-wracking part of the exam. You are sitting across from a real examiner, a recorder is running, and your ability to string a sentence together suddenly feels a lot shakier than it did at home. Nerves are normal – but they are also manageable. Here is what actually helps.

Know the format inside out

A surprising amount of test-day anxiety comes from uncertainty about what is going to happen. The Speaking test has three parts: a short interview about familiar topics, a long turn where you speak for one to two minutes from a task card after a minute of preparation, and a discussion linked to the Part 2 topic. The whole thing takes eleven to fourteen minutes.

If you have rehearsed each of those formats – ideally out loud, with a timer – there are no surprises left. The examiner’s questions may be new, but the shape of the test will be familiar.

Prepare your voice, not just your English

Speaking well needs a warm-up. On the morning of the test, talk. Read a page of a book aloud, describe your breakfast to yourself, phone a friend – anything that means the first English sentence you speak to the examiner is not also the first English sentence you have spoken that day. Candidates who arrive silent and then try to switch straight into fluent speech often stumble in the first minute.

Breathe before you speak

If you feel your heart racing in the waiting area, slow your breathing down deliberately. Four seconds in through the nose, six seconds out through the mouth, for a minute or two. This is not mystical – slower exhalation activates the parasympathetic nervous system and physically lowers your heart rate. It is one of the few anxiety techniques with solid evidence behind it, and anyone can do it.

Sleep matters more than last-minute cramming

The night before the test, do not stay up drilling vocabulary lists. A tired brain retrieves words more slowly and makes more grammatical slips – exactly the things you are being graded on. A full night’s sleep is worth more to your Speaking band than three extra hours of revision.

A word on power posing

You may have heard of power posing – the idea, popularised in a 2012 TED talk by Amy Cuddy, that standing in an open, confident posture for two minutes before a stressful event can boost your performance. The stronger claims from the original research (that power posing changes your hormone levels) have not held up in later studies, and one of the original authors has since distanced herself from the theory. However, a milder version – that standing tall and open may help you feel a bit more confident – is still plausible. If it helps you, use it. Just do not expect miracles.

A useful exercise

Cuddy’s TED talk, whatever you make of its conclusions, is a good piece of listening practice. Watch it, take notes, and then record yourself speaking for one to two minutes on the same topic, just as you would in Part 2 of the Speaking test. Listen back. Where did you hesitate? Where did you repeat yourself? Then do the same exercise with a different TED talk on a different topic. Variety of topics is exactly what the Speaking test throws at you, and this kind of practice builds the flexibility you need.

Nerves will not disappear entirely – and a little adrenaline actually sharpens your performance. The goal is not to feel calm. The goal is to feel prepared.

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Check out our other guides on IELTS:

• IELTS Writing: The most difficult paper?
• IELTS Reading: The three sections in General Training
• IELTS Listening: The importance of synonyms