Speaking Test Strategies 9 Confidence and enthusiasm

man in business suit jumping with excitement in middle of city street

Be enthusiastic!

Image Credit
Jcomp via freepik

This is the final lesson on fluency in this section. It will help you to win the listener's attention using gestures, eye contact and intonation. 

Introduction

Showing enthusiasm and confidence will make you a compelling presenter and an interesting conversation partner, and it will boost your test score. 

What kind of enthusiastic vocabulary can you use? For example: amazing, fantastic...

Showing enthusiasm and confidence is particularly important in speaking tests, and it's a point where many non-native English speakers struggle. They appear flat or boring in English, even if they are not either of those things.

This lesson will introduce some simple ideas to seem confident and enthusiastic. Remember, these may seem strong for some cultures, but they are completely normal for many English-speaking cultures. 

Strong adjectives 

Here are a few suggestions for your student, if they can't come up with any.

Note: Remember that you can seem confident and enthusiastic negatively, too.

POSITIVE NEGATIVE
awesome awful
best worst
terrific terrible
fantastic horrible
excellent disgusting
gorgeous

hideous

Additional info 

The overuse of the verb "to like":

A lot of students use “I like...” for things/people they love or are passionate about. For instance, "I like my family" sounds like you don't really love them. English speakers normally use "like" to refer to things/people we appreciate but aren't passionate about. For deeper feelings, we use "love".

Warm Up

Your instructor will ask you some questions. Give a very short, confident and enthusiastic answer. 

For example: 

A: What's your favorite food? 
B: Hmm, it has to be tacos! They're fantastic! 

A: Is your hometown a good place to live? 
B: Oh, yes. Absolutely. I'm from Vancouver, Canada. It's such a gorgeous city.

The goal is to find how your student naturally shows enthusiasm. Try looking at their profile to see what their hobbies and interests are, or ask them for a topic they are excited about. 

Just ask a few questions. There are strategies in the section below, so don't worry too much about performance. We are finding the base-line for the student. 

Tell your student: "Let's practice starting your answer with a lot of enthusiasm. Don't worry about expanding. Just a short, strong answer is enough."

Here are some examples: 

  1. Are there any sports you like watching?

  2. Where did you go last on vacation? 

  3. Do you have a favorite book or movie? 
  4. What are the most memorable things you've seen or experienced in nature?
  5. What is the best gift you have ever received?
  6. What's your favorite food? 
  7. What is your favorite smell?
  8. What was your most unforgettable childhood adventure?

 

GRAMMAR NOTE:

Students may make the mistake of saying, "It's so beautiful city." Point out the difference between so + adj and such a/an + adj + noun:

  • It's so + [adj.]. 
    • Vancouver is so gorgeous.
  • It's such a [adj. + noun].
    • Vancouver is such a gorgeous city
    • It's such a great place to live. 
Language

Here are a few ways to show enthusiasm: 

  • word stress/intonation;
  • word choice;
  • eye contact; and
  • gestures.

Practice each one with your teacher.

To be effective, enthusiasm has to be at least partly natural. Practice all these strategies, but if any of them feel very strange, don't force your student to do them. 

Word stress/intonation

Remind them of 3 ways to stress a word:

  1. louder/softer (volume);
  2. higher/lower (pitch); and
  3. longer/shorter (word length).

Word choice

This was covered in the warm-up. 

Eye contact

Practice maintaining eye contact throughout the whole lesson. If they can do it for 25 minutes, they'll manage any interview test.

Gestures

Loosen up and move your hands. It's very strange to speak enthusiastically but have your hands by your side. It doesn't have to be a specific action, as long as you don't look like a statue! 

Word stress/intonation

As mentioned in the last lesson, words can be stressed three ways: 

  1. louder/softer (volume);
  2. higher/lower (pitch); and
  3. longer/shorter (word length).

You can use all three at once for maximum enthusiasm:

  • E.g.: "I went to Hawaii. It was fan↗TAAAA↘stic!" 

You can also show strong enthusiasm by pausing after each short word.

  • E.g.: "It. was. dis↗GUS↘ting." 

Eye contact

Make strong eye contact on the key word. For video chats, you'll need to look at the camera. Try to lean in and look intently at the listener, or the camera. You may want to raise your eyebrows or widen your eyes. (Don't over-do this, or it may seem creepy.)

Practice maintaining eye contact throughout the whole lesson. If they can do it for 25 minutes, they'll manage any interview test.

Gestures

Loosen up and move your hands. It's very strange to speak enthusiastically but have your hands by your side. It doesn't have to be a specific action, as long as you don't look like a statue!

 

Practice

Now that you've practiced showing confidence and enthusiasm, try giving a full answer to some speaking-test-style questions.