Five Tips To Improve Your English Speaking Skills

So, you want to improve your English debating skills? There are several ways to do this, both from a debating technique standpoint and from a language base. If you have got a grasp of English, or want to improve, debating is a really good way to increase your language skills. In the article below you will find five top tips to improve your English language skills, including listening, planning and your delivery.

Research your material thoroughly

The most important part of any debate is to be able to get your point across. Make sure you spend plenty of time getting familiar with your material so that on the day you know it inside out. You could learn the material in your native language and then work on translating it into English. When you do this it will be going in twice and the process will help you sharpen your skills too.

Watch debates to sharpen your listening skills

The difference between debating and a presentation is that in a debate you’ll be expected to interact with someone who is arguing a different point to yours. You can prepare for this by watching debates online. This will give you the opportunity to see how politicians and academics deliver their arguments and how they respond to their fellow debaters. YouTube is a good source for this, and Question Time on the BBC will also give you a chance to see people arguing their point.

Practice, practice, practice!

The only way to be fully prepared is to practice. Work on your phrasing and have people challenge you on your points so you are ready to argue. Rehearsing in this manner will keep you on your toes, make you work on all parts of the debate, and give you the chance to develop the points you are finding trickier.

Be aware of your tone

You know your stuff, you have prepared your material and now you are ready to debate! Some people think that the key to getting their point across is to shout, but they are wrong.

Watch the tone of your voice and volume level when emphasising the key points you want to make. You want to practise this as much as getting the language right. Watching videos and practising with others will help you learn where to put the intonation and phrase things the way you want them to come across.

Use vocabulary you are comfortable with

There is no point in taking on language that you do not fully understand as you will struggle to get your points across, and it may knock your confidence. By all means try out words and phrases you are not familiar with, but do not use them if they are leaving you tongue-tied. Debate with vocabulary that you are comfortable with and you have got a much better chance of success. You can always build on what you have learned for the next time!

Manjusha

Hi, I am Manjusha. This is my blog where I give English grammar lessons and worksheets. You may also want to check out my other blogs IELTS Practice and NCERT Guides

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