CPE Speaking Exam Tips

 Start practising the Speaking part as early as possible during your CPE preparation. Many
candidates tend to disregard the fact that fluency and confidence can only be acquired by
speaking, discussing and debating a lot! To start practising just two to three weeks before
the exam is by far not enough and one of the main reasons why candidates feel so nervous
about the test.
 Under no circumstances you should underestimate the Speaking Exam. This test is a
wonderful opportunity and your big chance to make up for weaker papers at the written
exam. If you manage to fully concentrate for the 16 minutes you can with ease achieve an
A or B grade which can compensate any other deficit.
 Familiarise yourself with the structure and procedure of the Speaking test well in
advance (four parts; total length of test is 16min for pairs of two and will be slightly
extended for groups of three).
 Record yourself! This may feel awkward at the beginning, but hearing your voice, your
pace of speech and your range of vocabulary is a fantastic opportunity to keep track of
your performance and continuous progress. I particularly recommend this practice for part
3, long turn.
 Practise “ultra-long turns” (5min and more) and think of the worst topic you can ever
imagine talking about. Once you manage to speak for at least five minutes, the two
minutes at the exam will be peanuts!
 Practise to speak in front of 10 people or more, for example in your CPE-class. At the
exam you will face the examiner and the interlocutor (the person that leads the
interview)- no big deal anymore if you are already used to talk in front of a sceptical group.
 The challenge to find a suitable speaking partner: Consider well if you really want to sit
the exam with a person you already know. Many people reckon this was easier, but it can
also be disadvantageous if you already developed a certain routine during your dry runs
and spontaneity as well as flexibility could lack. Strong partners that you do not know in
advance are a challenge for sure, but they can as well drag you along during the
conversation and you are literally forced to compete with them and to come up with great
vocabulary and complex sentences yourself. Weak partners could make you feel
predominant from the beginning which can be beneficial if you are already very excited. If
the language level of both partners is equal, you normally should not face any difficulties.
As far as I am concerned, I always preferred having foreign partners instead of a person
that I already knew from class, but ultimately this is a question of personal preference.
 IMPORTANT: At CPE level you are not supposed to describe pictures! This is also a
common mistake often done by candidates, even at this high level. Expect abstract
questions like “What do you think will happen next?”, “What could have been the
intention of the photographer when he took this picture?”, “What feelings could these
 actions provoke?” etc. Sometimes you are even asked to describe noises and sounds and
the question could be “Which sounds do you think can be heard in the Amazon?” Tip: If
you have difficulties finding the right words to describe sounds you can always talk about
the “sound” itself, i.e. “we could hear the sound of rain, the sound of singing birds, the
sound of screaming chimpanzees” etc. Of course, it is always better to come up with
sophisticated vocabulary. Use speculative language that is so popular at CPE level, e.g. “I
imagine that xyz has developed incredibly slowly because…”, “I guess the reason for this
could be xyz…” etc.
 Very important for part 3, long turn, and my absolute insider tip: You must bring the
question to a personal level! Why is that? Well, the part 3 long run is the ESSENCE of your
Speaking Exam! It is about YOU! The moment you start speaking about yourself you will be
fluent and much less hesitating. Here is an example:
“What makes people work more effectively?”
- Rules
- Rewards
- Other people
Ask yourself now: “What makes ME work more effectively?” and start talking about your
own experience! Try to ignore the three hints/ideas that are given below the questions,
they most probably will only distract you.

 Time fillers: This is an allowed and often heard technique. You are allowed to read the
question out loud before you start speaking. This gives you a few extra seconds to think of
the personal relation you have to a certain topic.
 What to do when you have no clue about the topic you get at part 3, long run : First of all,
please do not panic! Simply for one reason: There is no right or wrong answer to ANY
question! If you have no personal relation to a certain subject, simply admit it and
speculate WHY you do not have a clue. Here are some examples how you could start out
when the topic you get seems to be awful:
“Oh, well, that’s a good question indeed… (time filler)
“Honestly, I don’t have much experience with this theme/subject/topic, however I could
imagine that…”
“Frankly speaking I’m not an expert at insurances but I believe that…”
“Oh, I actually never thought of that, that’s an appealing question. Let me think what I
have ever heard of it…”
Once again: It is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE to bring the question to a personal level!
Speak about YOURSELF, YOUR EXPERIENCE and above all about YOUR FEELINGS. Have
you ever observed what happens when you speak about how a certain thing makes you
 feel? You get excited, enthusiastic, eventually angry and frustrated but for sure you will
find words to express your sentiments. Use “I statements” as often as you can and try to
avoid general beliefs. Otherwise you really risk being lost, having a complete blackout or
to hem and haw terribly.
In the worst case if you completely lose track and fluency you still can say something like: “I must
apologise, I’m currently at a loss of words. I will start over again.” This is no drama, believe me. You
still speak, that is the most important thing. If you continue speaking, use a wide range of vocabulary
and keep up the fluency you are on the safe side. The topic itself is secondary as there is anyway no
right or wrong answer, as I already pointed out.
My teacher called the technique “bullshitting” (excuse me the expression, but it is very significant).
He is a Speaking examiner with a lot of experience and in his CPE class we deliberately practiced this
technique. The secret is to continue speaking whatever the topic is, and this for at least five minutes
in front of the class. For this purpose, we used letters to the editor, read them out loud and then gave
advice to the reader. These exercises were unmerciful, and we all hated it, but we started doing it
from day 1 and we all passed the Speaking test with grade A or B. Propose this kind of activity to your
teacher and give it a try. In retrospect I deem it the best preparation we could have had, and I am so
grateful our teacher challenged us every week during class.

I hope my tips and tricks are useful and you enjoy preparing your Speaking test. If you have any
further question, please write them publicly and I will try to answer them to my best knowledge.

BLOW THE EXAMINERS AWAY WITH YOUR SPEAKING PERFORMANCE! 😊