Understand the Speaking Test Format

Practice Speaking in Real Life Situations

The IELTS speaking test is suppose to represent what it is like to talk to someone in a real life situation. You should therefore not practice IELTS past paper questions and just talk normally to someone instead. There are thousands of past paper questions and it is very unlikely that you will be asked any of them in your test.
Find someone to practice your English with and talk about something you are interested in. This will make it much easier and you are less likely to get bored.
One of my best students was so determined to improve her speaking that she got a part time job in a 5-star hotel in her local town. She knew she would have to speak to mostly English speaking customers and this practice helped her get an 8 in the speaking test.

Practice Functional Language

I said above that you should not use past paper questions to practice, but you should be aware of the types of questions that normally come up in the IELTS speaking test.
You are likely to be asked about the past, present and future, your opinion, hypothetical situations, and what you think about another person’s opinion. You should therefore learn the grammar and functional language used to talk about these things. See my guide on 7 common IELTS questions for lots of help with this.

Extend Your Answers

One of the ways students get a low score is by giving very short answers. Practice not only stating your answer but also explaining what you mean and giving examples from your life. This will help you get in the habit and this will lead to higher marks on exam day.
For example, if you were asked the question ‘Who is the kindest person you know?’ you could answer one of two ways:
Answer 1– ‘The kindest person I know is my Mum.’
Answer 2– ‘The kindest person I know is my Mum because she gave us everything she could when we were growing up and made lots of sacrifices. For example, she would always buy us clothes and books instead of buying anything for herself.’
Answer 1 might be true, but it is so short that it doesn’t really allow the examiner to judge your ability.
By using the A-E-E formula (Answer-Explain-Example) you have shown the examiner that you can fully address the question and use a range of grammar and vocabulary. If you don’t do this, it will be more difficult to get a high score.