There is a quote attributed to the writer Stephen King that says that “if you want to be a writer, there are two things you must do: Read a lot and write a lot.” You can extend that quote to say the following:  “To be a fluent English speaker, you must listen a lot and speak a lot.” While there is no substitute to this mantra, we will give you some more details of how you could work towards becoming a more fluent speaker.

 To start with, let’s understand what factors affect fluency. In our view, fluency in speech is a function of clarity of thought as well as command over language. The latter obviously depends on how much you listen to or speak in that language - English in our case.

It doesn’t help anyone to have speaking fluency without adequate clarity of thought, because the audience you listen to you will be lost as to what exactly you are trying to communicate.

Developing clarity of thought

It is important to learn to structure your thoughts in a logical manner. Make it a regular practice to write down your thoughts and ideas. Start by thinking of what you want to say and why. Depending on who you are speaking to, you can vary the how you speak which essentially refers to the tone and style of what you want to speak.

Create a mental checklist or framework of how you want to communicate. For example, let’s say you are asked to speak about a recent offsite trip from the office. You could start by giving some details of the context such as where and when the offsite was held. Remember context is very important in any communication.  Then you can go into what your view is about the offsite such as what was good and what was not-so-good or bad. What were the most memorable or enjoyable parts of the offsite? Did you learn anything new or different from the offsite. Would you recommend the location? Do you have any suggestions for others to get the most of their own offsite?

Asking yourself some standard questions such as what, where, when, why and how can help you structure your thoughts in a logical order. Once you have established that clarity you will find yourself speaking a lot more fluently.

Practise English speaking

While you develop your logical thinking ability, you can practise speaking English regularly. You can start by talking to yourself in front of a mirror. Take a few minutes everyday and talk about a range of topics of interest to you. Whether it is the upcoming elections in India or your thoughts on a sports event or a movie you watched recently, gather your thoughts and speak them out aloud. These talks don’t have to be too long-- just a couple of minutes to start with will be fine. Breaking free from inhibitions to speak will be a great step forward for anyone wanting to improve their spoken English communication skills. As you muster more confidence, you can speak longer and in front of a bigger external audience.

You should also seek and receive feedback on your communication skills. Obtaining feedback and taking appropriate action on them is a very important part of mastering any skill. For example, there may be some basic English grammar mistakes that you may be making that you are not aware of. Nipping these mistakes in the bud will serve you in good stead for the long term.

We hope this article gives you some useful tips on your journey to improve your spoken English fluency. If you have any questions or need specific advice, connect with us through this blog or through our social media handle on Facebook. Our dedicated team of English tutors will be more than willing to help you.

ABOUT EAGETUTOR:
eAgeTutor.com is the premier online tutoring provider. eAge's world-class faculty and ace communication experts from around the globe help you to improve English in an all-round manner. Assignments and tasks based on a well-researched content developed by subject matter and industry experts can certainly fetch the most desired results for improving spoken English skills. Overcoming limitations is just a click of the mouse away in this age of effective and advanced communication technology. For further information on the online English-speaking course or to experience the wonders of virtual classroom fix a demonstration session with our tutor. Please visit www.eagetutor.com.

-By Chander Madan