Linguaskill Business Speaking: workplace interaction under time pressure
Speaking is the Linguaskill Business module that tests how you use spoken English in workplace situations. The test is computer-delivered and recorded for examiner marking. Tasks typically move from short interview questions about your work or studies, through reading aloud, to a longer turn and an interactive communication task based on a business scenario. The examiner is listening for clear communication, not a perfect accent.
What the tasks reward
- Answer the whole question, with a reason or example. A one-line answer gives the examiner little language to assess.
- Use business register: polite, concise and solution-focused. Prefer Could you confirm...? to Tell me now.
- Make your structure audible: First..., The main risk is..., To sum up....
- Keep pronunciation intelligible: stress key words, pause at punctuation when reading aloud, and slow down rather than repeat.
- Interact in the discussion: respond to the interviewer's follow-up instead of delivering a memorised speech.
Worked example
Prompt: Your company is introducing hot-desking. Give a short talk on two benefits and one risk. A strong answer: Hot-desking would cut property costs because we could downsize two floors. It also supports hybrid teams, since staff can sit with the project group they are working with. The main risk is losing departmental identity; we could mitigate this by reserving a small anchor area for each team. Reasoning: the answer covers two benefits and one risk, uses because and since to show cause, adds a mitigation for the risk, and uses workplace lexis (downsize, hybrid teams, anchor area). The signposts make the structure easy to follow.
Traps that cost marks
- Answering only the first half of a two-part question.
- Reciting a memorised answer that does not fit the follow-up question.
- Using informal fillers (stuff, kind of) in a formal business task.
- Reading aloud too fast and ignoring commas and full stops.
- Treating the interactive task as a monologue and not responding to the other speaker.