Speaking
Speaking in Skills for English B2 is a recorded one-to-one test with an examiner, taken face-to-face or online. It includes an introductory interview, an individual long turn from a prompt, and a discussion in which you respond to the examiner's questions and develop a viewpoint. Examiners assess fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, pronunciation, and interactive communication.
Build answers, not sentences
A B2 answer usually has three moves: a direct response, a reason or example, and a short extension or contrast. This gives you the range the descriptor rewards without sounding rehearsed. Use markers such as 'mainly because', 'whereas', 'that's why' and 'on the other hand'.
Manage the long turn
Use the prompt points as a structure, but do not read them aloud. Move from description to opinion: what it is, why it matters to you, what you would change. If you lose a word, paraphrase: 'the thing you use to...' rather than stopping.
Worked example
Prompt: 'Talk about a skill you would like to learn.' Answer: 'I'd like to learn to swim properly. I can stay afloat, but my technique is poor. The main reason is that I'd like to join friends who swim in open water, and I don't feel confident enough yet. I tried a course last year, but it clashed with work, so this time I'd choose evening lessons.' Why it scores: it answers the prompt, gives a reason and a concrete example, uses B2 structures ('would like', present perfect, 'so'), and keeps clauses short enough to pronounce clearly. It sounds like speech, not a memorised essay.
Traps that cost marks
- Delivering a memorised speech that does not fit the question.
- One-word or two-word answers in the interview.
- Ignoring the second half of a two-part question.
- Staying silent instead of asking for repetition or paraphrasing.