The American Test Anxieties Association estimates that 18% of test-takers have high levels of anxiety and 18% have moderate levels of anxiety. However, because of the impact that TOEFL iBT Speaking has on my students’ careers (and their  identities), I estimate that 70-80% of test-takers have moderate to high levels of anxiety. 

During my 10+ years in this industry, I’ve identified a variety of coaching activities that I use with my students. They’re my “secret weapon” 🔥😉  so I don’t give lots of details publicly about what I do, but my coaching activities are NOT:

• meditation
• medication (like beta blockers)
• using drugs or alcohol to numb yourself
• surprise test registrations (like where a family member registers a secret test and you find out about it when you wake up on a random Saturday)

My coaching activities identify your source of power and true confidence, and they train you to stay in it long enough to get your results at TOEFL iBT. 

After over 10 years in this industry, I identified 8 main prerequisites that dramatically accelerate the speed that a foreign-trained professional will see a score of 26 or higher on TOEFL iBT Speaking. 

Those characteristics are:

1. Having strong skills in Reading and Listening
2. Having strong skills in Writing / typing
3. Being comfortable with technology (or being open to getting better)
4. Having enough opportunities to speak English
5. Being able to recover from setbacks within a few days
6. Having 10-15 hours per week to study
7. Enjoying communication (texting, emailing, etc.)
8. Being more committed to growth than staying the same

For more details about why each of these impacts your performance, click here.

The chart below shows the percentages of foreign-trained professionals who needed 1 month, 3 months, 4 months and 5 months to see results. 100% of them had these 8 characteristics.

There are a lot of reasons why people have delays in their studies for TOEFL iBT.  Generally speaking, all delays fall into 2 main categories: 

Category #1: How Someone Spends Their Time

• How much of their day is spent on responsibilities to family?
• Is there a pregnancy or newborn baby in the picture?
• Does the person who is studying have support (like someone to cook meals, help with chores and make it easy to focus on studying)? 
• Does the person take frequent vacations or travel? 

Category #2: How Quickly Someone Overcomes A “Mistake”

• Does the person have a high level of confidence in face of temporary failure? Or does the person shrink and disappear to avoid it?
• Does the person ask for help (which generally accelerates their progress) or does the person feel some kind of shame, embarrassment or guilt (which generally decreases progress)?

When a person does not have these 8 prerequisite characteristics, it is pretty typical to see results all over the map. The graphic below  (which is based on percentages from my students) shows something about what you might expect. 

It depends on how much access to me that you have.

SELF-STUDY:  When you self-study, you’re logging into my website, watching my presentations and holding yourself accountable to finish the assignments. After I put your materials in the mail, you’re on your own.  You can see the current price of the e-course if you visit this page which describes everything.

THE WEEKLY SPARK & THE PARTNERSHIP: These are both 4-figure investments. Both of these options have prerequisites. Please schedule a free meeting with me and finish the assignment to get free feedback on your TOEFL iBT Speaking.

Yes, in fact I recommend it. I offer free consultations where we meet in Zoom for 15 minutes and you get my feedback on a TOEFL iBT Speaking Task so that you and I both have a chance to get to know each other. Click here to reserve your time and start your assignment to get free feedback. 

Yes. My website contains e-courses to improve your score with TOEFL iBT Reading and Listening, as well as the TOEFL iBT Writing test. You can log in and self-study with those… and then it’s possible to meet with me in lessons so we discuss your assignments.

Yes. If you visit my listing on Google Maps at the link below, you will see reviews from real foreign-trained professionals — most of whom are pharmacists, physical therapists or nurses and required a 26 or higher on TOEFL iBT Speaking.  Click here to read.