IELTS VIP Podcast Episode 17: How Stress Can Affect Your IELTS Score
Summary
TLDRThis video script addresses the issue of stress in the context of IELTS preparation and test day, emphasizing that stress is often a manifestation of fear of the unknown or uncontrollable elements. The speaker advises on managing stress by understanding IELTS criteria, structuring preparation, and controlling controllable factors. They also highlight the positive aspects of stress and suggest taking action to alleviate it, such as planning and disciplined preparation. External pressures, particularly from family, are noted as a significant stressor, and the speaker encourages open communication to manage these expectations.
Takeaways
- 📚 Stress related to IELTS is often due to fear of the unknown and fear of failure, which can be managed by understanding and controlling preparation and test day experiences.
- 🔑 Stress can be positive, motivating you to study and focus, but it becomes negative when it's overwhelming and affects performance.
- 🧐 Identifying and addressing the root causes of stress, such as fear of the unknown and lack of control, is crucial for effective IELTS preparation.
- 📈 Understanding the IELTS marking criteria and aligning your preparation with it can significantly reduce stress and improve performance.
- 📅 Planning and scheduling your study tasks can help control stress by providing a clear path for preparation and reducing uncertainty.
- 🌟 Jeff Bezos' advice to take action to reduce stress is applicable to IELTS preparation, emphasizing the importance of starting and working through tasks.
- 🏃♂️ Physical well-being through sleep, diet, and exercise contributes to mental readiness and reduces stress both in preparation and on test day.
- 🌍 External pressures, such as family expectations, can add stress; it's important to manage these by setting realistic goals and communicating with loved ones.
- 🛠 Preparing well for the IELTS test gives you control over your performance, which in turn reduces stress levels on test day.
- 🌅 Starting good habits like disciplined study, healthy eating, and regular exercise well in advance of the test can lead to a stress-free test day.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the script?
-The main topic discussed in the script is how to deal with stress in the context of IELTS preparation and on test day.
Why do students often feel stressed about IELTS?
-Students feel stressed about IELTS because of the fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and things that are out of their control during preparation and on test day.
How can stress be a positive thing during IELTS preparation and test day?
-Stress can be a positive thing as it can motivate students to study harder, focus more on their tasks, and perform better under pressure during both preparation and test day.
What is the difference between stress during IELTS preparation and on test day?
-Stress during preparation can be due to uncertainty about what to study or how to approach it, while on test day, it can be due to the fear of the unknown, such as what examiners are looking for or how to handle test questions.
What does the speaker suggest to combat the fear of the unknown during IELTS preparation?
-The speaker suggests understanding the IELTS marking criteria, knowing what examiners are looking for, and aligning preparation with these requirements to combat the fear of the unknown.
How can taking action reduce stress according to the speaker?
-Taking action, such as planning out tasks and starting to work on them, can reduce stress because it turns unknowns into knowns and gives a sense of control over the situation.
What is the role of discipline in managing stress during IELTS preparation?
-Discipline plays a crucial role in managing stress by ensuring that students follow a structured study plan, which leads to a more stress-free preparation and test day experience.
Why is it important to control what you can during IELTS preparation and test day?
-Controlling what you can, such as study habits, sleep, diet, and attitude, helps manage stress levels and ensures that you are prepared and in the best possible condition on test day.
What advice does the speaker give regarding external pressures during IELTS preparation?
-The speaker advises having an open and honest discussion with family members or others who may be exerting undue pressure, explaining the reality of the situation and the necessary steps for success.
How can understanding the examiners' expectations reduce stress during IELTS preparation?
-Understanding the examiners' expectations can reduce stress by providing clarity on what needs to be focused on during preparation, making the process more manageable and less overwhelming.
What is the significance of the saying 'discipline equals freedom' in the context of IELTS preparation?
-The saying 'discipline equals freedom' implies that by being disciplined in one's preparation, such as following a study schedule and maintaining good habits, one gains the freedom to perform well on test day with less stress.
Outlines
📚 Understanding Stress in IELTS Preparation
The speaker begins by addressing the common concern of stress among IELTS candidates, particularly the stress of preparation and test day. Stress is identified as a form of fear, whether it's fear of the unknown, fear of failure, or fear of the uncontrollable. The speaker emphasizes that while stress can be a positive motivator for studying and focusing, it becomes detrimental when it's overwhelming. The key to managing stress is to understand it as fear and to tackle the unknowns and uncontrollable aspects of IELTS preparation and testing.
🛠 Tackling the Fear of the Unknown and Lack of Control
This paragraph delves into the specifics of fear related to IELTS: the fear of the unknown and things beyond one's control. The speaker suggests that to manage stress, one must reduce unknowns by understanding the IELTS criteria and aligning preparation with it. It also talks about controlling the controllables, like study habits and test-day routines, to mitigate stress. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about Jeff Bezos to illustrate how taking action can alleviate stress, advocating for proactive steps in preparation to gain control and reduce fear.
📈 The Impact of Preparation on Stress Management
The speaker discusses the direct relationship between thorough preparation and stress levels, suggesting that the more prepared one is, the less stressful the test day becomes. The paragraph highlights the importance of understanding IELTS requirements, such as grammar accuracy, and tailoring study plans accordingly. It also touches on the value of discipline and planning in reducing stress, using the adage 'discipline equals freedom' to stress the point that structured preparation leads to a more relaxed and successful test experience.
🌙 Prioritizing Sleep, Diet, and Familiarity for Test Day
This section focuses on the practical aspects of reducing stress on test day. The speaker advises on the importance of sleep, diet, and exercise leading up to the test to ensure optimal brain function. It also covers the benefits of familiarizing oneself with the test center location and conditions in advance. The speaker acknowledges that some aspects of the test, like examiner attitudes or question topics, are beyond考生 control but emphasizes that one's attitude towards these uncontrollables is crucial in managing stress.
👨👩👧👦 Addressing External Pressures in IELTS Preparation
The final paragraph addresses the external pressures, often from family members, that can exacerbate stress for IELTS candidates. The speaker suggests that this pressure, though well-intended, can be counterproductive. They recommend having open and honest discussions with family to set realistic expectations and timelines for achieving IELTS goals. The paragraph concludes with a summary of strategies for managing stress through understanding fear, controlling the controllables, and preparing well, which ultimately leads to less stress and better performance.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stress
💡Preparation
💡Fear of the Unknown
💡Control
💡Action
💡Test Day
💡External Pressure
💡Discipline
💡Marking Criteria
💡Procrastination
💡Independence
Highlights
Stress is often a fear of the unknown or things out of one's control.
Stress can be positive, motivating action, but becomes negative when overwhelming.
Understanding IELTS marking criteria can reduce stress by clarifying expectations.
Preparation is key to managing stress, as it allows control over performance.
Jeff Bezos' advice: 'Things are only stressful until you take action on them'.
Reducing unknowns in the IELTS process involves understanding examiners' expectations.
Aligning preparation with IELTS requirements can significantly decrease stress.
Controlling可控 factors such as sleep, diet, and exercise can mitigate test day stress.
The importance of discipline in reducing stress: 'Discipline equals freedom'.
Scheduling and planning can lead to a more manageable and less stressful preparation.
External pressures, like family expectations, can intensify stress and should be managed.
IELTS preparation should involve understanding and addressing both fear of the unknown and uncontrollable factors.
The role of a good teacher or course in guiding stress management and effective preparation.
The impact of a structured approach to preparation on reducing test day stress.
How to handle uncontrollable factors on test day, such as examiner behavior or question topics.
The significance of attitude in managing stress, especially in response to external pressures.
Advice for dealing with family pressures that may hinder effective IELTS preparation.
The summary of strategies to combat stress: understanding fear, controlling the controllable, and managing attitude.
Transcripts
so what we're going to talk about today
is something that a lot of you have been
asking me about and I've I've got a lot
of requests about how to deal with this
thing because many of you believe that
this is the one thing holding you back
from getting the scores you need and
that stress and that could be the stress
of preparation or it could be the stress
of test day and you're getting
overwhelmed on test day with stress so
we're going to talk a lot about what is
stress in the context of IELTS how can
you reduce stress during both your
preparation and an on test day so what I
always say the students is when they
talk about stress both during your
preparation and test day I will talk
I'll try and separate those two right
because I think they're two different
things really and so you'll hear me talk
a lot about that but it's just another
word for fear and when students talk
about like I'm really really stressed I
always say it's just what you're really
saying is you are fearful you fear the
unknown
you fear failure and you fear things
that are out of your control
so if we can solve those problems we can
solve the the stress problem before we
get into that stress can actually be a
positive thing as well and stress can
help you get up early in the morning and
study it can you know help you study a
little bit longer or when you get home
from work and you're not feeling like
studying stress can actually force you
to go and do that and on test day stress
can help you focus and give you the
energy you need to go through everything
and get everything done stress is not
just a negative thing it becomes a
negative thing when you get overwhelmed
with it so during your preparation you
get so stressed out that you know you
can't figure out which breakfast cereal
eat in the morning never mind how to
start your preparation because you're
just so stressed out and worried and on
test day you can just become overwhelmed
for example in the speaking test and it
affects your your fluency and your
and you make all these extra grammar and
vocabulary mistakes that you would never
normally make and so it is a positive
thing but it can be become a very very
negative thing so let's think about what
is stress and what is fear so I think
you can break it down into two different
categories and first of all it's fear of
the unknown so if you think about the
things that we normally get stressed
about let's think of common things that
people get stressed about one would be
like a fear of flying a lot of people
don't like flying and I think that's
because they feel like they have no they
don't know what's going to happen or
fear of spiders or fear of snakes or
fear of dogs or fear of the dark and
like my little boy is he's only four
years old and sometimes he's afraid of
the dark because in the dark there's the
unknown yeah so I think a lot of people
feel that when they're doing the
preparation on on test day they they're
uncertain about how to go about things
during the preparation they're uncertain
about what to study about who to trust
about what to believe about you know
what to do during the preparation and
then on test day they don't know really
what the examiners are looking for or
how to give it to them so that that
comes into it and the second thing would
be things that are beyond our control so
again thinking about common things I
decide that the IELTS context I remember
the time I felt most fearful would be
like moving to a new country or when I
had my little boy when my wife gave
birth to my little boy or like financial
worries or things like when you don't
feel that you have control over
something then that's when stress and
fear comes into play so why am I talking
about
you know fear of the unknown fear of
things out of your control because what
you want to do with the IELTS process is
control what you can control and kind of
shine a light on the things that are
unknown and so take things out of the
dark that you don't know what you're
doing
- into the light where you know exactly
what's happening exactly what you're
doing
the other thing I want to talk about is
something that has really really helped
me and has really helped a few other
people that I've spoken to when they've
been under stress and it's actually from
the richest man in the world and Jeff
Bezos said he rarely does interviews
he's not he's hankie spends most of his
time when I'm working on on building
Amazon into the biggest company in the
world link it's a trillion dollar
company that he he started off in his
garage I think just selling books and so
obviously he has been through a lot of
stressful times and one thing that he
said always stuck with me and has really
helped me said things are only stressful
until you take action on them so for
example even yesterday I knew that I had
a really really really busy week and I
had a lot of things that I need I needed
to do this week
a lot of different videos that I need to
make and things that I need to do the
students I remember yesterday sitting
there and my stress levels were going up
and up and up and up but then what I did
was even though it was Sunday and I was
supposed to be my day off I forced
myself to go into my office I'm plan out
my whole week and that eliminated the
stress immediately so things are only
stressful until you start working on
them and taking action on them so
there's three things there just to
summarize we need to reduce the amount
of unknowns we need to take back control
and control as many things as possible
and we need to take action we need to do
something about it
because if we do the opposite of that
which is um you know don't try and find
anything out you remain in the dark
don't take any action and don't try and
control anything then that's obviously
going to lead to stress um so let's take
the first one fear of the unknown so you
need to work on finding out exactly what
the examiners are looking for on how you
can give it to them so you need
understand the marking criteria
especially for for writing and speaking
understand what the examiners are
thinking about when they're looking at
your writing or listening to your
speaking and then understand how you can
map your preparation to be in line or a
line with that so for example you might
be pretty poor a grammar and but you've
no idea how to fix that well once you
understand that the examiners are not
looking for you to give really complex
grammar and complex sentences and all
the tenses that you need and instead
what they're looking for is more
accuracy then everything becomes much
more manageable because now you know
okay they're looking for accuracy I'm
really poor at let's say you're poor at
articles and prepositions and
punctuation okay now I know that if I
fix these things I will improve and so
that's just one tiny example so but
understanding what the examiners want
and then aligning your preparation to
that you're reducing your stress levels
significantly because you know exactly
what is going on in the same way that
you know I'm sure you've seen videos of
like someone who is afraid of flying or
afraid of spiders or something I thought
what they normally do is they talk to an
expert who knows everything about that
and explain everything and how safe it
is to fly or that a spider won't bite
you or whatever that is and then
everything just becomes much easier and
they get overlap that fear so also what
we need to do is we need to control as
many things as possible so you don't
feel out of control and and again that
comes down to preparation the number one
way that you're going to combat stress
is prepare to the level that you need to
get to you will always have a little bit
of stress but if you know exactly what
to do and the speaking test and the
reading test and the listening test then
your stress levels are going to be very
very very manageable because you're
going to control everything so the
students that
I work with in the students that have
been most successful is like in the
speaking test part two comes up they
know exactly what to do because I've
given them a structure and what to eat
how to answer the questions we've gone
through a lot of examples we've gone
through feedback and what they need to
do and what they need to improve so they
have complete control over that they
don't have control over what the
examiner is going to throw at them they
don't have control over the questions
but when they get the question they know
exactly what to do with it same for you
know part one or task one speaking or
task one writing or task two writing I
always get those mixed up for some
reason but they know no matter what
happens they have total control over
their output and what they're going to
do and they'll be able to do that and in
order to get there you're going to have
to work hard you're not going to wake up
one day and have total control over what
you're going to be doing because that
comes with hard work it comes with time
it even comes with spending money on
getting the help that you need because
if you think about it
you can either spend time and money and
energy and on things to control them or
you cannot do that and then you're going
to waste a lot of time energy and money
anyway because you're going to be
failing the test over and over again or
you're going to be so stressed that
you're overwhelmed with everything and
so that that's definitely something to
consider the the the more hard work you
put in the more time you put in the more
manageable your stress levels are going
to be another way to minimize stress
during your preparation is to invest
some time in the beginning scheduling
everything aren't so find out exactly
what you need to do sit down with a
piece of paper or with a calendar on it
with you know each day let's say you
have 90 days between now and when you
want to do the test so you have 90 boxes
and then put every task let's say you
have you know hypothetically a hundred
and eighty tasks there will be two tasks
and on each day and each
and then you know every day when you
wake up you you have to complete those
tasks and then it becomes so much more
manageable because compare that with
what most students do is they have no
idea what to do so let's say they've 90
days to go they spend the first 30 days
watching YouTube videos and looking at
every blog and reading lots of books
complete waste of time
no they've got 60 days left they spend
the next 30 days like procrastinating
and pretending that they don't actually
need to do any work and lying to
themselves and then with 30 days to go
they just try and find some way out so
they look for tips and tricks and hacks
and try and memorize essays and all
these silly things that don't work and
then they're screwed and because they're
probably going to fail if they do that
and one is very manageable and
stress-free the other is even though
that person who procrastinated and
looked for tips and tricks even though
they didn't do much work that's a much
more stressful process so you know
investing the time to to schedule
everything I and get everything done is
really really going to help you because
there's a there's a saying that I often
refer to from my own mentor someone that
I've learned from chaco will Inc which
is discipline equals freedom that might
sound really really strange discipline
equals freedom well if you think about
it if you're disciplined with your money
you don't spend money on silly things
then you're going to have a lot of
financial freedom if you get up earlier
and you get up at 5 a.m. and you are
disciplined abut how much sleep you get
you're going to have a lot of free time
and because you're going to get
everything done at the start of the day
if you're disciplined with what you eat
and discipline with your exercise regime
you're going to have a lot of freedom in
terms of your health whereas if you do
the opposite you're not going to have
any freedom with your health because
you're going to be sick you're gonna you
know be feeling bad all the time so I
know it's not exciting and it's not the
most glamorous thing in the world but
being disciplined
I'm doing the things that you need to do
is going to lead to a huge amount of
freedom and it's going to lead to your
preparation and test day being
stress-free the more work you get done
now the less stressful a test day is
going to become so let's now move to
test day because we talked a lot about
and your preparation and we separated
both of those out so test day again
think about what you can control and
what you can't control
so to reiterate the more work you do the
the less stressful test day is going to
be so the first step to making stress to
making test day stress-free is do the
work because your score will be a
reflection of your ability on that day
so the night before your test you cannot
do anything that's going to make you
better at English or better at IELTS and
improve your score it really starts you
know a year before six months before
three months before one month before
whatever it is for you but think about
what you can control so number one you
can control for example how much sleep
you get the night before the week or the
month before your test start getting
into a routine where you go to bed at
the same time everyday and you get up at
the same time every day that is the best
way to ensure that you get enough sleep
every night and then the night before
your test you're not going to be you
know up all night worrying you're just
going to get - like for me for example I
go to bed at 9 a.m. or 9 a.m. 9 p.m. and
every day and I get up at 5 a.m. so at 9
p.m.
like if I'm not in bed like my body just
is like what's going on you know you
need to know you need to get to bed
pretty quickly on the 5 a.m.
like I'm just up like this morning I got
up woke up 4:30 naturally just felt
fresh and was ready to go and started my
day if you start doing that that's gonna
really help on test day because you're
not you're going to be at your best and
same with like your diet the month the
three months or whatever
before your test start to start putting
things in your engine that you know if
you put terrible fuel in your engine
it's not gonna work very well same ways
you put you know bad oil in a car or a
motorbike and start eating healthy so
your brain starts and starts you know
working properly start getting exercise
every day that could be like a 20 minute
walk every day you know or if you're you
know if you're pretty fit you know start
going for a 20 minute run or lifting
heavy things or whatever it is that
doing those things is going to help you
immensely and it's going to reduce your
stress levels because your body and your
brain are going to be working optimally
and also like a really easy thing to do
is find out where the test center is
find out exactly which room you are
going to be in get there early find out
exactly what's going on the number of
students that I dealt with who messed up
their test because they didn't know how
to get to the test center got on the
wrong bus or got on the wrong train or
got in a traffic jam and they got there
and they're pouring with sweat and
they're like they're they're late for
and they don't know where they're going
and then they need to go to the toilet
and just messes everything up get there
early go there the day before even to
find out how long it will take you to
get there these are things that you
can't control and they really do make a
difference there there also are things
that are going to be beyond your control
you cannot control the examiners
attitude in the speaking test you kind
of control whether they will be friendly
or not you can't control whether you get
a question that you know the topic or
you don't know the topic you can't
control whether the speakers are going
to be and good in the listening test or
not you've no control over those what
you do have control over is your
attitude to those things so if the
examiner is unfriendly in the speaking
test that's not their fault it's not
their job to be nice to you
they're not there to be your friend it's
what you do control is your attitude to
that whether that affects you or not and
if you get a question that and you're
you know unsure about the topic and in
the speaking test or the writing test
you can either go oh my god I'm going to
fail or B do the opposite of you know
I'm good enough to get this scored and
I'm good enough to do this and let's do
this that's that's answer this to the
best of my ability so you do control
your attitude to those things and and
again that is going to make you're going
to allow you to be relatively
stress-free but always remember you
can't use stress and do use it on test
day just manage it as much as possible
but if you I'm going back to preparation
if you've done everything right and
you've done your preparation properly
then you know you're going to do much
much better and you're gonna your stress
levels are going to be or gonna be fine
and that's why getting a good teacher or
joining a good course or something like
that is really going to help you because
if it's a good course or if they're a
good teacher they will have gotten you
to the stage where you know exactly what
to do about three months ago I had to do
my driving test and I had a really great
instructor and they prepared me
amazingly well and I knew exactly what I
needed to do and on on the day of the
test I was pretty nervous but I used it
to to keep me focused and to keep me
going and and even though I thought I
failed a couple of times and I passed
because I they prepared me really really
well just to we're nearly finished but
just to have a little bit of bonus
content on stress one of the things that
I have noticed and it's particularly in
certain countries I'm not going to name
the countries or the regions or whatever
but I've noticed that stress can come
from external forces principally
people's families
and a lot of the people that I speak to
and they are unbelievably stressed out
and I say to them well well like they
might have just joined the course I had
one girl over the weekend who just
joined our course and she was like I I
don't know what to do I don't know where
to start and she was like unusually
stressed out and she just joined the
course as well what's happening here
like what you've just joined a few days
ago why don't you begin the course and
we can start learning and everything she
said you don't understand I really need
this and I really nice like whoa like
what's going on here and then I had kind
of had an idea and I got to the bottom
of it her her father was putting huge in
my pressure on her to get the results as
quickly as possible and we see this a
lot we see it from husbands or wives we
see it from mothers and fathers we see
it from and siblings we see it from
friends were other people especially
your family is putting undue pressure on
you to get that score and you have to
think about is this actually helping so
of course your mother or your father or
whoever it is they love you and they
want you to do well but if your father
is telling you that you need to get the
score that is required in three weeks
but an expert is telling you it's going
to take at least three months are they
actually helping you so what you would
need to do and not sit in that scenario
if that's applicable to you is I sit
down and explain to them and black and
white what what the situation is okay
you love me you want me to get this in
order for me to get this it's going to
take me a little bit longer or I'm going
to need to do this or I'm going to need
to spend money on this or I'm gonna need
this for that and just say you know I
respect you and and I love you and all
of these different things but normally
that kind of pressure comes from
ignorance by ignorance I mean that they
don't understand the scenario they don't
understand what is going on and so it
normally
what you have to do is just sit down and
have a very very frank honest discussion
with them I know in certain places
that's like the family is the most
important thing in the world and you
know that there's its different cultures
and whatnot but that kind of unjú
pressure is not helping anybody and you
need to be independent and you need to
get your independence and the great
thing about the IELTS test is it gives a
lot of people independence from their
families and because they're able to
move to the country of their dreams get
the job of their dreams and all those
different things so um but your family
might be the people stopping you from
getting that and because they're just
putting way too much pressure on you and
so that's that's just a little extra
bonus on the whole stress thing because
we see a lot of people suffering that
kind of external unfair pressure and
from especially family members who do it
out of love but to also do it out of
ignorance and so hopefully that will
help you with stress and just to
summarize you need to separate our
preparation with test day and the best
way to combat stress is to realize that
it is just fear fear of the unknown and
fear of things that you can't control so
shine a light on the unknown control the
controllable and realize that there are
some things that are out of your control
but what you do control is your attitude
to them and the more preparation you do
the easier things will become and the
more the more work you put in them and
the more time you put in the less stress
you're going to suffer from so hopefully
that was useful and if you need anything
else get in touch thank you bye bye
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