Truth about mic position in PTE Speaking

You must have come across a number of PTE videos or heard from various people that simply changing the position of microphone can make the speaking score jump from 40 to 89 in PTE Speaking! Is this really true? In this video you will learn the truth about the mic position. Yes, placing the microphone correctly has an important role, but is it such a huge scoring factor? Let’s find out in this video. The article continues below the video!

Why mic position is important?

As you know PTE Academic is an automated exam in which a software will evaluate your spoken responses such as in PTE Repeat Sentence or PTE Answer Short Question. So it makes sense that it will evaluate your response better if the software is able to capture your response properly. So, the whole reason why mic position is important is this – Your response shouldn’t contain too much air from your breathing. If it does, the software will consider it as part of your response and mark you lower. Now of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t breath at all. PTE Academic software is very sophisticated and can ignore most noise in your response, but placing the microphone correctly is an extra step you can take to ensure your response is captured in the best possible manner.

Correct mic position

This is the correct mic position:

As you can see the microphone is to the side of your lips. Don’t place the mic directly in front of your lips or too close to your nose or mouth. The simple rule is – it shouldn’t capture your breathing sound directly. If you can take care of that, there is nothing else to worry about!

Find the correct position for yourself

As every person breathes and speaks in his or her unique manner, it is reasonable to say that the perfect position of mic for you might be slightly different from that for your friend. So before you go into the exam, spend some time at home finding out the correct mic position for yourself. Adjust the mic, speak, record and listen to the recording. The one in which your sound comes across as the most crisp, free of breathing disturbances, is the perfect mic position for you.

Don’t ignore other factors

We all look for shortcuts and easy solutions in life. So, when someone hears that adjusting the mic position can make a difference, the person often assumes that it will make all the difference! That is not correct. Other factors influence your score even more, don’t ignore them. Your pronunciation, your fluency, your accent are all very important. Fixing the mic position can make some difference, but getting all other things right and getting sufficient practice is the only way to secure a high score in a sure shot manner!