Do Templates Still Work in the 2026 Format?
Yes, but in a different way. The old TOEFL Speaking section gave you a few seconds of preparation and then 45 or 60 seconds to speak, so fill-in-the-blank scripts for Task 1 to Task 4 were popular. Since January 2026, the section has two different tasks, 11 items in about 8 minutes, and templates help with only one of them:
- Take an Interview (4 questions): a simulated interview about academic or campus situations, where you answer questions about your experiences and opinions. Here a framework, a reusable shape for your answer, helps you start quickly and stay organised.
- Listen and Repeat (7 items): you repeat short sentences exactly as you hear them. No template helps here; chunking, stress and shadowing do, and the drills near the end of this guide train them.
- A framework gives you the order of ideas: position, reason, example, wrap-up.
- A script gives you the exact words. Recited scripts tend to sound unnatural and often miss the question actually asked.
- ETS says Take an Interview measures how clearly you communicate, at a natural pace, with appropriate vocabulary and grammar. A framework helps with all three; a memorised speech works against "natural".
For the full picture of the new test, including how it is scored and how the other sections changed, see our TOEFL Speaking 2026 complete guide.
The Five Question Types in Take an Interview
According to ETS, the interview questions progress from brief factual answers to opinion, explanation, prediction and narration. Learn to recognise each type from the first few words of the question:
| Type | Typical wording | What a good answer does |
|---|---|---|
| Brief factual | "What…?", "Where do you…?", "How often…?" | Answers directly and adds one detail |
| Experience and narration | "Tell me about a time…", "Describe…", "What happened when…?" | Tells a short story in order, with a clear ending |
| Opinion | "Do you think…?", "Should…?", "Which do you prefer…?" | Takes a clear position and supports it |
| Explanation | "Why do…?", "How do you…?", "What makes…?" | Gives the main reason or process, with an example |
| Prediction | "How will…?", "What do you think will happen…?" | Makes a reasoned guess about the future and hedges it |
The sample questions and answers below are written by TalkDrill for practice. They are not official ETS items, and we do not attach scores to them, because the test's AI scoring cannot be reproduced outside the test.
Brief Factual Questions
"[Direct answer]. [One detail: where, when, how often or why]."
"I'm in my final year of a commerce degree, and I'm specialising in accounting. Most of my classes this term are about auditing and tax."
"Almost every day during exams, and about twice a week the rest of the time. I mostly go there for the quiet reading room, not for the books."
Experience and Narration Questions
"[When and where]: Last semester… / In my first year…"
"[What happened]: The problem was that… / We had to…"
"[What you did]: So I decided to… / First I…, then I…"
"[Result or lesson]: In the end… / What I learned was…"
"In my first year, I was completely lost in a statistics course, especially with probability. After I failed a weekly quiz, I went to my professor's office hours, which I'd never done before because I was nervous. She asked me to work through one problem in front of her and quickly saw that I was mixing up two formulas. She gave me some extra practice sets, and I went back the following week to check my answers. By the final exam, probability was one of my stronger topics. Since then, I don't wait until I'm completely stuck before asking for help."
"Last year our college held a cultural festival, and I volunteered at the registration desk. On the first morning, the online system stopped working and a long queue formed. A friend and I quickly made a paper list and checked people in by hand, and the queue cleared in about half an hour. That evening, I watched the music competition with the other volunteers. I enjoyed it because I wasn't just watching the event; I'd helped make it work."
Opinion Questions
"I think… / I'd prefer…, mainly because…"
"For example… / In my experience…"
"Some people might say…, and that's fair, but…"
"So overall, I…"
"I think it's a good idea, mainly because living on campus makes it much easier to settle in. When I joined college, the friends I made in the hostel helped me find my way around, form study groups and even choose my electives. Some people might say it's expensive, and that's a fair concern, so universities should offer financial help to students who need it. But overall, I'd support it for the first year."
"I prefer taking notes by hand. When I write, I can't copy every word, so I have to decide what's important, and that helps me remember it. For example, in my economics lectures I draw quick graphs in the margin, which is slow to do on a laptop. A laptop is better for typing up notes later, so I sometimes do both. But in class, I'd choose a notebook."
Explanation Questions
"The main reason is… / The first thing I do is…"
"This is because… / That way…"
"For instance…"
"As a result… / So…"
"The first thing I do is make a two-week plan, so I know which topics to cover each day. I start with the topics I find hardest, because I have more energy for them early on. For example, before my last physics exam, I spent the first three days only on electromagnetism. In the final two days I don't learn anything new; I just do past papers under timed conditions. That way, I go into the exam already used to the pressure."
"I think the main reason is that they don't see what the lecture adds. If a professor simply reads the slides, students feel they can read them at home instead. For instance, attendance in one of my courses dropped a lot after the first month for exactly that reason. In another course, where the professor solved problems live and asked us questions, almost everyone kept coming. So I think it's less about laziness and more about whether the class is worth being there for."
Prediction Questions
"I expect that… / I think… will probably…"
"I say this because, even now…"
"That would mean… / This could lead to…"
"Of course, it depends on… / But I don't think… will completely…"
"I think libraries will become more like study spaces than places to store books. I say this because, even now, most of my reading is online, and I go to the library mainly for a quiet desk and the group study rooms. That probably means fewer shelves and more space for working together. Of course, some subjects, like history, will still need printed collections, so I don't think physical books will disappear completely."
A Full Four-Question Sample Interview
Here is how one interview might build up, from a factual opener to a prediction. Notice how the answers get longer and more developed as the questions get harder.
Scenario: You are taking part in a study about how students use technology
Q1 (brief factual): "Which device do you use most for your studies?"
"Mostly my laptop. I use my phone to check timetables, but anything longer, like reading or writing assignments, I do on the laptop."
Q2 (experience and narration): "Tell me about a time technology caused a problem in your studies."
"Last year, my laptop crashed two days before an assignment deadline, and I hadn't saved a backup. I borrowed a friend's laptop and rewrote most of it from my notes, which took a whole night. It was stressful, but since then I save everything to the cloud automatically."
Q3 (opinion): "Should students be allowed to use phones in class?"
"I think they should be allowed, but with clear limits. Phones are useful for looking up a term or taking a photo of the board. For example, my chemistry professor lets us photograph complex diagrams so we can listen instead of copying. But social media in class is a real distraction, so I'd allow phones only for class-related use."
Q4 (prediction): "How do you think technology will change exams in the future?"
"I expect more exams will move online and become more practical, like solving a real problem with the tools you'd use at work, because memorising facts matters less when information is so easy to find. That would probably make exams fairer for students who understand the subject but struggle with memorising. But universities will need strong ways to prevent cheating, so I don't think paper exams will disappear soon."
Listen and Repeat Practice Drills
In Listen and Repeat you hear short sentences and repeat them exactly as you hear them, and the sentences get longer and more complex as the task goes on. These drills, written by TalkDrill, follow the same short-to-long pattern. Chunk breaks are marked with / and stressed syllables are in CAPITALS.
How to Run Each Drill
- Step 1: Read the sentence aloud once, following the chunks and the stress.
- Step 2: Cover it and say it from memory. Check every word, including articles, plurals and -ed endings.
- Step 3: Ask a friend to read it to you once, or record it and play it back the next day, then repeat it after a single listen.
Drill A: Campus announcements
1. "The cafeTERia / is CLOSED toDAY."
2. "Your LIbrary CARD / is in the BLUE ENvelope."
3. "The SHUTtle BUS / LEAVES from the MAIN GATE / every HOUR."
4. "Please BRING your STUdent ID / to the regiSTRAtion DESK / beFORE NOON."
5. "The CHEMistry LECture / has been MOVED / to ROOM two-oh-FIVE / for the REST of the TERM."
6. "STUdents who LIVE off CAMpus / can PARK in the NORTH LOT / AFter SIX in the EVEning / withOUT a PERmit."
7. "If you would LIKE to JOIN / the deBATing CLUB this seMESter, / please FILL in the ONline FORM / by the END of next WEEK."
Drill B: Classes and coursework
1. "The QUIZ is on THURSday."
2. "READ CHAPter FOUR / beFORE the next CLASS."
3. "Your LAB rePORTS / are DUE / at the END of the WEEK."
4. "The proFESsor will HOLD / EXtra OFfice HOURS / on WEDnesday afterNOON."
5. "GROUP PROjects should inCLUDE / at LEAST three SOURces / from the uniVERsity DAtabase."
6. "STUdents who MISS a TEST / for MEDical REAsons / must SHOW a DOCtor's NOTE / withIN one WEEK."
7. "The FInal eXAM will COVer / EVerything from the SECond HALF of the COURSE, / inCLUDing the TWO GUEST LECtures."
Then practise with audio: TalkDrill's free Echo Chamber game plays a model sentence, you say it back, and it scores how closely and how quickly you matched it.
How to Keep Frameworks from Sounding Memorised
Frameworks give you structure, but you still need to sound natural. Here's how:
Vary Your Transition Phrases
| Common phrase | Variations |
|---|---|
| "First of all" | "To begin with", "The main reason is", "Mostly because" |
| "Secondly" | "In addition", "Another thing is", "Beyond that" |
| "For example" | "To give you an example", "I remember when", "Last semester, for instance" |
| "As a result" | "So", "This meant that", "Because of this" |
| "For these reasons" | "So overall", "All things considered", "That's why" |
Build a Personal Example Bank
Prepare 10 to 15 true, flexible examples from your own life that can be adapted to many questions:
- A challenging class or project you completed
- A time a plan went wrong and how you fixed it
- A teacher, friend or family member who influenced you
- A club, festival or event you took part in
- A volunteering, internship or work experience
These examples can be adapted to most experience, narration and opinion questions. Because they are true, you can tell them in your own words instead of reciting them.
Strengthening your writing alongside speaking creates a powerful foundation for TOEFL success. PenLeap offers AI-powered writing practice with instant rubric-based scoring—perfect for TOEFL Writing Task preparation alongside your speaking template practice.
Practice Strategy
Week 1: Learn the Question Types
- Learn to recognise the five question types from the first few words
- Answer five brief factual questions and two experience questions out loud every day
- Run Drill A once a day
Week 2: Opinion and Explanation
- Practise the opinion and explanation frameworks with new questions each day
- Build your personal example bank and vary your transition phrases
- Run Drill B and record yourself; listen for missing words, pauses and rushed speech
Week 3: Predictions and Full Interviews
- Add prediction questions, then answer four questions in a row, from factual to prediction
- Shadow short clips with North American, British, Australian and New Zealand speakers
- Write your own seven-sentence drills, short to long, from campus notices and course pages
Week 4: Final Polish
- Do full run-throughs: seven sentences to repeat, then four interview questions
- Give extra practice to your weakest question type
- Rest your voice the day before the test
Practise Your Answers Out Loud with TalkDrill
A framework only helps if you can use it smoothly under time pressure. In a voice call with a TalkDrill AI tutor, ask it to interview you about your studies and campus life, or rehearse experience and opinion answers in practice interviews; both end with a scored report on fluency, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. For Listen and Repeat, the free Echo Chamber game scores how closely you repeat a model sentence. TalkDrill has no TOEFL-specific mode and gives no TOEFL scores. Join 30,000+ learners practising on TalkDrill.
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