How to Practise English Speaking with ChatGPT (with Prompts)

ChatGPT can be a patient speaking partner, but only if you set it up well. Below you will find one reusable prompt, eight copy-paste prompts for real work situations, feedback prompts for the end of a session and a simple 15-minute plan.

Speak, don't type

Use the voice feature in the ChatGPT app and answer out loud. Typing trains writing: you have time to think, delete and fix. Speaking is different. You have to find the words while the other person waits, and that is the skill you want to build.

A few settings help:

• Use headphones, so the app hears your voice clearly and not its own.
• Find a quiet room. Background noise leads to words being misheard.
• Read the transcript after the session. It shows what the app heard you say, which is useful feedback in itself.

One template you can reuse

Most weak sessions start with a vague prompt like "Let's practise English." The AI then talks a lot, asks easy questions and rarely corrects you. A clear template fixes that. Fill in the blanks and paste it at the start of every chat:

"Please play [role] in [situation]. My goal is to [what you want to get better at]. Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer. After each answer, correct my grammar and word choice, explain why in one sentence, and give me a more natural way to say it. Then continue the conversation. Keep your replies short, no more than three sentences."

Each part does a job:

• Role and situation give the conversation a real shape, so you practise the words you will need.
• Your goal tells the AI what to watch for, for example "sound more confident" or "stop using 'I am agree'".
• One question at a time stops it from asking three things at once.
• Correct and explain why turns chat into practice. The reason is what helps you fix the same mistake next time.
• Short replies keep you talking more than the AI does.

Eight prompts for work situations

Use each of these in place of the first two sentences of the template (the role and the goal). Keep the rest, from "Ask me one question at a time" onwards, so you still get corrections.

1. The stand-up update

"Play my team lead in a daily stand-up. Ask me what I did yesterday, what I'm doing today and whether anything is blocking me. Push back once if my update is unclear."

2. A one-to-one with your manager

"Play my manager in a weekly one-to-one. Ask about my progress on [project], then ask what support I need. I want to practise asking for help without sounding unsure."

3. "Tell me about yourself"

"Play an interviewer for a [job title] role. Start with 'Tell me about yourself', then ask two follow-up questions based on my answer. I want my answer to be under one minute."

For a structure and sample answers, see how to introduce yourself in a job interview.

4. A client call about a delay

"Play a client who is unhappy that our delivery is a week late. Be polite but firm. I need to say sorry once, explain the reason briefly and agree a new date."

5. Questions after a presentation

"I've just presented [topic] to senior managers. Play one of them and ask me three hard questions, one at a time. Include one question I probably can't answer, so I can practise saying I'll follow up."

6. Disagreeing in a meeting

"Play a colleague in a planning meeting who wants to launch next week. I think we need two more weeks. Let me disagree politely and give my reasons. Don't agree with me too quickly."

For phrases to use in meetings like these, our list of English phrases for meetings covers updates, disagreeing politely and interrupting.

7. Small talk before a meeting

"Play a colleague from another office. We're the first two on a video call, waiting for the others. Make small talk about the week, travel or the weather. Keep it light and natural."

8. A phone call where you take a message

"Play a supplier calling for my colleague Sam, who is out. Give me your name, company, phone number and a short message. Speak at normal speed. I'll take the message and read it back to you."

Feedback prompts for the end

Corrections during the chat are useful, but a summary at the end is often more useful still. Try these when you finish:

• "List my three most common mistakes from this chat, with one example of each."
• "Say my last answer the way a fluent colleague would."
• "Which words did I use too often? Give me two alternatives for each."
• "Repeat back what you heard me say in my last answer, word for word."

The last one is a simple pronunciation check. If the app heard "fifty" when you said "fifteen", or "walk" when you said "work", that is a sound to practise.

A 15-minute session

1. Warm-up (2 minutes). "Ask me about my day so far." This gets you thinking in English before the hard part.
2. Scenario (8 minutes). Pick one of the eight prompts above. Stay in the role until the conversation reaches a natural end.
3. Corrections (3 minutes). Use one feedback prompt. Choose the two or three corrections that matter most.
4. Say it again (2 minutes). Say your best answer out loud again, with the corrections in it. Then say it once more without looking.

Repeat the same scenario three or four times in a week before you move on. The first time, you find the gaps. By the fourth, the phrases start to come without thinking.

Keep your goals between chats

A new chat can start from zero, so keep your set-up somewhere you can reach it quickly:

• Save your filled-in template in a note on your phone and paste it at the start of each session.
• Add a line with your current focus: "This week I'm working on past tenses and saying 'I'd like to' instead of 'I want'."
• If you use custom instructions or memory in ChatGPT, put your level, your job and your goals there, so you don't have to repeat them.
• Keep a short list of your corrections in the same note. Paste the top three in and ask: "Check whether I make these mistakes today."

Common mistakes

• Reading corrections without saying them. You remember a correction much better when you say it out loud. Read it, then speak it.
• A new topic every day. Variety feels productive, but repetition is what makes phrases automatic.
• Letting the AI talk too long. If its replies are longer than yours, remind it: "Shorter replies, please. I want to speak more."
• Only easy topics. Hobbies and holidays are fine for a warm-up. Spend most of your time on the situations that make you nervous.
• Accepting every correction. If a suggestion sounds odd, ask: "Would people really say that at work?"

For a broader look at routines and what to look for in a tool, read our guide to English practice with AI. If you mostly practise on your own, see the best apps to practise speaking English alone.

Practise this with Katie AI

The Katie AI English app is an AI English tutor for professionals, with 200+ ready conversation scenarios for meetings, client calls, interviews and small talk, so you don't need to write prompts. She remembers your past conversations and what you want to learn, and corrects your grammar, word choice and pronunciation on every sentence. For a side-by-side look, read Katie AI vs ChatGPT Voice.