This is a common question we get from a lot of IELTS candidates that are preparing for IELTS. An IELTS speaking exam explains what you need to do.
You need to focus on what you have to do in the speaking exam and then you will be able to focus on practising. Don’t practice alone though. Get yourself an English teacher so they can work on accuracy with you.
So, in part 1, all you have to do is answer the question and say why you think so. Nothing more. If you don’t explain why you think so, the examiner will ask you “Why?”. For example, if you are asked
“Did you play any sports when you were a child?”
Say yes or no, and add some details. What did you play? Where did you play it? etc. If you didn’t play any sports, explain why not. Part 1 is very simple.
In part 2, you need to learn how to tell an anecdote and speak for 2 minutes. Keep talking until the examiner tells you to stop, don’t speak for a minute and say “That’s it”. Talk about your own personal experiences, friends, family, anything to keep you talking about the topic you have been given.
In part 3, this is where a teacher can really help you. You can’t talk about personal experiences here so you need to work on justifying your opinions. If you are asked whether you think elderly people should be allowed to continue working if they want to, give the examiner your honest opinion. You then need to explain why. Talk about elderly people in your country, or the work situation for older people etc. Don’t talk about your grandfather, but use this example to talk about elderly people in general.
So, as I said before, knowing what you have to do in the exam is key to knowing what to focus on. Get yourself a teacher though as it is Grammatical Accuracy and Fluency and Coherence that usually stop people getting higher scores.
Good luck
If you want an IELTS examiner to evaluate your IELTS speaking and show what score you will get and what you need to do to get higher marks, you can order one here. There is an example report there too. This is the kind of detail that only IELTS examiners can provide you with.