Three. Listen and repeat, which tests short-term memory and tone accuracy; answer questions, short spoken prompts where speed and clarity beat depth; and picture or topic talk, where you get a fixed prep window and then speak with nothing to lean on but your own structure.

Use one scaffold for every topic: state your position (我觉得… wǒ juéde…), give one clear reason (因为… yīnwèi…), add a concrete example (比如说… bǐrú shuō…), then close with a restatement (所以… suǒyǐ…).

Slower. Panic speeds people up, and that is where tones collapse and grammar falls apart. Three correct, complete sentences at a calm pace score better than six rushed broken ones.

Record yourself answering a topic prompt with the scaffold, listen back for the things you cannot feel while speaking — dropped tones, swallowed endings, long stalls — and re-record the same prompt until the structure is automatic.