Why I'm Launching Elite — Our Most Powerful TOEFL Speaking Practice Tier Yet

Starting today and after a month of piloting, I'm officially launching something entirely new: Elite, our $199/month practice tier on My Speaking Score — and the most powerful training experience we’ve ever offered.

This post pulls back the curtain and explains:

  • Why I created Elite
  • The real struggles it’s designed to solve
  • What makes it different from every other prep option
  • What you get as a member — including daily live fluency training with Nathan Mills
  • How it fits into my bigger vision to make data-powered prep the global standard for TOEFL Speaking

Start with Why: Why Elite, Why Now?

At My Speaking Score, we’ve always believed that feedback is not enough. You don’t get a higher TOEFL Speaking score just by seeing your score — you need practice, and you need to practice the right way.

We’ve analyzed more than 1 million data points from SpeechRater™ and our own scoring engine, and here’s what we’ve found:

🔎 67.8% of our users struggle with fluency — not vocabulary, not grammar, but real-time speaking flow.

And yet, most test-takers are prepping alone. Or worse — they’re re-recording the same answer 10 times, 20 times, creating scripts that don’t reflect their real skill, and getting feedback on something artificial.

Watch this video on Instagram that talks about this tragedy!

So that’s the number one problem Elite is designed to solve. And I think My Speaking Score is the best platform to solve it. Consider:

Feature / Option My Speaking Score ETS TestReady Teacher-led Coaching Generic AI Tools
Uses SpeechRater ✅ Uses ETS SpeechRater ✅ Uses ETS SpeechRater
Scoring Dimensions ✅ All 12 official SpeechRater dimensions ✅ 9 official SpeechRater dimensions
Score Accuracy ✅ High — same engine and dimensions as ETS but with full access to all 12 dimensions ✅ High — ETS official engine but fewer dimensions limit diagnostic detail ✅ Can be high if teacher is skilled and experienced with TOEFL ❌ Accuracy varies; models are not trained on TOEFL scoring data
Diagnostic Feedback ✅ Data-powered, dimension-level feedback with actionable insights ❌ Limited — only partial dimensions shown ✅ Personalized verbal/written feedback ❌ Often generic and non-TOEFL specific
Practice Volume ✅ Unlimited with subscription or credits ❌ Limited to purchased tests ❌ Limited by teacher availability ✅ Unlimited
Prep Customization ✅ Based on actual score data trends ❌ Standardized, fixed feedback ✅ Fully tailored to student needs ❌ Generic, template-based
Official TOEFL Tasks ✅ Includes official and high-quality ETS-style tasks ✅ Only official tasks ✅ Can use official or teacher-made tasks ❌ Mostly unofficial prompts
Cost ✅ Low–moderate ❌ High per test ❌ High hourly rates ✅ Low or free
Convenience ✅ On-demand, anytime ❌ Test sessions only ❌ Dependent on scheduling ✅ Instant
Limitations Requires self-discipline; no live teacher Feedback limited to 9 dimensions; costly Quality varies by teacher; expensive; slower feedback Feedback often inaccurate or irrelevant to TOEFL

What We Learned from You

See that "no live teacher" limitation above? That's what I'm solving.

Over the past six months, both Nathan and I have interviewed hundreds of test-takers and observed thousands of recordings on our platform and a few things stood out.

Top struggles before joining:

  • “I don’t know what I sound like in real-time.”
  • “My pace breaks down when I speak with another person.”
  • “Scripts give me false confidence. I panic on test day.”
  • “I need someone to push me, every day — even just a little bit.”

So we asked: What if daily training were available, led by a real TOEFL Speaking coach — every single weekday?

What if test-takers could show up for 15 minutes of pressure-tested, structured fluency work… and start speaking, not just studying?

Enter: Nathan Mills and Daily Fluency Training

Every weekday, Nathan Mills leads a live Zoom session, where Elite users log in and get to work.

Each session includes:

✅ Rapid warm-up prompts
✅ Spontaneous question drills (e.g., “Describe a time you faced a challenge…”)
✅ Real-time feedback on clarity, pausing, pacing, and filler words
✅ Mindset coaching: how to stay consistent, even on tough days
✅ Encouragement. Humour. Accountability.

Here’s a real quote from Fatma, who joined last week’s session:

“The more I do practice, the more discouraged I get.”

Nathan’s reply? Calm, empathetic, clear:

“Don’t give up. Stay consistent. Even if it’s 10 minutes a day — show up. That’s how fluency is built.”

This isn’t theory. This is live, sweaty, uncomfortable fluency work. The kind that leads to breakthroughs.

What You Get with Elite

Elite includes everything in our Ultimate plan — plus:

Feature Included in Elite?
SpeechRater™ Score Reports
Rubric-Aligned Feedback
Unlimited practice responses
Integrated transcript + feedback
Daily live fluency training with Nathan
Bonus replays & guided self-practice plans
Private community chat access
One free 1:1 strategy call per month

The Philosophy Behind Elite

Elite is not for everyone.

It’s not for people who want to game the system or find one “perfect script.” It’s not for people who want fast results without effort.

Elite is for those who are ready to speak — every day.

It’s for those who want to wake up on test day and know they’re ready, because they’ve practiced under pressure, learned their weaknesses, and improved them.

It’s for the TOEFL candidate who says:

“I want to train like an athlete.”

What Happens When You Train Daily?

We’ve seen it firsthand:

  • Users who couldn’t speak without pausing every 3 words… now deliver 45-second responses with clarity and pace.
  • Users who didn’t believe in themselves… now show up every day and cheer others on.
  • Users who thought “practice” meant “repeat the same prompt 5 times”... now speak spontaneously and confidently.

Elite isn’t a magic wand. But it is a system. And it works.

Ready to Join?

If you're preparing for TOEFL Speaking and need real practice — not just scores, not just theory — then Elite is built for you.

Have any questions? Ask me in the chat (bottom right of your screen).

Click below to sign up or learn more:
👉 Explore Elite on My Speaking Score

Want a Sneak Peek?

Here’s a complete recent live session with Nathan Mills:
🎧 Watch the Clip

You’ll see the energy. You’ll hear the real struggles. And you’ll feel the difference between studying and training.

Final Word

Elite is our answer to the question: “What happens when a test-prep platform stops being just a score provider… and starts becoming a training comprehensive solution?”

Now we know. You get real improvement. You get transformation.

And you get closer to your TOEFL Speaking goals — one day at a time.