Best way to improve speaking skill

I think it's just speak, speak, and speak! I ran into an article writing about the IELTS speaking section saying that the best way is to practice speaking. It's sometimes difficult to find a good language exchange partner in Japan and I often take speaking lessons on Skype. But from the article, the best alternative way to practice speaking is writing a lot. It makes sense to me that if you can't make a sentence in writing you can't speak. It means it should be difficult to say what I'm writing now more than what I'm writing while speaking, rather would be worse. Is writing a shortcut for speaking?

Hello Hide,

Both of the skills (writing and speaking) are productive and these are the generally the most difficult. You are correct that the best way is to practise a lot. While being good at writing means that you will have a good understanding of grammar and structures, you also need confidence in speaking as well as knowledge about the structure of the exams. Which level IELTS are you taking?

Bob