H OW T O S T R U C T U R E YOU R A NS W E R

I E LT S SP EA K I N G M ODU LE / / PA RT I I

TH E R E QU I R E M E N TS

• Speak for 1 to 2 minutes

• Be able to produce simple error free sentences

• Speak without noticeable effort or loss of coherence

• Chosen subject matter should preferably be culturally relevant

TH E PR O B L E M S• Unable to practically utilize the 1-minute preparation

time

• Unable to speak at length (dull story due to lack of detail)

• Overused topic fails to pique interviewer’s interest

• Lack of proper body language and eye contact

• Unpreparedness induced mental blank

• Basic systematic grammatical mistakes

• Incoherent and illogical presentation

DE SC R I B E A N I T E M T HAT I S I M PO RTA NT T O YO U

• Where did you get it from?

• How long have you had it?

• What do you use it for?• Why is it important to

you?

ST U DE N T A N S W E R

• Intro: I would like to talk about my piano.

• Q1: I got it at my 15th birthday party. My parents gave it to me.

• Q2: I have had it for 10 years.

• Q3: Skipped.

• Q4: It is important to me because I like to play the piano when I am stressed. I feel relaxed when I play.

W H AT W E N T W R O N G

• Under stress, the student chose the most obvious, not the most prepared subject matter to describe.

• Failed to take advantage of the 1-minute preparation time to develop a battle plan.

• Failed to develop a more detailed, elaborate story based on his own answers.

• Failed to construct a logical, coherent story. The student was struggling with filling what’s left of the 2 minutes with random bits and pieces of information.

BRA I NS T O R M I NG

T W O Q U E S T I O N S T O A S K YO U R S E LF

• If you are asked to use only a word or phrase to directly answer the question, what would you use?

Q: Where did you get it from?

A: 15th birthday party

T W O Q U E S T I O N S T O A S K YO U R S E LF

• Now use your answer as the center idea and branch out from there.

Q: If you are asked to describe a birthday party, what things would you like to mention?

A: Location // Time // Parents // Weather // Guests // Food // Music // Games // Gifts // Piano etc.

TA K E AWAY S

• Brainstorming cannot replace preparation beforehand.

• The key to generating ideas is to focus on quantity.

• It is better to have more points than you need to describe the subject matter than not having enough material to construct a rich story.

ta-da