How to organize your responses on the IELTS speaking exam?

The IELTS Speaking section is divided into 3 parts. Most candidates find Part 2 to be the most challenging because in this part you have to give a long turn on the suggested topic. Students often lack words, do not know what to talk about, and fail the second part of the test because they do not know how to organise their responses. This part of the speaking test also seems to be quite difficult because of the unexpected questions the examiner might ask. We have already shared some useful tips on how to deal with unexpected questions in the IELTS Speaking test, so today we are going to talk about how to organise your response to get the desired score. What do you have to do to do well in this section and what things you shouldn’t do? Let’s find out.

What to do first

In this section, you will be handed a card with the speaking task and you will have 1 minute to prepare. Then you will have to speak on the suggested topic for 2 minutes. 

Sounds easy and quite short. However, when it comes to the exam, a lot of candidates start worrying and forget about organising their answers. They start thinking about how to impress the examiner or what the examiner might think of them, or how to speak fast and leave the room as quickly as possible. When you are in the exam room, three minutes last forever. What you have to do is to think about the prompts, organize your ideas, and take a few notes, which you are allowed to refer to when you speak.

In this part of the exam, the examiner will not ask you any questions. The main question you have to answer while preparing for the speaking is “What am I going to say?”, so make sure you read all the prompts carefully and have answers for all parts of the question.

How to use your time effectively

For this part of the speaking test, you will also be given a pencil and a sheet of paper. Take your time and write down your ideas before you start speaking. The main thing you have to do here is to organise your thoughts. 

Let us have a look at a sample task for IELTS Speaking Part 2. 

What do you think you have to speak about here? Read the task and find the key words. They are ‘a goal’ and ‘achieved’, which means you have to talk about something you wanted to do in the past and you have already done. If you cannot remember anything about yourself, use ideas and stories about other people, e.g. your friends, family, film characters.  It’s OK to give your friend’s opinions, or opinions of actors or politicians as your own.
Then read the rest of the prompts you have on the card and see what other things you have to talk about. In this sample task, you will all have to say :

• what your goal was
• what you did to achieve it
• what was the hardest part?

And there is one more part which is also very important ‘explain why achieving this goal was important’. So, what you have to do is quickly analyse the question to make sure you will cover all parts of the task in your response. 

The next step is taking notes. You are given a pencil and paper, and you have 1 minute to take notes – do it! A lot of candidates do not want or think it’s unnecessary to take notes because it’s a waste of time. However, when they start speaking they forget their key points, go off topic, and they do not stay organised. This, of course, influences their fluency and coherence. Their ideas become disorganised and are not logically linked together. They start making long pauses, searching for words. The examiner struggles to follow their thoughts. Finally, they lose their points. So, your notes are very important because they keep you on topic and they keep you organised.

How and what should you write?  This is an evident question because you have only one minute to prepare your answer. Of course, this time is not enough for writing full sentences. That’s why write only keywords that will help you remember what you want to say.
Cover every point – it’s crucial and life-saving in terms of the IELTS Speaking exam. You have to talk about all the points from the card, otherwise you will not complete the task, and your score will drop. 

Let’s see, for example,  what your notes for the task above might look like:

As you have only 1 minute, this will be enough. In these sample notes, we have covered 4 points. Remember the number of points you have to talk about, and while speaking point to each, for example, with your finger or a pencil. This will help you remember what you’ve said and keep you on track. 

READ ABOUT: Useful strategies for IELTS Speaking on the day of the exam

Another good tip is to keep balance, so you can divide your talking time into 4 parts, and that will take approximately 30 seconds for covering each point. What you have to do here is to expand your answer. Your notes are really helpful but they are too short. You have to give more information about each point. Make it longer by giving details, examples, using your senses, as these questions are often about describing – it’s a good idea to describe! Imagine things in your mind, think of your senses and say, for example, what it looked like, what it smelled like, what it sounded like, what you were feeling, etc.

For example:

Organising your speech is a must. Common mistake that many candidates commit on the day of the exam is talking a lot without any organisation. When planning a speech, think about having an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. It might seem like you are writing an essay, but in fact you are saying it: first, you introduce the topic, then address all the points from the prompt card, and finally, make a conclusion. To do this, use introductory phrases and transitions. Here’s what it might look like:

• INTRODUCTION

1 I’m going to tell you about an achievement that I am very proud of right now. It’s pretty recent so I can still distinctly remember lots of details and my own impressions related to it. It happened just a couple of months ago when my boyfriend and I went to Bali on holiday and it was my long cherished and also long delayed dream to try scuba diving. 

• MAIN BODY

2 Talking about what I did to achieve my goal, I must first of all say that …

3 It sounds funny, but the most unpleasant and difficult part for me was ….

4 Now you may wonder why I call this a goal and an achievement. The thing is that I’m scared of water and mesmerized by its beauty at the same time. And overcoming my fear was a challenge for me. 

• CONCLUSION

Anyway, we did it and it was just miraculous, absolutely overwhelming…

Finally, talk loudly and at a normal pace. Don’t rush. Speaking very fast doesn’t give you any extra points. Use your normal pace, or even slow down a bit. This helps organise thoughts and develop ideas. Try to use the same pace during the whole test, as if it is natural for you. Mind your intonation and speak clearly. When it comes to pronunciation, some candidates worry about their regional accent. But your accent may only be a problem if the examiner can’t understand what you say. So, focus on speaking clearly, and use intonation to get your ideas across.

If you would like to listen to the full sample answer for this task, learn more strategies for the Speaking and other sections of the IELTS Academic, do a lot of practice with instant feedback from IELTS tutors and experts, join our online  IELTS preparation course. 

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