How to Speak for 2 minutes about any Topic-6 Tips from an IELTS Teacher (Part 1) Perhaps, the most challenging part of the IELTS speaking test is part 2 where you have to speak for 2 minutes about a topic. You only have one minute to prepare and often this isn’t enough time to come up with ideas and many people would struggle to complete this task in their native language. These 5 tips will help make it easier to reach 2 minutes and make it possible to reach band 7. 6 Tips to Speak for 2 Minutes Without Stopping Tip 1 When the card says ‘you should say’, you don’t need to limit your answer to this information Describe an exciting competition or sporting event you have witnessed. You should say: what the competition or sporting event was when and where it took place who won and explain why it was exciting. Many students think when they receive the card that they have to speak about only these suggestions. Speaking is more random than writing and often it is possible to go slightly off topic. Native speakers do this all of the time and it isn’t punished on the exam, actually, it is encouraged to speak naturally and fluently Tip 2 Try to turn your answer into a story This seems really natural for certain questions but is actually possible for the vast majority of topics. Imagine you are asked to describe a piece of furniture. Personally, I would struggle to describe any piece of furniture for more than 1 minute. However, if you create stories around the furniture and think about something interesting maybe it would easier. In my case, I might discuss the table in my living room which my father in law made for us. This way I can talk about my wife for a while, my apartment, why we needed a table, how it was a Christmas present, but we received it in April. Tip 3 Past, Present and Future This idea is absolutely crucial for 2 reasons. Firstly, it demonstrates your grammatical range and accuracy. Perhaps, more importantly, it gives you more to talk about. Let’s consider a topic related to a child. Most exam takers would just spend 2 minutes trying to describe the characteristics of the child. It might be more interesting and easier to look to the past, Potential Questions What was life like before the child was born? What are they doing now? What do you expect them to do as a job in the future? When were they born? What are their hobbies? What will their hobbies be in the future? Obviously, these are just a handful of ideas and there are hundreds of other potential questions. Check out part 2 tomorrow