How to Speak for 2 minutes about any Topic-6 Tips from an IELTS Teacher (Part 2) If you haven't already done so, check out part 1 of this article https://www.italki.com/discussion/201491 Tip 4 5 W’s+1 H What, Why, When, Where, Who, How If you are struggling to think about things to talk about, write the following words on your paper. You are allowed 1 minute to write down notes and while you should find your own strategy, it isn’t a bad idea to write down these question words. If you are struggling you can look down at your paper. Tip 5 Use the full minute available to make your notes It is incredible how often students say they are ready to speak after 20 seconds. Often, they then hesitate their way through the 1st minute and run out of things to say. I always ask why they didn’t use the whole preparation time and get a variety of unusual responses. The most important thing to realise is the examiner won’t think you are more intelligent because you didn’t prepare properly. ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’ (Benjamin Franklin). Use the whole minute to come up with ideas, idioms, collocations, high-level adjectives, consider your first sentence, paraphrase etc. Tip 6 Take classes with an IELTS teacher It is absolutely crucial that you find a teacher to practice with. It really helps if the teacher specialises in IELTS because they will be able to give you feedback about any errors that you are making and help you come up with better ideas. After teaching IELTS for over 3 years, it is much easier to come up with a variety of ideas for each topic and any competent IELTS teacher will be able to help you with that. Please let me know if you have any other tips or questions related to speaking part 2.