3 Steps to a Perfect IELTS Speaking Part 2 Answer

- Many students begin IELTS Speaking Part Two

with a little background introduction to the topic.

Mm-hm.

If you do that, you'll probably confuse the examiner.

Let's find out what to do instead.

(upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

and English Speaking Success where you become, I hope,

a more confident speaker of English.

In this video I want to talk you through three simple steps

that will help you give a fantastic answer

in IELTS Speaking and stick around to the end

'cause I'll also give you a sample model answer

illustrating these steps and all the tips.

Let's do it.

Step number one, make a good concise start.

Concise just means short and to the point.

Don't go around the houses.

So for example, this question, okay?

Describe a tool you use in your home.

Don't start like this.

"So there are many tools in our homes nowadays

that help make our lives easier,

ranging from electrical appliances, like a hairdryer,

to non-digital tools like a pair of scissors.

Pros and cons abound for all of them,

but today I want to talk about one tool

I often use to help me at work.

And that is my computer."

Now, apart from being memorized, right?

The problem here is that you are confusing the examiner.

The examiner may think you've misunderstood the question,

and they may start to get frustrated.

And trust me, you don't want a frustrated examiner,

you want a happy examiner.

So the first step to a good part two answer

is to begin directly introduce the person, the place,

the thing or the activity, the event

that you are going to talk about.

So here, I might say, "So, yeah,

the tool I use in my home

that I want to tell you about is my computer."

Got it?

Now there are plenty more phrases you can use

to start your part two answer in this video.

Go and check it out later.

Right now let's get into step number two.

So step number two, develop your answer.

How do we do this?

Let me give you some tips on how to do it.

Tip number one, prepare three things to discuss.

Now you can use the three bullet points

on the card, but you don't have to.

You can make up your own.

IELTS do it. It's super easy.

All you do is use the common question words,

the when, what, how, who, where, why.

Talk about any of those that are appropriate, okay?

So remember the bullet points are just a guide,

but have three things you can talk about.

Let's take our question from earlier,

"Describe a tool you use in your home."

You should say, you can say what it is, what it does,

why it's useful, and explain how you feel about it.

Now the mistake that many students make

is to just give one phrase or sentence to answer it.

So to say what it is, they might say,

"It was a pair of scissors."

Too short, much better would be to describe it.

Think of adjectives, something like this.

"It's a pair of scissors that I bought several months ago

from a local hardware shop.

They're quite big and very sharp,

and they have plastic handles that makes them easy to use."

So you're developing.

Second bullet point, say what it does.

Don't do this.

"Well, it can cut paper.

They can cut paper."

Much better would be to develop this.

Maybe give some examples and explain something like,

"Well, scissors are normally used for cutting paper,

but I guess they can also cut bags, plastic, even wires.

I actually bought them because I'm a teacher,

so I need to cut up lots of pieces of paper,

and card to prepare for my classes."

Give some examples.

Bullet point number three was, say why it is useful.

Don't do this.

"Well, it's useful for cutting paper,

and opening boxes, because they're sharp." (snickers)

It's not bad, but it could be better

if you developed it like this.

"Well, they're super useful

because they save me time, right?

It would be pretty hard to cut paper with a knife,

and maybe dangerous too.

So scissors, yeah, are much safer in that sense."

Got it.

Tip number two to help you develop your answer

is to be specific.

In English we say the devil is in the details.

The details are really important, right?

So include specific examples,

give personal feelings, anecdotes.

Anecdotes are short stories about your life,

the things you tell your friends and family

when you get home from work or school.

So you make your response,

you make your answer more engaging,

and you're gonna demonstrate more vocabulary

with the more detail you go into.

Okay, so in the question about the tool,

bullet point number three, it says why,

say why it is useful.

You could say something like this.

"Well, yeah, they are useful for cutting paper

and opening boxes because they are sharp.

The ones I have, yes, they're easy to use

as they have a big handle.

Also anybody in the house can use them.

Although we do have to be careful with our baby daughter,

and make sure they're kept out of her reach

so she doesn't cut herself."

Can you see you are starting to tell a little story,

reveal things about your life,

the kind of thing you would tell a friend,

revealing more details.

Remember, the devil is in the details.

Tip number three to help you develop your answer

is to use connectors.

Connectors are these words that connect your sentences

and your ideas.

They help everything flow and make sense.

Also, making it easy for the examiner to follow you.

Remember, that will make a happy examiner.

You don't want a frustrated examiner.

Now some of the most common connectors

are actually sign posts.

They sign posts, they show what you are going to say,

firstly, on the one hand, on top of that.

And finally, and this keeps your answer

or your speech coherent,

keeping the examiner happy, right?

Now some teachers do say don't ever use written connectors.

Don't say "how" say "but."

Don't say "in conclusion" say "to sum up."

Don't say "for instance" say "for example, such as."

I don't totally agree with that.

I think it's fine to use all of those, right?

In most speaking situations.

It's very hard to say don't ever,

because it depends on the situation

and what you are talking about.

It is true, generally speaking,

when we speak we use very simple connectors.

Firstly, and, but, so, then, after that,

and that's fine, that's how we speak.

I think with formal connectors there are only two

I would avoid in speaking 'cause they are very formal,

and they are "furthermore."

"Nevertheless."

They're even difficult to say.

So rather than "furthermore" just say "what's more."

And rather than "nevertheless"

you could say "but anyway," right?

By the way, another mistake that students make

sometimes if they're new to IELTS

is they look at the bullet, the cue card,

the bullet points, and as they're giving the answer,

they talk or they say the actual bullet point, right?

So in the example above, describe a tool,

you should say what it is.

Don't do this.

"I'm going to describe a pair of scissors.

First, what it is, it's a pair of scissors."

Duh, no, right?

Think about connectors, make it more coherent.

Something like, "The tool I'm gonna describe

is a pair of scissors.

First of all, let me tell you

a bit more about what it is.

De-de-de-de-de-de." Right, something like that.

For the second bullet point, what it does,

talking about what it does, de-de-de-de.

Third bullet point, don't just say it, why it's useful.

You could say, "Well, when it comes to why it's useful,

I would say, da, da da da da."

So can you see these connectors are making your speech

more coherent, easy to follow.

Happy examiner. Let's move on.

Now, step number three, give a brief conclusion.

So this is not an essential step, okay?

This is not IELTS writing

where you must have the conclusion,

but if you can control your time,

and you know you are coming to the end of your time,

just one simple sentence to wrap it up,

to sum it up, can help communication

and just, it feels good, but it's not essential.

And actually it really could be something as simple as this.

"Yeah, so that's it.

That's the tool that I regularly use in my home."

That's it. Okay, great.

Let's move on and have a look at a complete model answer

using these tips.

"So the tool I'd like to tell you about

is a pair of scissors.

It's a very special pair of scissors

that I bought a few weeks ago in a local hardware shop.

They're quite big, larger than the normal size,

with an extra larger ergonomic handle made out of plastic,

which makes them really comfortable for using.

Yeah, they weren't cheap either, actually.

Talking about what they do.

Well, clearly scissors are used for cutting material

like paper, plastic, even wires.

As for me, I use them for cutting card and paper.

The reason is that I'm a teacher, right?

So I spend a lot of time cutting up flashcards

and sticking things together.

So scissors, yeah, they come in really handy actually.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say

they are an essential for me.

When it comes to the reason they are useful, well,

as I just mentioned, I mean, I use them for work,

but they are very useful because they save me time.

And also the fact that they are comfortable

means that I can use them for a long period of time

without any aches in my hand.

Also, anybody in the house can use them,

although we do have to be careful with our baby daughter,

and make sure that, you know,

that they are kept out of reach

from her so she doesn't cut herself."

Yeah, yeah, so that's it.

That's the tool I regularly use in my home."

Did you see how I'm using the steps

and the tips to develop my answer?

Did you like that?

If you did, could you subscribe to the channel?

Give me a like.

It helps with the channel.

Let's move on.

So there you have three steps to give

an awesome part two answer, whatever the topic, right?

Step number one, make a good, concise start.

Step number two, develop your answer.

Step number three, if possible, give a brief conclusion.

Do remember this is not a science.

Sometimes you can also just speak out and go with the flow.

Without this structure.

It will probably depend on the question that you get,

your life experience and how confident you are.

If you are less confident, follow the structure.

If you are more confident, go with the flow.

If you wanna learn more about giving great

part two answers, check out my online course,

IELTS Speaking, crack IELTS Speaking part two,

link down below.

And if you're not interested in a course,

and you just want to study on your own,

great independent study, go and find some cue cards

and start practicing some of these steps and tips

to help you give great answers.

Right now, I'm gonna go with the flow

because I'm hungry and it's time for lunch.

So I will see you.

Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video

after lunch.

Take care my friend. Bye-bye.

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