IELTS Speaking Part 2: what to do when you run out of things to say
You get the card, you start well, and after 40 seconds your mind goes blank. Here is why it happens and how to fill two minutes without sounding rehearsed.
In Part 2 you get a topic card, one minute to prepare and up to two minutes to talk. The examiner stops you at two minutes. Stopping early is not an automatic fail, but a long silence hurts your Fluency and Coherence score, and a short answer gives the examiner less English to reward.
The problem is rarely your English. It is the one minute of preparation. Most people spend it writing full sentences, or they panic and write nothing.
Look at the notes, not the words
Card: Describe a skill you learned that took a long time.
Use the bullet points as a map
The card always gives you three or four prompts. Use them in order. When you finish one, move to the next. The last line usually asks you to explain a feeling or a reason. Keep that for the end, because it is the easiest part to stretch.
You have said everything on your notes and 80 seconds have passed.
A plan for the minute
- Write the topic in two or three words.
- Write one short real detail for each bullet point: who, where, when, how.
- Add one feeling and one comparison, then now.
- Talk through your notes in order. Glance down, then look up and speak.
- If you finish early, compare then and now, or say what you would do differently.
Be yourself. A small true story told clearly scores better than a big invented one told nervously.
Exam rules change. Always check with the exam provider and the organisation you are applying to.
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