Part 2 is the bit of IELTS Speaking that keeps people up at night. The examiner hands you a card, gives you a pen and paper, and you have one minute to prepare a talk of one to two minutes on a topic you’ve never seen. No back-and-forth, no help. Just you, talking.
The good news: it’s the most predictable part of the whole exam, and once you have a method, that minute of prep is plenty.
What the cue card actually gives you
Every cue card follows the same shape. A topic (“Describe a place you like to visit”) followed by three or four bullet prompts — where it is, how often you go, what you do there, and why you like it. Those bullets aren’t a checklist you have to tick. They’re a free outline. The examiner is literally handing you the structure of your answer.
Use the minute properly
Don’t try to write sentences in 60 seconds — you can’t. Write keywords, one or two per bullet point. For “a place you like to visit” you might scribble: grandmother’s village, summers, walks + cooking, feels calm, no phone signal. That’s it. Five fragments, and suddenly you have a two-minute talk waiting to happen.
The single best trick: as you talk, add the “why” and the “story.” Anyone can say “I like the village because it’s quiet.” A band-7 candidate says, “I like it because there’s no phone signal, so for the first time all year I actually relax — last summer I read three books in a week, which never happens at home.” Same idea, far more language, and it sounds like a real person.
Keep talking until they stop you
The biggest mistake is finishing in 40 seconds and sitting in silence. If you run dry, expand: give an example, compare it to something else, talk about how you felt, or what you’d change. The examiner will cut you off at two minutes — that’s normal and even a good sign. You’re aiming to be stopped, not to stop.
And if you blank completely? Buy time naturally. “That’s an interesting one, let me think for a second…” is real spoken English and far better than a frozen pause.
Practise the right way
Record yourself. It’s awkward, everyone hates it, and it’s the fastest way to improve. Pick a random cue card, give yourself one minute, talk for two, then listen back. You’ll immediately hear your filler words and where you trailed off. Do this ten times and Part 2 stops being scary — it just becomes a thing you know how to do.