IELTS Speaking Part 2: How to Use the One Minute and Fill Two

Part 2 is the long turn. The examiner hands you a cue card with a topic and three or four bullet points, gives you one minute to prepare with paper and pencil, and then asks you to speak for one to two minutes.

It is the part candidates dread most, and the part where preparation pays off most reliably — because the format never changes even though the topic does.

What a cue card looks like

Describe a skill you learned that was difficult at first.

You should say:

• what the skill was
• when and why you started learning it
• how you practised

and explain why you found it difficult at first.

The first bullets are usually factual. The final line, which almost always starts with "and explain", is where the higher-level language lives — it asks for reasons, feelings, or reflection rather than facts.

Use the minute for keywords, not sentences

One minute is about enough to write eight to ten words. It is not enough to write sentences, and trying produces two bad outcomes: you run out of time, and you end up reading rather than speaking, which sounds flat and is easy to hear.

A good set of notes for the cue card above:

skill: driving
when: 24, moved cities, no metro
practice: Sat mornings, empty car park, instructor Ravi
difficult: clutch + mirrors + junction at once
now: automatic, still hate parallel

That is nine phrases. Each one is a landing point, and the gaps between them are where you produce natural language.

Structure the two minutes as a story

The most reliable way to fill two minutes is narrative order, because stories have built-in momentum. Roughly:

• 15 seconds — introduce what you have chosen and why.
• 30 seconds — the background: when, where, who else was involved.
• 45 seconds — the substance: what actually happened, in sequence.
• 30 seconds — the reflection: why it mattered, how you feel about it now.

The reflection section is the one candidates skip when nervous, and it is the one that most helps your score, because it naturally produces conditionals, comparatives, and opinion language.

Phrases that buy you time honestly

These are not memorised content — they are the connective tissue of natural speech, and using a few is normal:

• "I'd like to talk about…"
• "This was probably about three years ago now…"
• "What made it difficult was…"
• "Looking back on it…"
• "I suppose the main reason is…"
• "Actually, thinking about it…"

Two or three across two minutes sound natural. Six sound rehearsed.

When you run out of things to say

Every cue card can be extended with these four moves:

• Describe the setting. Where was it, what did it look like, who else was there?
• Add how you felt. At the time, and afterwards.
• Compare. With something similar, with how it is now, with how other people do it.
• Explain the significance. Why do you still remember it?

"…so that's when I started. I should say the car park we used was completely empty on Saturday mornings, which helped — I don't think I'd have coped with actual traffic in the first few weeks. I remember feeling permanently about two seconds behind everything that was happening."

That is twenty extra seconds produced from setting and feeling alone.

Common Part 2 mistakes

• Stopping at 45 seconds. The most common problem. Practise with a timer until two minutes feels normal.
• Writing full sentences in the preparation minute. Produces a read-aloud delivery.
• Choosing the "perfect" example. Any example works. Time spent selecting is time not spent preparing.
• Ignoring the final "explain" line. That is where the more complex language sits.
• Panicking about an unfamiliar topic. You are allowed to bend it — if the card asks about a river and you know none well, talk about a canal or a lake and say so.

Ten cue cards to practise with

Set a timer, take one minute of notes, and speak for two.

1. Describe a skill you learned that was difficult at first.
2. Describe a person who taught you something important.
3. Describe a place you often go to relax.
4. Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision.
5. Describe something you own that you would not sell.
6. Describe a journey that did not go as planned.
7. Describe a piece of advice you were given.
8. Describe an occasion when you helped someone.
9. Describe a change you made in the last few years.
10. Describe something you learned from a family member.

Record every attempt. The two things to listen for are whether you reached two minutes, and whether you got to the reflection section before the time ran out. Both improve quickly with repetition, and both matter more than the topic you happened to be given.