IELTS Speaking Part 2: how to use your minute and talk for two

You're assessed across the whole test on four equally weighted criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource (vocabulary), grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Part 2 is where fluency and coherence are most exposed, because nobody is asking you questions to keep you going.

You'll be given paper and a pencil. Don't write sentences — you won't have time and you won't be able to read them aloud naturally. Write a few keywords against each prompt:

That's about twenty words, but each one is a hook for twenty or thirty seconds of talk. Notice the 'extra' line: a specific moment or feeling gives you something to say when the prompts run out.

Think of your answer as four short parts rather than one long one:

1. A one-sentence opener that names your topic: 'I'd like to talk about learning to swim properly, which I only did in my thirties.'
2. The prompts, in order, with a detail each. Don't just answer 'how long' with 'six months' — say what happened in those months.
3. A story or turning point. A specific moment ('the first time I swam a full length without grabbing the rope…') is where your vocabulary and past tenses get a workout.
4. A reflection to finish. The 'explain why' prompt is usually the best place for this: what it meant to you, what you'd do differently, how you feel about it now.

If the examiner stops you before you finish, that's fine — it's a sign you used the time well. Running out of things to say well short of two minutes is the bigger risk.

• Signposting keeps you coherent: 'As for how I learned it…', 'The reason I decided to do it was…', 'Looking back…'.
• Vary your tenses naturally. Past simple for the story, past continuous for background, present perfect for how it affects you now, and a conditional for reflection ('If I hadn't…, I would…').
• Be precise rather than fancy. 'I could barely float' is more impressive than an uncommon word used slightly wrongly.
• Avoid memorised paragraphs. Examiners are trained to notice rehearsed language, and the IELTS band descriptors treat it as evidence you can't produce language flexibly.

It happens. A few recovery moves keep you talking without long silences:

• Go back to your notes and pick up the next prompt: 'Another thing I should mention is how long it took…'.
• Add a comparison: 'It was completely different from learning things as a child, because…'.
• Describe a feeling or a sensory detail: what it looked, sounded or felt like.
• Use a natural filler sparingly — 'Let me think…' — then continue. One is fine; constant 'um' is not.

Part 3 follows straight on from your cue card topic, but asks about society rather than you. If your Part 2 was about learning to swim, Part 3 might ask whether adults learn differently from children, or whether governments should pay for lessons. Practise both parts together: give a view, a reason, an example and, where it fits, a contrasting view.

1. Pick a card you haven't seen. Set a one-minute timer and make notes.
2. Speak for two minutes, recording yourself. Don't stop to correct mistakes.
3. Listen back. Did you cover every prompt? Where did you pause longest? Which word did you repeat five times?
4. Do the same card again immediately, fixing one thing.
5. Answer three Part 3-style questions on the same topic.

Speaking to a real listener matters, because an examiner's silence feels different from talking to your phone. XINGO's IELTS Speaking mock test runs all three parts with an AI examiner on the real timings and gives an estimated band with feedback on fluency, vocabulary and grammar. It doesn't assess pronunciation, so the estimate is a guide, not an official score.