IELTS Speaking Part 2 Strategy That REALLY Works

Summary

This video script offers an in-depth strategy for tackling Part Two of the IELTS Speaking Test, which often poses challenges for students. It reveals a key secret: students are not obligated to address all four cue card points, granting them flexibility to focus on areas of comfort. The script outlines a step-by-step approach to enhance fluency and coherence, emphasizing the importance of natural speaking over forced structure. It also provides tips on avoiding common pitfalls and encourages practice with real IELTS questions to internalize the strategy for effective test performance.

Takeaways

• 😌 The IELTS speaking test part two often causes anxiety for students, but there's a strategy to improve performance.
• 🤓 Understanding the 'secret' about part two can significantly impact a student's score.
• 📈 The video presents a unique strategy that has helped many students achieve the IELTS score they need.
• 🔑 The cue card format in part two is predictable, offering a main topic and four bullet points to discuss.
• 💡 Students often fail because they run out of things to say or get stuck on one of the bullet points, affecting fluency and coherence.
• 🎯 The 'secret' is that students do not have to speak about all four bullet points; they can choose the ones they feel comfortable with.
• 🛠️ The strategy is to focus on speaking fluently and coherently about the main topic for two minutes, which is what examiners are looking for.
• 📝 It's advised to avoid trying to speak about each bullet point equally and to skip any that cause discomfort or a lack of ideas.
• 📱 Practicing with real IELTS questions and recording oneself can help students refine their speaking skills and receive self-feedback.
• 📚 The video suggests using 'IELTS Academic' books for practice to ensure the questions reflect the real test's difficulty.
• 🌟 The ultimate goal is to practice the strategy until it becomes second nature, allowing for natural and fluent responses during the test.

Q & A

What is the main issue students face in Part Two of the IELTS speaking test?

The main issue students face is running out of things to say or getting stuck on one or more of the bullet points, which affects their fluency and coherence.

What is the 'little secret' about Part Two of the IELTS speaking test that the video reveals?

The 'little secret' is that students do not have to speak about all four bullet points on the cue card; they can choose the ones they feel most comfortable discussing.

What is the recommended strategy for addressing the cue card in Part Two of the IELTS speaking test?

The recommended strategy is to focus on speaking fluently and coherently for two minutes about the main topic, choosing bullet points or related topics that the student feels comfortable discussing.

Why is it advised against to try to speak about each bullet point for an equal length of time?

It is advised against because it is nearly impossible to divide the time equally among all bullet points and doing so can make the response sound unnatural and forced, potentially reducing the score.

What are the potential negative effects of using a strategy like PPF (Past, Present, Future) for Part Two of the IELTS speaking test?

The negative effects include the risk of running out of things to say or becoming incoherent if the topic doesn't fit well with the past, present, or future framework, which can lead to a lower score.

How does the video suggest students prepare for the IELTS speaking test?

The video suggests using real IELTS questions from official books like 'IELTS Academic 15', practicing the strategy until it becomes automatic, and recording oneself to give feedback based on fluency, coherence, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

What are the four criteria that the examiners evaluate during the IELTS speaking test?

The four criteria are fluency and coherence, pronunciation, grammar, and lexical resource (vocabulary).

Why is Part Two of the IELTS speaking test considered very important by examiners?

Part Two is important because it allows examiners to evaluate a candidate's ability to speak fluently and coherently for up to two minutes, which in turn provides insight into their pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and overall language proficiency.

What should students avoid when preparing their answer for Part Two of the IELTS speaking test?

Students should avoid forcing themselves to talk about bullet points they are uncomfortable with, trying to divide their time equally among all bullet points, and using tips, tricks, or shortcuts that may not satisfy the examiners' criteria.

How can students get additional help with their IELTS preparation according to the video?

Students can get additional help by exploring the YouTube channel for free resources, emailing [email protected] for courses or information, and subscribing to the channel for new videos. They can also join the waiting list for a VIP course for one-on-one assistance.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Mastering Part Two of the IELTS Speaking Test

The paragraph introduces the challenges students face in Part Two of the IELTS speaking test and hints at a secret to overcoming these difficulties. The speaker promises to reveal a strategy that has benefited many students in achieving their desired scores. The video will cover the common pitfalls, disclose the secret, present the strategy, and provide practice questions and samples. The format of the cue cards in Part Two is discussed as a key to understanding the test's structure and developing an effective approach.

05:02

🤯 Common Failures and the Power of Strategy in IELTS Speaking

This section delves into the primary reasons why students underperform in the speaking test, such as running out of content to speak about or getting stuck on certain points. The speaker emphasizes that these issues often stem from not using an effective strategy rather than a lack of English proficiency. The 'secret' is unveiled: candidates are not obligated to address all four bullet points on the cue card, which provides them with the flexibility to develop a tailored strategy that enhances fluency and coherence.

10:03

🚀 Breaking Free from Traditional Methods in IELTS Preparation

The speaker criticizes the traditional approach of sequentially addressing each bullet point, which often leads to failure. Instead, a new strategy is introduced that focuses on speaking fluently and coherently about the main topic for the full two minutes, without the pressure of covering all bullet points. The importance of avoiding repetition and maintaining a natural flow in speech is highlighted, along with the考官s' actual criteria for assessment, which includes fluency, coherence, pronunciation, grammar, and lexical resource.

15:04

📱 Practical Application of the IELTS Speaking Strategy

A practical example is given to demonstrate the application of the proposed strategy using a cue card about an interesting movie. The speaker advises selecting bullet points that考生s feel comfortable discussing and ignoring the rest to maintain fluency and coherence. The strategy encourages考生s to speak about the main topic in a way that feels natural and comfortable, avoiding the stress of artificially equalizing the time spent on each bullet point.

20:05

🧐 The Pitfalls of Shortcuts and the Importance of Genuine Practice

The paragraph discusses the drawbacks of relying on shortcuts and tricks, such as the PPF method, which may lead to failure. The speaker stresses the importance of genuine practice with real IELTS questions to internalize the strategy naturally. By practicing with questions from 'IELTS Academic 15' or similar resources, candidates can prepare effectively and ensure their responses align with the actual test's demands.

25:06

🎯 Tailoring the Strategy to Personal Comfort and Confidence

The speaker illustrates how to tailor the speaking strategy to one's own comfort and confidence by using a sample question about a well-known entrepreneur, Elon Musk. The strategy involves focusing on aspects of the topic that one is knowledgeable and passionate about, which facilitates a fluent and coherent response. The importance of avoiding repetition and maintaining a natural speaking pace is reiterated.

📝 Final Thoughts on IELTS Speaking Test Preparation

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the importance of practice and provides actionable steps for viewers to apply the strategy independently. Suggestions include using real IELTS questions for practice, recording and self-assessing one's speaking, and seeking further help through the provided email address or YouTube channel. The speaker also promotes their VIP courses for one-on-one assistance and invites interested viewers to join the waiting list.

Keywords

💡IELTS Speaking Test

The IELTS Speaking Test is a component of the International English Language Testing System, which assesses a candidate's English communication skills through a series of tasks. In the video, the speaker discusses strategies for Part Two of the test, emphasizing the importance of understanding the format and developing a coherent response to achieve the desired score.

💡Cue Cards

Cue cards are used in the IELTS Speaking Test to provide a topic and specific points that the candidate must address in their response. The video script mentions that the cue cards contain a main topic and four bullet points that candidates often feel compelled to discuss in order, which the speaker advises against as it can hinder natural flow and coherence.

💡Fluency

Fluency refers to the smooth and effortless flow of speech. The video emphasizes that fluency is a key criterion for scoring in the IELTS Speaking Test. The speaker suggests that candidates often run out of things to say or get stuck on certain points, which can negatively impact their fluency score.

💡Coherence

Coherence is the quality of being logical and consistent in speech or writing. The video script explains that a lack of coherence, often resulting from an inability to speak fluently on all cue card points, can lower a candidate's score. The speaker's strategy aims to help candidates maintain coherence by focusing on comfortable topics.

💡Strategy

In the context of the video, a strategy refers to a systematic approach or method for addressing the IELTS Speaking Test Part Two. The speaker introduces a unique strategy that involves selecting and discussing only those bullet points that the candidate feels comfortable with, rather than forcing a discussion on all points.

💡Bullet Points

Bullet points on the IELTS cue cards are specific aspects that candidates are expected to cover in their speech. The video suggests that candidates often feel obligated to address each bullet point, which can lead to stress and reduced performance. The speaker's strategy encourages candidates to ignore bullet points that they find difficult.

💡PPF Method

The PPF method, which stands for Past, Present, Future, is a common strategy mentioned in the video that some candidates use to structure their responses. The speaker argues against this method, stating that it can lead to incoherence and a lack of things to say, especially if the topic does not lend itself to discussion in these temporal terms.

💡Lexical Resource

Lexical resource refers to a speaker's vocabulary range and ability to use a variety of words appropriately. The video script notes that while fluency and coherence are primary, examiners also assess a candidate's lexical resource, grammar, and pronunciation during the Speaking Test.

💡VIP Course

A VIP Course, as mentioned in the video, is a premium, often personalized, educational service that offers one-on-one support. The speaker promotes their VIP course, which promises a high success rate, as a way for candidates to receive tailored assistance in preparing for the IELTS.

💡Practice

Practice is highlighted in the video as an essential part of preparing for the IELTS Speaking Test. The speaker advises candidates to use the strategy discussed in the video with real IELTS questions and to practice until it becomes second nature, similar to the automatic action of tying shoelaces.

💡Feedback

Feedback in the video script refers to the process of self-evaluation where candidates record their practice sessions and listen back to identify areas for improvement. The speaker suggests this as a method for enhancing fluency, coherence, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Highlights

Part two of the IELTS speaking test often causes problems for students, but there is a secret to mastering it.

Understanding the format of part two cue cards is crucial for developing an effective strategy.

The cue card's main topic and 'You should say' section are consistent, offering predictability for preparation.

Students frequently fail to achieve desired scores due to running out of things to say or getting stuck on bullet points.

The secret is that students are not required to speak about all four bullet points if they find some difficult.

The strategy is to focus on speaking fluently and coherently about the main topic for two minutes, rather than strictly following bullet points.

Avoiding repetition and ensuring a natural flow of speech is key to impressing examiners.

The examiner is looking for fluency, coherence, pronunciation, grammar, and lexical resource during part two.

Students should pick bullet points they feel comfortable expanding on and ignore the rest.

Adding personal stories or related topics can enhance the speech and demonstrate a range of language skills.

Practicing with real IELTS questions from official books ensures familiarity with the actual test format.

Recording and reviewing one's own speech can provide valuable feedback on fluency, coherence, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

The presenter demonstrates how to apply the strategy using a sample question about a well-known entrepreneur.

The strategy should be practiced until it becomes second nature, similar to automatic tasks like tying shoelaces.

Engaging with the IELTS Advantage YouTube channel and team can provide further support and resources for IELTS preparation.

The presenter emphasizes the importance of mastering the strategy slowly before attempting to speed up for the actual test conditions.

Invitation for viewers to join a waiting list for VIP courses, which offer one-on-one support and have a high success rate.

Transcripts

- Part two of the IELTS speaking test, for a long time,

has caused a huge number of problems for students,

but it doesn't have to be that way.

What I'm going to tell you in this video

is a little secret that most students don't know

about part two of the speaking test,

and understanding this information will mean the difference

between you getting the score that you need

and not getting the score that you need.

So in this video, I'm going to give you

our unique part two IELTS speaking strategy

that has helped thousands of our students

get the score that they need by understanding

what the secret is and then applying

a very simple step by step strategy that any student

can learn and dramatically improve their score.

In this video what we're gonna do is first of all

we're going to look at the top reasons why students

find this part of the speaking test so difficult,

and then share that little secret with you.

Then we're gonna give you the strategy,

and finally we're going to give you

practice questions and some samples.

So in order to show you all of that,

I'm gonna jump into my computer and show you everything.

Okay, so first what we need to do

is we need to look at part two cue cards,

particularly the format of those cue cards,

because this is going to give us the information

that we need to understand what the main problems are,

what this little secret is, and it is also

going to help you understand and implement our strategy.

So at the start of part two, the examiner will give you

a cue card, and you'll have one minute

to prepare your answer, and then you'll be expected to speak

for up to two minutes.

Don't worry, the examiner will stop you

when you get to in and around two minutes.

So at the top of every cue card

there is going to be a main topic.

This never changes.

Then it says, below the main topic,

it says, "You should say".

Again, this never changes.

And then there will be four bullet points.

Again, this never changes, so this is a little gift to us

because if there are parts of the IELTS test

that never change, that means that we can give the examiners

exactly what they're looking for

because it's very predictable what is going to come up.

So we can come up with a predictable solution

to these problems.

So let's have a look at a sample.

You'll have to speak for around two minutes

about the topic below.

Describe an interesting movie you watched recently.

You should say what genre the movie was,

when you saw the movie, what was the movie about

and explain why you find the movie interesting.

So again, main topic at the top,

you should say, and four bullet points.

So let's look at a reason for failure.

There are two main reasons why students fail to do

as well as they could.

When I'm talking about failure, I'm talking about a student

who should be getting about seven or about eight,

but they're struggling.

They're getting about a six or a 6.5,

not because their English isn't good enough,

but just because they're not using the right system,

not using the right strategy.

So reason for failure number one,

students often run out of things to say.

Imagine you get this one, and what happens

is you talk about what genre the movie was, when you saw it.

That's about 20 seconds or 10 seconds.

That leaves you with one minute, 50 seconds remaining.

What was the movie about?

You talk about that for about 20, 30 seconds,

and then that leaves you with more than a minute

to explain why you find the movie interesting.

Then you get to that last bullet point

and you just run out of things to say.

That affects your fluency, that affects your coherence,

and this is the classic thing that many, many examiners see

every single day when they are examining,

is students get to bullet point number four,

and they still have a lot of time left,

and the student is like, "Hmm, ah, uh, ah,

I don't know what to say."

So that is going to dramatically lower your score

if you do that.

I'm sure many of you, let me know in the comments,

is that something that you have experienced yourself?

Reason number two for failure is students often get stuck

on one or more of the bullet points.

So, describe an interesting movie you watched recently.

What genre the movie was.

What does genre mean?

"Ah, um, ah, ooh, I don't know."

Then you start getting very stressed out,

you start second guessing yourself,

you start becoming unsure about what to say.

Again, that affects your fluency,

that affects your coherence.

When you saw the movie.

Let's say, "Ah, uh, I can't remember when I saw it."

What was the movie about?

I've spoken to a lot of students

and examined with many, many students who pick a movie,

or the question might be talk about an interesting book,

and they pick something that they don't really understand

or they don't really know what to talk about.

I actually did this with a few different students

in the past, a question about movies,

and they were like, "I fell asleep."

So how are they going to speak about that movie

if they were asleep for most of it?

Explain why you find that movie interesting.

"Am, uh, I didn't find it interesting.

I find it quite boring.

I don't know what to say."

The examiners are looking for your ability to speak

for up to two minutes fluently and coherently,

and if you are running out of things to say

or you find it very difficult to speak about

at least one of these bullet points,

then you are going to not get the score

that you really deserve because you're not doing

what the examiners are looking for you to do.

So what is this little secret?

The secret is you don't have to speak

about all four bullet points.

You can speak about them if you want to.

It's no problem to speak about all four in order.

That is absolutely fine.

But you do not have to, and this is

really important information for you guys

because this gives you the freedom

to create a different strategy.

Because what your strategy really is at the moment

is speak about bullet point number one,

then number two, then number three, then number four.

And as I've just shown you, that strategy does not work

for the vast majority of students.

And they are designed, the bullet points

are designed to help you.

They're designed just to give you ideas to talk about.

However, most students believe that they must speak

about all of them, which doesn't help them, it hinders them.

So this is often the case in many areas of the IELTS test,

where Cambridge are doing something to actually help you,

but the teacher or the student creates a strategy

that hinders them, that doesn't use the help

that they are actually giving you.

So to repeat this, because when I tell many of you

about this, you're still confused.

You don't have to speak about all four bullet points.

You can speak about all four of them if you want,

but you don't have to.

So what's the strategy that we use with our students,

and this is the same strategy that we share

with many of our VIP students,

and it has led to thousands of them

getting the scores that they need

and dramatically improving their scores.

So the strategy, overall 30,000 foot view strategy

is that do things that help you to speak for two minutes

about the given topic as fluently

and as coherently as possible.

Why do we use that strategy?

Why is that our overall strategy?

Because that's what the examiners are looking for.

Everything we do at IELTS Advantage is examiner driven.

All we do is show our students

this is what the examiner is looking for, and this is how

to give the examiners what they're looking for.

We don't give tips and tricks and shortcuts

and things like that.

We just teach you exactly what the examiners

are looking for.

So before we give you the step by step strategy,

you need to avoid anything that prevents you doing this.

So anything that stops you speaking for the given topic

for up to two minutes as fluently

and as coherently as possible for you,

you need to avoid these things.

So forcing yourself to talk about bullet points

you don't know how to talk about,

remember you don't have to talk about all of them,

so if you see one that you don't feel comfortable

talking about that one for whatever reason, just skip it.

Talk about something else.

Try to speak about each bullet point

for an equal length of time.

You need to avoid this.

This is one of the worst pieces of advice

you could ever give a student

because it makes their job so much more difficult

because it's impossible to speak about

each of the four bullet points for 30 seconds equally each.

I can't do that.

I've never met another student who could do that,

so why would your teacher tell you to do that?

It's impossible.

Speaking about each bullet point

and then having nothing else to say

before the two minutes are up.

So as we've shown you, just rushing through

four of them and then having a minute 30 left,

or using a strategy that is very common online,

such as PPF, which might lead to you

answering the question incoherently

or running out of things to say.

PPF is an example of a tip, a trick, a shortcut.

Students love these because it supposedly

makes things easier for them in the short run,

but it leads to a huge amount of failure.

So a lot of our VIP students have failed the test

multiple times, and when they come to us,

we ask them, "What have you used before?"

And they say, "Oh, we used this PPF method for part two."

We say, "How did you do with that method?"

And they said, "Well, I got a question

where I couldn't really think of anything

to talk about the past, and I couldn't really

think of anything for the future."

So PPF stands for past, present, future.

What happens if you get a question

where you cannot talk about the past

or you cannot talk about the future?

That severely limits your ability

to give the examiners what they want.

So just because you see a tip or a trick or a shortcut

or something that has millions of views on YouTube

doesn't mean it is actually going to satisfy the examiners.

So what is the examiner looking for?

They're judging your ability to speak fluently

and coherently for up to two minutes.

This also gives them a chance to evaluate

the other three criteria.

The first criteria they are thinking about

is fluency and coherence, but they're also thinking about

pronunciation, they're also thinking about grammar,

and they're also thinking about lexical resource,

which means vocabulary.

So you're speaking for up to two minutes.

This gives the examiner a chance to sit back

and really listen to you, which would indicate

that part two is extremely important

because if you are messing up this question,

you're not only lowering your fluency

and your coherence scores, you're probably also lowering

your grammar score, your vocabulary score

and your pronunciation score.

So it's extremely important to get this right,

and students who follow our strategy

not only nail fluency and coherence,

they do really well in the other three marking criteria

because they're just speaking naturally and fluently

and giving the examiners what they want.

How do we do this?

Number one, make sure you always talk about the main topic.

I've showed you this a couple of times.

I'll also show it to you at the end

when we give you the sample questions.

Make sure you talk about that main topic

for the two minutes.

Don't deviate from that main topic.

Pick the bullet points you feel comfortable talking about.

Remember, Cambridge IELTS are trying to help you

with these bullet points.

So pick, out of the four, which one, two, three or four

do you feel very comfortable talking about?

What does comfortable mean?

Easy, it's easy for you to talk about those things.

It's easy for you to think about them,

it's easy for you to articulate them.

Number three, ignore the rest.

If there are one, two, three or even four

of the bullet points you don't feel comfortable

talking about, ignore them.

Feel free to just delete them with a pencil.

Choose other things related to the topic

that you feel comfortable talking about.

What this does is it gives you the freedom

to talk about the main topic

in the way that you feel comfortable talking about it.

So you don't have to use all of these.

I'm just giving you examples of other things

that you could talk about.

You could introduce the topic,

you could provide details about the topic,

you could tell a personal story,

you could state how you feel about it,

you could talk about the past,

you could talk about the future,

or anything else you feel comfortable talking about

related to the main topic.

So you're not going to talk about all of these.

What I'm doing is I'm giving you

a wide range of tools in your tool box,

because if I just gave you a hammer and a saw

and told you to go and build a house,

you would not be able to build a house.

You need many, many, many different tools

in order to build a house,

just like part two, you need a range of different things

to talk about in order to talk about them

fluently and coherently.

So let's have a look.

Choose and add.

Describe something you own which is very important to you.

You should say where you got it, how long you've had it,

say what you use it for, and say why it's important to you.

What I'm going to be doing in the one minute

before I'm speaking, I'm going to be looking at these

and picking the ones that I feel comfortable talking about.

So what I'm going to do is talk about my mobile phone

because it's the first thing that I saw on my desk.

So where you got it, I got in the Apple store.

I'm going to talk about that because it's easy

to talk about, but that's going to take me

less than five seconds to talk about,

and I need to be aware of that.

Say how long you've had it.

I can't remember how long I've had it,

so I don't feel comfortable talking about that

because I'm going to be really thinking about that

and I don't want to be thinking too much.

I want to be speaking fluently.

Say what you use it for.

That's really easy for me to talk about

because I use it for my job.

I use it to communicate with my team,

to make this video right now, and all sorts of other things

in my job, so that's no problem.

Say why it's important to you.

It's really important to me for my job,

so I'm not going to use bullet point number four

because I don't want to be repeating the same things

because that might lower my score for fluency

and it might lower my score for coherence.

Again, we need to be thinking not only about

pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary,

but we need to be thinking about fluency and coherence

and how our brain works.

If we are nervous, we are stressed, we are uncomfortable,

we're thinking too much, it doesn't allow us

to speak fluently and coherently.

So what are things that I could add

that are more comfortable for me to talk about?

So I'm going to talk about bullet point number one

and number three, and then I'm also going to talk about

a new model you'll buy in the future

because this week there's rumors about

the iPhone 13 or something coming out,

and it has a much better camera and a much better microphone

and those are the two things that I really want,

so I'm going to talk about that one.

Tell a story about when it broke.

So when my phone breaks, it is a disaster

because I can't work, so I have an easy story

that I can tell that will allow me to speak fluently.

And then finally, I probably won't need this one

because I probably won't get to this one

before the two minutes, and the examiner will stop me

before the two minutes, but what I like to do

is just add in one more thing

because it removes any doubt, any nervousness,

any fear, and I know that I can provide

a review of this product very easily at the end

if I get there, but I probably won't even need

this bullet point.

So as you can see, using this strategy, what it does

is it provides you with a huge amount of freedom

to just to the job that you're supposed to do.

It doesn't put any barriers in your way.

It doesn't give you tips and tricks that don't really work.

It doesn't make your job more difficult.

It just makes everything much, much easier.

So let's have a look at some sample questions, all right?

I'm gonna use this sample question,

and I'm gonna use the old method,

which is what most students do,

which is just do bullet point number one,

then two, then three, then four.

All right, so describe a well known entrepreneur.

You should say who the person is,

what kind of business this person runs,

what you know about this person,

and explain what you think about this person.

So I'm gonna try and put myself in the position

if I was a student doing the real test

and what would I say.

Okay, so I'm going to talk about Elon Musk

and the kind of business that this person runs.

Well, he runs many, many businesses.

He runs SpaceX, he runs Tesla, he runs the Boring Company,

he runs, there's one that he runs

that is to do with inserting things into your brain,

and he also runs a company called SolarCity,

and he founded PayPal as well.

What you know about this person?

Well, as I already said, he runs

lots and lots of businesses.

Okay, explain what you think about this person.

Well, I really admire this person

because he runs all of these really successful businesses.

Let's have a look at what I did there.

Who this person is.

I introduced who this person was,

but that took me two seconds.

So in the student's mind, and we know this

because we work with our students really closely

and we talk to them, like, "What were you thinking here,

what were you thinking here?"

If the first bullet point takes you two seconds,

you're, "Oh my God, I've wasted one bullet point

and I'm going to run out of time."

The nervousness, the stress, the fear,

the doubt starts to build.

What kind of business this person runs.

So I just answered that question naturally,

and what I did was I just listed

lots and lots and lots and lots of businesses.

And generally in the speaking test

you should avoid just listing things

because it doesn't really take a great range of grammar

and vocabulary to just list lots of businesses.

Most people are able to do that.

That's not really testing your ability

to communicate clearly in English.

What you know about this person.

Then I started to repeat myself.

So I'm like, "Oh, well, I know that he owns

lots of businesses, and he founded that,

and that's kind of why he's famous."

So I just repeated myself, and now I'm getting

even more nervous because I know

that I shouldn't repeat myself.

Explain what you think about this person.

Now I am so nervous, so frustrated, so full of fear

and doubt that I just start repeating myself again.

I completely lose track of time

and it's really uncomfortable for me to talk about that one.

So it's a disaster.

So even though I have the ability to speak clearly

in English and have no problem answering these questions,

using a method that doesn't work hinders me.

It puts barriers in front of me.

It makes me jump through hoops.

So you should never do anything on the IELTS test

that makes it more difficult for you

to give the examiners what they want.

Using our strategy, let's look at why this strategy works

and how easy it is.

You should say who this person is.

I'm not going to talk about the other bullet points.

What I'm going to talk about are two companies

that I know a lot about.

I don't know much about the other companies that he runs,

but I know a lot about SpaceX and Tesla.

He runs other companies, but I'm gonna talk

about those two because those are the two

that I feel most comfortable talking about.

So I'm still talking about a well known entrepreneur

because I'm talking about his two main companies.

The thing that he has taught me in my business

is you are paid in proportion to the size

of the problems that you solve,

and a business is really just solving big problems,

so that is what I'm going to talk about.

Why I admire him.

It's very easy for me to talk about that

because I genuinely do admire him.

And what he will do in the future.

I probably won't get to this before the two minutes,

but again, I like to add something in there

that makes it easy for me to talk about it.

So what I'm going to do now is demonstrate that strategy.

The entrepreneur that I'm going to speak about

is a person called Elon Musk, who in 2021

became one of the richest people in the entire world.

This was principally because of his company Tesla,

which is an electric car company,

but he's also quite famous for the company SpaceX,

which is a space exploration company.

The thing that Elon Musk has taught me about business

is that you are paid in proportion

to the size of the problems that you solve.

So when Elon Musk was in his early 20s,

he thought about the two biggest problems

that the world faced.

One was climate change and the other one

was the inability for us to become

an interplanetary species, so if there was some kind

of event that threatened life on earth,

we wouldn't be able to actually survive.

The other reason why I really admire Elon Musk

is he's one of the only entrepreneurs

that speaks very openly and honestly

about how hard he works, and he actually backs it up

with a huge amount of work.

He is famous for working seven days a week,

12 to 16 hours a day, and he has done that for 20 years

or something like that, and I truly believe

that that has helped me in my business

because I inspire my team to work extremely hard

and I believe the harder I work,

the more successful my company becomes.

In the future, Elon Musk will probably

change the world significantly for two reasons.

Number one, he will probably achieve his goal

of getting people to Mars, which is very exciting,

and secondly, he will probably also achieve

a major milestone for autonomous cars,

which is full self-driving mode,

so cars will basically drive themselves.

Okay, so that was around two minutes,

and I would not be able to do that

without using this strategy.

But one thing I would warn you is that you can't just look

at the strategy and then go into the test tomorrow

and perform at the highest level.

What you will have to do is go and find some real questions.

This is one of the books that you will have to get,

"IELTS Academic 15" or any of the other ones.

Use real questions.

I don't have any affiliation with Cambridge.

They don't pay me money or anything like that.

The reason why I suggest these books

is because these are questions that reflect the real test.

If you use fake questions, you'll get questions

that have topics in them that are

really, really, really difficult.

But if you have a look at these books,

you'll see that the questions are not that difficult,

which will really help you prepare properly.

So you need to get real questions,

use this strategy and practice using this strategy

until the point where you don't even

have to think about the strategy, you just do it naturally.

Just like tying your shoelaces, you don't tie your shoelaces

and think about what you're doing.

You just do it automatically.

Practice it until it becomes automatic.

All right, let's give you guys some practice questions here

and a little task.

So this is your turn.

Look at the question below.

What I would like you to do is don't take one minute.

When you're practicing, take as much time as you need

when you're first learning a new strategy,

and then try and get faster and faster and faster at it.

So don't try and do it in one minute.

Take two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes.

Really focus on learning the strategy

rather than trying to do it at exam speed.

You wouldn't, when you're first learning to drive a car,

drive it at top speed.

You'd do it at 10 miles an hour, then 20,

then 30, then 40, then 50.

That's what you should be doing

in all parts of the IELTS test.

Start slowly, focus on mastering each technique,

each strategy, and then try to get faster.

So in the comments, what I would like you to do

is show me your little plan.

This was my plan.

These were the things that I wanted to talk about.

I want you to do the same thing.

I want you to look at the question,

look at the main topic, and then try to create

a number of bullet points that you would feel

really comfortable talking about.

Post them in the comments below.

Describe a country you would like to visit.

You should say which country you would like to visit,

what the country is like,

which attractions you would like to see

and why you would like to visit there.

Feel free to pause the video and take a screen shot of that

or whatever you need, or write it down,

and then practice using that strategy.

Then at home, what you can do,

just a little extra tip that you can use,

what you can do is record yourself

using that strategy on your phone.

So get questions, use the strategy,

and then answer the question and record yourself

on the phone, and then listen back

and give yourself feedback based on how fluent you were,

how coherent you were, your vocabulary, your grammar

and your pronunciation.

Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

So I hope you enjoyed that video

and I hope it was helpful.

If you want any more help with your IELTS preparation,

there's a few things you can do.

Number one, take a look around our YouTube channel.

There's a huge number of videos here

that will help you prepare at home for free,

or you can email us.

We have a huge team waiting to answer any of your emails,

so if you have a question about IELTS,

you want a free course or free information,

we are here for you.

We're here to help you.

Just send us an email, [email protected],

and we'll be happy to help you out.

Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel

so you'll get new videos coming soon.

(coughs) I can't speak anymore.

Then also, if you're interested in getting

some of our VIP education, one of our VIP courses

where we work one on one with you,

and the VIP course has more success stories

than any other IELTS course in the world.

If you're interested in that, click below

in the description and you can join our waiting list.

When a new place becomes available,

our course advisors will contact you and let you know.

Now, before my voice completely disappears, I'll go.

Thank you so much for watching the video,

and thank you for all of your support.

Thanks.

Bye-bye.