Speaking tool
IELTS Speaking — phrase bank (Parts 1, 2, 3)
These phrases are not a script — they are the connective tissue between your ideas. Memorise the chunks, then forget you memorised them.
IELTS
Part 1 — natural openers
Direct, then expand
- • Well, to be honest, …
- • That's a great question — actually, …
- • It depends, really. If …, then … . But …
Buying time naturally
- • Hmm, let me think for a moment.
- • That's something I haven't thought about for a while.
- • I suppose the best way to answer that is …
Part 2 — cue card 2-minute structure
- 10 sec: introduce — "I'd like to talk about …"
- 20 sec: what / who / when / where (background).
- 40 sec: WHY this matters or how it happened (the meat).
- 30 sec: a personal feeling, lesson, or detail.
- 20 sec: wrap — "That's why this stands out for me even today."
Part 3 — abstract discussion frames
Comparing past and present
- • Compared with previous generations, …
- • There has been a noticeable shift in recent years from … to …
- • Whereas in the past people tended to …, nowadays they …
Hedging confidently
- • I would argue that, broadly speaking, …
- • It's certainly not universal, but in most cases …
- • While there are exceptions, the general trend is …
Giving examples
- • A clear example would be …
- • Take, for instance, …
- • In countries like …, for example, …
Fluency tactics that lift your band
- Extend every Part 1 answer to 2 full sentences — never one-word answers.
- Speak past the beep / cue card limit until the examiner stops you. Don't trail off.
- Use one idiom or one less-common collocation per minute — not five.
- Replace "good / bad / nice / very" with more precise adjectives.
- Self-correct briefly — examiners reward it, they don't penalise it.
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