Are you taking IELTS soon? Dreading that part 2 when you have to talk for up to two minutes? How should you use that one minute you have to prepare? What kind of notes should you take? I’m an IELTS speaking examiner, and this is my advice: You’ll notice that the task on the card is split into several steps. For example, you might be asked to describe a person who is kind. The card asks you to say who it is. Next, it asks you to say how you know them. Then, it asks you to say what sort of person it is. Finally, it asks you to explain why you think they are kind. Use the time to think of how you can paraphrase the questions back to the examiner. I’ll say that again. Use the time to think of how to paraphrase each section. Use the 1 minute you have to prepare to think of synonyms you can use. Let me give you an example: The card asks you to describe someone you know who is kind. What should your introduction sentence be? When you take notes, think about synonyms for ‘describe’, for example: talk about, speak about, or tell you about. Next, think of a synonym for the word ‘kind’, for example: selfless, helpful, generous or kindhearted. So, now you have written synonyms in your notes, you know how to say your first sentence: I’m going to tell you about my university teacher who is a really generous, selfless and kindhearted person. What about the next statement: say how you know this person. Jot down a synonym for ‘know’, for example, you could say where you met them, or that a friend introduced you, or they are a family member. So, you should say something like this: I first met my teacher when I started university. I was 18. What about the next task: say what sort of person he is. Here you could think about using an idiom, for example: he’s “the life of the party,” or, he’s a really “good egg,” or he’s “a bright spark.” Another idiom you could use is: “he doesn’t suffer fools gladly.” If you use unusual idioms you might improve your band score.