Use these tips to improve your IELTS speaking band score. When we are preparing for our IELTS speaking part 2, we must make sure that we use connectors. But what are connectors? Connectors, also known as linking words or discourse markers, are words and phrases we use to connect our sentences. For example, let’s imagine we’ve been given the subject of speaking about a member of our family that we get on well with. It’s a good idea to introduce your speaking with a phrase like “Let’s begin” or “let’s make a start.” These are both connectors. Secondly, use a variety of adverbs: actually, surprisingly, similarly, really, very, extremely, rarely, sometimes, never, always etc. Thirdly, if you can, use an idiom. In the following example I used an idiom at the end. See if you can spot it. Here is an example of the speaking part 2 exercise. Let’s make a start. Surprisingly, I get on really well with my sister. In fact, my sister is a really inspiring person. Actually, she’s younger than me. I find her inspiring because she’s a champion swimmer. I would never race her. She’s so fast. To be honest, she trains really hard, especially when she has to finish her homework and then go to the swimming pool as well. Unfortunately, I don’t get to hang out with her very much, because she’s always busy. But when we do meet up, we always have fun. Usually we go shopping. Sometimes we play video games. My sister is extremely funny. She has a great sense of humour. We always have a laugh when we spend time together. We rarely argue. Mostly, we get on like a house on fire. Please do the exercises and find the missing words.