Ielts speaking--how to improve your bandscore

Chapter Three:
Brainstorming and relating ideas
How can brainstorming help in the Speaking tasks?
Since the Speaking test is impromptu, you should be ready and confident to
answer any question. This does not mean that you memorize or prepare some
rehearsed lines though.
Apart from familiarizing the types of question in the Speaking test, it is also a
wise idea to generate your own thoughts or views on any topic to be asked in the
actual test.
As you constantly brainstorm for ideas in the preparation period, you also
subconsciously master certain aspects of the language such as expressions,
common sentence patterns, and even your own distinct style of answering
questions.
Thus, preparation should yield more work for the brain. It is only with constant
and thorough practice that you truly become natural at sharing your ideas
verbally.
What is exactly meant by ‘relating ideas’?
When asked to give opinions on very personal matters like family and hobbies,
we normally have many ideas that need to be articulated. The challenge is to
choose which ideas we should share in response to certain questions.
The ideas we share would depend on how the question is asked. When we are
asked about our family, we respond based on what specifically is being asked
about. Consider these questions:

Do you like your family?
How big is your family?
What is your family like?
Can you tell me something about your family?

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When we relate ideas, we make sure that everything we state is related to the
main thing being asked about. Speaking about your family really well is when
you hit the target. It’s when you speak about what the examiner specifically asks.
You shouldn’t say ‘I like my family so much’ if the question is ‘How big is your
family?’ Would you?