Ielts speaking--how to improve your bandscore

Chapter Ten:
Structuring and developing ideas
What is the significance of organizing your ideas in the IELTS Speaking
test?
Other than grammar and pronunciation, organization of thoughts and points is
also assessed in the Speaking test. The examiner will look at how your ideas are
presented. For a good band score in your coherence and fluency, the flow of
ideas should be smooth, consistent, and logical. Therefore, an answer that lacks
these qualities is likely to get a low band score.
In part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test, you are to give a short talk for two minutes.
One of the challenges in this part of the test is how to stay coherent. This is how
you organize your content in a manner that your message is understood. There
should be comprehension at the examiner’s end. The trip from your opening to
your closing must be loophole-free or you might go in circles without actually
answering the questions then lose your message.
Good organization improves fluency and coherence, reducing your mistakes.
How to Come Up with a Coherent Answer
For a coherent answer, there should be a structure. Your ideas must make sense.
To structure your answer, you can use the cue card, for the questions in it are
already organised with one major and four minor topics.
How to Structure Ideas for Speaking Part 2
Outlining is a great way to structure your ideas for your talk in IELTS Speaking
part 2. Through this you can identify your key points, giving you directions in
your thoughts so that you will not wander off.
Your key points in Speaking part 2 are those four or five minor questions. They
are what, where, when, why, with whom, and how. Writing down a short answer
with keywords to each of these questions in the cue card will serve as a

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framework of an organized answer that covers all the questions.
The one-minute time should be used in the preparation of your response. Make
notes of your answer and underline the keywords. An example of this outlining
is as follows:
Describe a famous person from your country.

You should say the following:
Who the person is
What he/she is famous for
What he/she is like
Why you like him/her
Outlining:
Who? Charice Pempengco
Why famous? international singer, concerts with famous singers, talk show guest
(Oprah)
What’s she like? down-to-earth, never changes physical attributes to look good,
loving to parents, proud of being a Filipino
Why I like? represents Filipino talents, made Filipinos known in the world
As you speak, refer to the prompts on the cue card and the notes you made for
each.
Each claim should be supported by an example or explanation. For example:
Charice Pempengco is an international singer. Most of her concerts are actually
held abroad such as in the United States.

She is very humble. This is true especially in the manner she answers questions
during an interview after her performance. She doesn’t sound arrogant at all.
Use prompts or signpost terms to signal to the examiner you are introducing new
points. These prompts indicate the following:

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1. Introduction of your response:
I’d like to talk about . . .
I’m going to talk about or describe how to . . .
What I’d like to talk about is . . .
What I want to talk about is . . .
2. Background details pertaining to place:
It is near . . .
It is situated in . . .
3. Background details pertaining to time:
It took place around . . .
It happened when . . .