How Speaking Part 2 works
IELTS Speaking has three parts and lasts 11–14 minutes. In Part 2 (the long turn) the examiner hands you a cue card with a topic and three or four prompts. You have one minute to prepare and may write notes, then you speak for one to two minutes without interruption. The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions before moving to Part 3.
A simple structure for your two minutes
- Introduce the topic in a sentence or two (“I’d like to talk about…”).
- Cover each prompt on the card in order, adding detail and examples.
- Spend the most time on the final “explain why” line — it is where you show your range.
- Finish with a reflection: how you feel about it now, or what you learned.
Worked example
Topic: Describe a skill you taught yourself. In your minute, jot down four keywords — guitar · online videos · six months · stress relief. Then speak about what the skill is, how you learned it using videos, how long it took, and why you chose to teach yourself instead of taking lessons. Four keywords are enough to keep you talking for two full minutes without reading from your notes.
Tips
- Write keywords, not sentences — you won’t have time to read full sentences aloud naturally.
- Keep talking until the timer ends; stopping early can limit your Fluency and Coherence score.
- Record yourself and listen back for repeated words and long pauses.
For full Speaking tests with an AI examiner and band feedback on fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, try IELTS Prep Hub. You can also check your written vocabulary with the vocabulary level checker.