IELTS SPEAKING CUE CARD
IELTS CUE CARD
Describe a time when you encouraged someone to do something that he/she didn’t want to do.
You should say
Who he or she is?
What you encouraged him/her to do?
How he/she reacted?
And explain why you encouraged him/her?
NOTE – The examiner gives you one minute to plan your answer, and to help you prepare for the topic, the examiner provides you with a pencil and a notepad. You’ll have to answer the questions given on the topic for one-to-two minutes
Sample Answer 1
Introduction
- Being an altruistic person, I have this habit of helping others.
Who he or she is?
- Last year I encouraged my younger sister to step outside her comfort zone.
What you encouraged him/her to do?
- Due to the corona pandemic, the government imposed a strict lockdown in our nation.
- Because of that, we all family members remained confined to the comfort of our time.
- During that time, my sister had gained enormous weight and looked bulky
- Since the gyms were closed, she was not willing to do exercise at home.
- At that time, I advised her to do running inside our township to lose weight.
How he/she reacted? And explain why you encouraged him/her?
- To my dismay, she had disagreed and told me that for her running is a turbulent task.
- Being her elder brother, I was really worried about her health and wanted her to do running in any case.
- I made her read a book called “The compound effect” by Darren Hardy.
- The writer of this book has set a principle to do daunting tasks.
- And that is to take tiny steps every day, to climb the ladder of success.
- Based on the technique prescribed in this book, I advised her to just run for 50 metres per day for one week.
- To my surprise, she agreed.
- Since running such a small distance was a cakewalk for her, she did it with tremendous ease.
- Next week I increased her target to 100 metres, to which she immediately agreed.
- For the next two months, I kept on increasing her target.
- To her surprise, she lost 15 kgs weight in a short period of four months. This is how I had encouraged my sister to do something that he/she didn’t want to do.
Sample Answer 2
Introduction:
- There is no denying this conviction that on numerous occasions, we need to motivate others to come out of their comfort zones
- One such situation came when I had gone to Tatta Pani with my bosom friend Andrew.
- There I convinced him to participate in adventurous activities
- Our visit to Tatti Pani was during the winter break.
- Due to Corona Pandemic, we didn’t have many outings for a long time. Hence that trip was special to us
- Our initial plan was to focus on sightseeing.
- However, upon reaching Tatta Pani, we realized that this place has carved a niche for itself in adventure sports.
- Being an adventurous person, I wanted to try all the activities like paragliding and rock climbing.
Who he or she is?
- When I had gone to buy the tickets, my friend told me that he would not accompany me for adventure sports.
- Being his bosom friend, I wanted him to be a part of all the activities So that we could cherish the moments together.
What you encouraged him/her to do?
- I encouraged him to participate in river rafting.
How he/she reacted? And explain why you encouraged him/her?
- In the beginning, he said a blunt no to me.
- However, I persisted and had appraised him regarding the safety equipment. But that did not interest him
- So, I thought of taking reviews from those who had participated in this activity.
- After getting positive reviews, Andrew gained confidence
- He accompanied me in the boat
- With various twists and turns, we finished the activity.
- To my surprise, Andrew enjoyed the whole experience
- The primary reason for encouraging Andrew was to make him conquer his fear.
Sample Answer 3
Introduction
Being an optimistic person, I always encourage others to go beyond the conventional domain to carve out a niche for themselves.
Recently I motivated one of my friends to break the shackles and come out of the comfort zone.
Who he or she is?
He is my bosom friend. His name is Gordon.
What you encouraged him/her to do?
We both studied together for 15 years. Apart from this, Gordon is my next-door neighbour since my childhood.
Since he was in a state of turmoil due to a severe financial crunch, I decided to help him.
Being his best buddy, I was aware of his strengths and weaknesses
From childhood Gordon has this innate ability of singing, moreover, God has blessed him with a melodious voice.
Despite such a skill set, he was not able to do justice to his talent. The apparent reason for him not becoming a playback singer was his fear of giving a public performance.
To make him sing in public, I make him read a book by the name of “Awaken the giant within”.According to the principles described in the book, people can gain success in life by changing their long-held beliefs.
After reading the book, Gordon realized his mistake and participated in a music reality show.
He won the best singer award, and these days he is raking in big bucks through his singing talent.
How did he/she react?
She thanked me for bringing a paradigm shift into her life.
And explain why you encouraged him/her?
I encouraged him because my parents have always taught me to help our near and dear ones.
Follow up Questions
Here are some examples of follow up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to cue card “Describe a time when you encouraged someone to do something that he/she didn’t want to do”.
Q1. How could leaders encourage their employees?
There are numerous methods through which leaders and managers can motivate employees like setting the right precedent, rewards and recognition.
There is no denying this conviction that personality differs from person to person. Due to this, one method may give fruitful results for a set of people, while the same may yield adverse results from others.
Q2. When should parents encourage their children?
In my opinion, parents should motivate their children regularly. But, the highest need for encouragement arises, when children are afraid of failing or they wish to try something new.
Parents should tell them that their central focus should be on participation and giving their best. If children work with determination, dedication and discipline success would eventually come.
Q3. What kind of encouragement should parents give?
Parents can motivate their children through numerous methods. There is no denying this conviction that children do not follow their parent’s advice, rather they follow the examples set by their parents. Hence to encourage children parents must bring a change in their lifestyle too so that the children also feel motivated to follow their parents.
Q4. Do you think some people are better at persuading others?
Persuading others is a skill that only a few people possess. In most cases, it is an inborn quality. However, by working hard any person can acquire it