Describe a time when you got nervous while speaking in public IELTS Cue Card

IELTS CUE CARD TOPIC

Talk about an online course you joined and liked

Please say:

When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Why you felt nervous?
How did you handle it?

Sample 1

Introduction

Although I can confidently speak on many topics, I get nervous speaking in public. One such instance where I faced challenges while speaking in front of a vast crowd is worth mentioning.

When did it happen?

It happened six years ago when I was in 10th standard.

Where did it happen?

There was an inter-school competition, and due to my good communication skills, my school selected me with three others to participate in a debate on environmental issues.

Why you felt nervous?

Although I did sufficient preparation for the debate by reading a load of content, I felt nervous for many reasons. Firstly, there was a lot of crowd because students from all nearby schools were there. Due to that, I was under immense stress because I thought my mistake would tarnish my image in front of a huge crowd.

Secondly, my teacher told me to win the trophy for the school, and she had already announced to the class that our school team would be the winner. As expectations were high, I became more pressurised.

How did you handle it?

When the debate started, I was reluctant to speak because of a lot of nervousness. Due to that, our team needed to catch up. After a few minutes, I did my best by not focusing on the result.

As environment studies were my favourite subject, I started using the plethora of information I had to counter the arguments of the opposite team. This technique worked like a charm. The opponents did not have an answer to my questions, and finally, based on the facts and figures shared by me, our team won the first prize.