IELTS cue card: describe a person you admire
An answer plan for the IELTS Speaking Part 2 task about a person you admire, with prompts for who they are, what they did, and why they matter to you, plus follow-up practice.
Presentation9 cardsAbout 4 min to speakIntermediateSchool
Language oral exam presentation template
A cue card plan for a foreign language oral exam presentation: introduction, three content sections, an opinion, a conclusion and prepared answers for follow-up questions.
Free to use, edit, print and study. No account needed: your set stays on this device.
The cards
- 1
Before you start
- Topic: [my town / a holiday / my future plans / a social issue]
- Time limit: [___ minutes]
- Language: [Spanish / French / German / English / other]
Write the cards in the exam language. Keep each card to key phrases you can glance at.
- 2
Greeting and introduction
[Greet the examiner in the exam language.]
"Today I'm going to talk about [topic]. I chose this topic because [personal reason]."
"First I'll describe [A], then [B], and finally I'll give my opinion on [C]."
- 3
Section A: describe
- Present tense facts: [where, who, what]
- Two adjectives with agreement: [___, ___]
- One comparison: "[My town is quieter than the capital.]"
Mark any word you often mispronounce with underline.
- 4
Section B: past experience
- "Last [summer / year], I [visited / took part in] [___]."
- A completed action and a background description (both past tenses your language uses)
- One feeling: "[It was the best day of my life because...]"
- 5
Section C: future and conditional
- "Next year I'm going to [___]."
- "If I had more money, I would [___]."
- "I'd like to [___] because [___]."
Examiners often look for a range of tenses. This card is where you show it.
- 6
Your opinion
- Opinion phrase: ["In my opinion...", "I think that..."]
- Reason: [because / since]
- One contrasting view: "[However, some people believe...]"
- Your conclusion: "[Overall, I think...]"
- 7
Conclusion
"To sum up, [one-sentence summary]."
"Thank you for listening. I'm happy to answer any questions."
Pause and smile. You have finished the prepared part.
- 8
Likely follow-up questions
- Why did you choose this topic? → [___]
- What would you change about [it]? → [___]
- What do young people in your country think about [it]? → [___]
- Have you always felt this way? → [___]
Prepare one-line answers you can expand.
- 9
Rescue phrases
Learn these in the exam language:
- Could you repeat the question, please?
- I'm not sure, but I think...
- That's an interesting question. Let me think.
- What I mean is...
- I don't know the word, but it's a kind of...
How to use this template
Many school and university language courses end with an oral exam: a short prepared presentation followed by questions from the examiner. This template gives you a clear route through it in any language. You introduce your topic and outline, describe it in the present, tell a short past experience, look ahead with future and conditional forms, and then give a balanced opinion. That order is deliberate: speaking exams commonly reward a range of tenses, opinions with reasons and accurate structures, so each card is built to show one of those. The last two cards prepare you for the unscripted part with likely follow-up questions and rescue phrases for moments when you lose a word. Rewrite every card in your exam language before you practise.
Tips
- Write cards in the exam language, but only key phrases. Reading full sentences aloud sounds unnatural and may be marked down.
- Highlight verb endings and gender agreements that you often get wrong so you check them at a glance.
- Practise the introduction until it is completely fluent. A confident first thirty seconds settles your nerves.
- Check your exam board's rules on notes. Some allow a cue card with a set number of words, others allow none during questions.
- Rehearse answering follow-up questions with a friend who asks them in a random order.
- If you blank, use a rescue phrase in the exam language rather than switching to your own language.
Make it fit
- For a shorter two-minute presentation, merge sections A and B and keep the tense card.
- For a picture-based exam, replace section A with a description of the image: what you can see, who, where and what might be happening.
- For an advanced exam, add a card with a subjunctive or passive structure your syllabus expects.
- For an online oral, put your cards just below the camera so you keep eye contact.
Updated October 28, 2026