In Part 2 you are handed a card with a topic and three or four prompts, given a minute with paper and pencil, then asked to speak for one to two minutes. Two things go wrong, and both are decided in that minute.
Writing sentences. A minute is not enough to draft prose, so students who try end up reading half a sentence and then stalling. Write four or five single words instead, each a hook for thirty seconds of speech. Words, not lines.
Ignoring the last prompt. The final bullet is usually "and explain why…", and it is where the interesting language lives — reasons, comparisons, feelings. Students who plan only the facts finish the story in forty seconds and then stand in silence. Plan the "why" first.
A structure that reliably fills two minutes:
- Set the scene in one sentence. When, where, who.
- Tell the thing itself. What happened, in order.
- Say why it matters to you — this is the part that carries the band.
- Close with a short reflection. "I still think about it when…"
You do not have to tell the truth. The examiner is marking English, not verifying your biography, and a true story you cannot describe is worth less than a plausible one you can.
If you run dry before the examiner stops you, add a contrast: "It's quite different from…" or "I'd feel differently about it now because…". Silence is the only thing in Part 2 that cannot be marked.