IELTS Speaking Success

Topic IELTS Speaking

The Truth
IELTS Speaking

Part 2
1. Ideas and Vocabulary
You could talk about…

Expressing your real feelings - (don’t bottle up your

feelings)

• Tell your friend - you are angry, sad, irritated,

depressed, happy…

You don’t like something they do / did / said

• Bad habit (smoking)

• They gossiped, told a secret, lied…

Praising them

Confessing you did something wrong

 Telling The Truth

To speak up / out

Be brave enough to…

To speak out

To be up front

To be frank / candid

To share your feelings

To be open

To be crystal clear

To speak plainly

 Idioms

I didn’t beat about

the bush

= I went straight to the

point

I didn’t go all around

the houses

= I went straight to the

point
2. Model Answer
3. Language Analysis
Let me tell you about a time I had to tell reveal my
true feelings to my friend about his habit of smoking.
So, Martin, who’s been a friend since we were kids, is
now married with a kid and smokes a lot.

I mean he’s practically a chain smoker.

It got worse when his baby was born, I guess it was
partly stress-related.
Signpost
Let me tell you about a time
I mean (used to clarify)

Grammar (relative clause)

…., who’s been a friend since we
were kids, … (used to add info)

Collocations
Reveal my feelings = show or tell
A chain smoker (=s.o. smokes a lot)
It troubled me because I knew smoking was bad for
his health and bad for those around him, due to
passive smoking, right?

So I decided I should say something.

To be honest, it was really hard to build up the

courage to speak out and I kept putting it off.

Vocabulary
It troubled me
= it worried me, it concerned me

Collocations
Passive smoking
To speak out
To put off = to delay something
I didn’t want him to be angry and of course, there
was the risk of this damaging our friendship.

Finally, I found a good moment to talk to him and I

was just really up front about my feelings, about the
harm he was doing to himself and above all to his
baby.

Grammar
Want s.o. to do something

Vocabulary
The risk of ____ doing something

To be upfront about ___

= speak honestly about ___
All said and done, he actually took it very well.

He didn’t fly off the handle or anything, he agreed

with me and said he would try and stop.

So, I was delighted with him and with myself, if the

truth be told, because I had managed to have a
difficult conversation and it had all turned out well.
Connectors
All said and done = in the end
If the truth be told
= honestly speaking

Idiomatic expressions
To take it well
= to accept bad news well
To fly off the handle
= to get very angry
To turn out well = to finish well
IELTS Speaking

Part 3
1. Do you think people should
always tell the truth?

2. How can we teach children

about the importance of telling
the truth?

3. Why do some people cheat

when playing games?

4. Is cheating sometimes
acceptable?
Do you think people should always tell the truth?
That’s a tricky question. By and large yes, but you don’t want
to always tell the gospel truth, and there are times when a
white lie maybe a better option. For example, if somebody
invites me to their house for dinner and I don’t like the food
they have cooked, I will probably tell a fib, perhaps saying it
has an unusual taste, and it’s really interesting to try new
dishes. I don’t think that’s deceitful, it’s just being polite.

Opinion
By and large yes, but…

Example
For example, if____, I will ____

Summary
I don’t think that’s ____, it’s just _____
Do you think people should always tell the truth?

That’s a tricky question. By and large yes, but you don’t want
to always tell the gospel truth, and there are times when a
white lie maybe a better option. For example, if somebody
invites me to their house for dinner and I don’t like the food
they have cooked, I will probably tell a fib, perhaps saying it
has an unusual taste, and it’s really interesting to try new
dishes. I don’t think that’s deceitful, it’s just being polite.

Collocations
Tell the gospel truth
Tell a white lie
Tell a fib
Vocabulary
To be deceitful = to mislead, to lie
Why do some people cheat when playing games?
Maybe they are just extremely competitive and don’t like
losing. When it comes to games, I guess they prioritise
winning over honesty. Look at football players in the big
championship matches, right? They fake falling and things
like that because so much is at stake. Generally speaking, I
suspect that people cheat because they think they can get
away with it. If nobody catches them, then nobody is any
wiser and they think ‘no harm done’!

Opinion
When it comes to _____, I guess

Example
Look at _____, they….

Summary
Generally speaking, I suspect…
Why do some people cheat when playing games?
Maybe they are just extremely competitive and don’t like
losing. When it comes to games, I guess they prioritise
winning over honesty. Look at football players in the big
championship matches, right? They fake falling and things
like that because so much is at stake. Generally speaking, I
suspect that people cheat because they think they can get
away with it. If nobody catches them, then nobody is any
wiser and they think ‘no harm done’!
Collocations
Extremely competitive
Championship matches

Expressions
Prioritise A over B
___ is at stake = ____ is at risk

To get away with = not be found out

Nobody is any wiser
= nobody knows about it
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