Improve IELTS Speaking Part 2 – An Influential Person

In this lesson you will learn how to Improve IELTS Speaking Part 2 using the “influential person” topic. We go through a practice technique that you can use and discuss some of the vocabulary and grammar that you can use to improve your IELTS Speaking Score.

How to Improve IELTS Speaking Part 2 with the “Delayed Reading” Practice Method

1. Pause the video during the recording of the topic.
2. Look at the current sentence. Memorize it. Just that one sentence.
3. Look away from the video (don’t read) and say the memorized sentence.
4. Look back to the video, start the video again, and listen to my recording. Say the sentence again, trying to copy my intonation and my rhythm.
5. Repeat this process from Step 1 for each sentence. Each repetition will help you improve IELTS Speaking Part 2.

The Speaking Task

Describe a person who has been an important influence in your life.

You should say:

who this person is and how long you have known him or her

why you chose this person

how this person has influenced your life

 and explain how you feel about him or her.

IELTS Master’s Sample Answer

So I’d like to talk about my dad because I think he had a huge impact on my life and on the person that I am today.

Well, the question asks how long I’ve known my dad and of course it’s been since I was born.

And I think he’s had a really big influence on my personality, on the type of person I am, and on how I live my life and how I enjoy my life.

I think he taught me a lot about how to be a good person and things like how to work together with others, and most importantly how to bring joy to the people around me.

I remember one time when I came home from school…it was just a normal day…but for my dad it wasn’t a normal day.

I didn’t know at the time, but he had planned this really, really amazing trip to the mountains for the weekend.

And I came home and he said “Lee, what are your plans for the weekend?” and I said “well, I don’t really have any plans for the weekend. I guess some homework?”

And he said “How about we go off to the mountains and enjoy ourselves” and…I was…I was just amazed.

I was so happy because I didn’t expect anything like this to happen and it was a really special moment for me.

But it wasn’t just this one time. It happened again and again. Still, I remember this moment because it was the first time I realized what he was doing.

And I realized how he was working hard to bring joy for other people because those kinds of things are (were) the types of things that brought joy for him, so those types of things brought joy for him.

And…that made a really big impact on me and how I should work hard to bring joy to others as well.

Your Action Step

While listening to the video lesson, do each part of the “Delayed Reading Practice Method” to practice your speaking. It will definitely help you improve IELTS Speaking Part 2! For more IELTS Speaking lessons, click here.