Onterra TutorDescribe an important decision you have made
An IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card, with the structure examiners reward. You get 1 minute to prepare and up to 2 minutes to speak.
The cue card
Describe an important decision you have made.
You should say:
- what the decision was
- when you made it
- what other options you had
- and explain why it was important.
Your 2-minute structure
- Open with a direct answer (10 seconds). Name your choice immediately: one sentence that answers "describe an important decision you have made". Do not waste your first 20 seconds on "that's an interesting question".
- What the decision was (about 25 seconds). Give the fact, then add one detail and one feeling. A specific memory always beats a general statement.
- When you made it (about 25 seconds). This is where a past-tense story earns grammar marks. Set the scene in one sentence, then say what happened.
- What other options you had (about 25 seconds). Slow down and be concrete: a name, a place, a number. Details are what make an answer sound fluent rather than memorised.
- And explain why it was important (about 25 seconds). Link back to your opening sentence with a connector like 'which is exactly why' so the whole answer feels planned.
- Close with why it matters (15 seconds). End on how it affected you or what it taught you. A natural closing line signals confidence to the examiner.
Sample band 8+ answer
About 90 seconds when spoken at a natural pace. Notice how specific the details are; that specificity is what you should copy, not the story itself.
The most important decision I've made was turning down a secure bank job to take a lower-paid role in a small tech company. It happened about three years ago, just after my national service year, when I had both offers in my inbox in the same week. The other option, obviously, was the bank: better salary, prestige, my parents' clear preference. But the tech role promised actual skills, real responsibility from day one and a team I could learn from, whereas friends in banking described years of routine before anyone trusted them with anything. I remember making two lists at midnight and realising every item on the bank's side was about comfort and every item on the other side was about growth. It was important because it set the direction of my whole career, and it taught me something about myself: I'd rather be stretched than comfortable. My parents disagreed for about a year, until they saw how quickly I was promoted, and now my father brags about it as if it was his idea.
Why this answer works
- The 'two lists at midnight' scene turns an abstract decision into a story an examiner can see.
- Other options are explicitly compared, which the cue card demands.
- The joke about the father closes with personality, and humour reads as fluency.
What the examiner listens for
Fluency (can you keep going for 2 minutes without long pauses), vocabulary range (topic words, not just "good" and "nice"), and grammar variety (past tenses and linking words like "which is why" and "even though"). Hesitation is normal; stopping is what costs bands. If you lose your thread, say "what I mean is..." and keep moving.