IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a person you admire

People cue cards are the most common Part 2 type. Examiners hear the same flat description dozens of times a day, so the fastest way to lift your band is to build the answer around one specific story instead of a list of adjectives.

Your one-minute prep plan

1. 1Write the person's name and relationship to you — one word each, no sentences.
2. 2Note one concrete scene you witnessed: where you were, what they did. This becomes the middle of your talk.
3. 3Note two qualities the scene proves, so you describe through evidence rather than adjectives.
4. 4Write your final sentence in note form so you never trail off when the examiner stops you.

Band 9 model answer

The person I'd like to talk about is my aunt Farah, my mother's younger sister, who has been teaching in a government primary school for about twenty years now. I've known her my whole life, obviously, but I only really started admiring her when I was around fifteen and spent a summer helping in her classroom. She teaches classes of fifty children, sometimes more, with almost no materials — the school ran out of exercise books halfway through that term. What struck me was that she never once used it as an excuse. She'd cut old newspapers into strips so the children still had something to write on, and she learned every single child's name in the first week, which sounds small until you try it with fifty seven-year-olds. There was one boy who hadn't spoken in class for months, and she just quietly sat with him during break times until he did. That's really why I admire her. It isn't that she's exceptionally talented or anything dramatic like that; it's that she keeps showing up and doing the unglamorous part properly, year after year, when nobody is watching and certainly nobody is paying her enough. I think that kind of steady, patient decency is much rarer than obvious brilliance, and it's what I try to copy in my own work.

The same answer at band 7

I want to talk about my aunt Farah. She is my mother's sister and she is a primary school teacher. She has been teaching for about twenty years in a government school. I know her because she is my relative and I helped in her class one summer. Her classes are very big, around fifty students, and the school does not have enough materials. But she is very hard-working and patient. She remembers all the students' names and she helps the weak students in the break time. There was one shy boy and she helped him to speak. I admire her because she is dedicated and she does not complain about the difficulties. She is a good example for me.

Both answers are on topic and error-light. The band 9 version wins on specificity (newspaper strips, fifty seven-year-olds, the silent boy), natural connectors, and a reflective ending that answers the 'explain why' bullet with an idea rather than an adjective.

Phrases worth stealing

“The person I'd like to talk about is…”

Clean opening that buys you two seconds of thinking time.

“I've known her my whole life, but I only really started admiring her when…”

Covers the 'how you know them' bullet and sets up your story.

“What struck me was…”

Signals the key moment; examiners hear this as natural spoken English.

“It sounds small until you try it.”

Turns a plain detail into a point.

“It isn't that she's… it's that she…”

Contrast structure that shows range without sounding memorised.

“…year after year, when nobody is watching.”

Strong closing image for admiration topics.

Part 3 questions that usually follow

Mistakes to avoid

• Listing adjectives — 'she is kind, helpful, honest, hard-working' — with nothing to prove them.
• Choosing a famous person you don't actually know much about, then running out of content at forty seconds.
• Reciting an obviously memorised answer; examiners are trained to spot it and it caps your Fluency score.
• Answering the first three bullets and ignoring 'explain why', which is the bullet worth the most.
• Stopping at one minute. Aim to still be speaking when the examiner interrupts you.

More Part 2 cue cards