IELTS Speaking Part 2: essential preparation

 It's impossible to prepare for every question that you might get in the speaking test, but what are the essential things to prepare for?

Here's my list of essentials:

1. Favourites: Don't go into the test without knowing what your favourites are. Prepare to talk about your favourite book, film, music, and website.
2. People: Be ready to talk about a famous person and a member of your family.
3. Activities: Have you prepared some ideas about a hobby? Can you describe a typical day in your life?
4. Events: Try to remember some special moments in your life, such as birthdays, festivals and weddings.
5. Places: You need to be able to talk about where you live. Also, think about the places you have visited, what you did there, and why you liked or didn't like them.
6. Things: Can you talk about the things you use every day, something you would like to buy, or a present that you received?

Remember that in part 2 you are always asked to "describe". Make sure you prepare some good adjectives for each topic, make sure you can talk about your opinions and feelings, and think about some examples or stories to make your descriptions more interesting.