IELTS Speaking Cue Card

A few weeks ago, I travelled to Canada on a holiday from England. It was an early flight and I was exhausted because of lack of sleep from the night before. To my misery, my flight was diverted to another airport due to a severe hailstorm. However, I was greeted by a fellow passenger named Alicia who managed to lift my mood.

What started out as small talk, turned out to be an engrossing conversation because we had many of our interests and thoughts in common. Our chat started with a simple question but continued till the end of our journey. Like myself, she was also a small business owner who was on her way to opening a franchise with her friend in Canada. We talked about how we started our businesses and managed to establish a successful career despite many challenges. It has been only 2 years since I started my online clothing business while she was in the profession for more than 5 years. She has given some valuable insights on strategies that help make better sales and handle customers. We had a wonderful time and did not even realize that our journey had come to an end. What’s more, we belong to the same place, so we arranged to meet up again later. 

I have met many people in my life but Alicia was someone I had the most fascinating conversation with, as we seemed to have similar tastes and passion towards work. I am glad I met her and look forward to meeting her soon to have many more such conversations.

 

Vocabulary:

1. Strategies- a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim
2. Engrossing - interesting
3. Insights- the power or act of seeing into a situation
4. Fascinating- extremely interesting
5. Exhausted - very tired

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Part 3 Follow Up - Questions & Answers

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1. What is the difference between the conversations of men and women?

In my view, women are more expressive than men. In conversations, women tend to be more animated and their conversations could centre on any topic which might seem interesting to them. Men, on the other hand, tend to be very selective on their topics and their conversations are mostly devoid of emotions.

2. What is the difference between talking on the phone and face to face conversation?

Face to face conversation, any day, is the best form of communication as it instantly forges a sense of trust. It fosters relationships both in business and personal lives whereas in telephonic conversations these pros are conspicuous by their absence. Telephone communication, though, has made global business possible and has helped people profoundly in building and maintaining long distance relationships.

3. What is the importance of body language?

Body language includes our gestures and the movements we make. It’s an essential part of communication but it’s usually something which is taken for granted. If you are genuinely listening to someone in a conversation, but your body language is negative then it can easily put off the speaker and it might appear as though you’re disinterested in what they have to say - even though you’re listening, and it might lead to untold consequences.