Ielts secrets

English. The questions in Part 2 of the 
Speaking Module literally beg for stories to be told. These need to be compelling 
stories, real time drama, and you’re the hero. You want the interviewer begging 
for more, asking follow-up questions, eager to hear how it ends. Once you begin 
a quick exciting story, you set the tone of the interview, and you will determine 
what will be the follow-up questions. 
The easiest way to prepare for these Part 2 questions is to scour your memory 
for any exciting instance in your past. Perhaps where you played a leadership 
role or accomplished a goal. These can be from any part of your past, during 
your education, at home with your family, projects at work, or anything that you 
might have had a part in. Identify the main characteristics of the story, you want 
to have things straight. Make sure you know the basics of what happened, who 
was involved, why it occurred, and how the events unfolded sequentially. You 
certainly don’t want to stumble over the facts and repeat yourself during the 
interview. 
One Size Fits All 
These basic stories are building blocks. Just as a piece of lumber can be cut into 
many different shapes and have many completely unique uses, each of your 
stories does not only answer one unique question. Your stories are one size fits 
all. With practice you will find that you can use the same story to answer two 
seemingly unrelated questions. 
 For example, a question about teamwork and working under pressure can both 
be answered by a story about your experience playing intramural basketball. 
The story could describe how you had to work as a team in order to get into the 
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playoffs, spending time practicing together, coordinating plays, whatever was 
necessary for the team to advance. Alternatively, the story could focus upon the 
clutch shots that you made that season in order to win the game in the last few 
seconds of play under enormous pressure. The basic story is the same: your 
experiences playing basketball. 
The questions were different, but you customized the story to fit the question. 
With practice you should be able to answer almost any question with just a few 
stock stories that can be customized. 
Find the Bridges 
Some questions will lend themselves more readily to a story than others. You 
must have a set of basic stories ready that can be modified to fit the occasion. 
You must “find the bridges” in the questions offered to make sure your stories get 
told. 
In WWII, the US Army used Bailey bridges. Bailey bridges were bridges made of 
prefabricated steel sections that were carried around and could be thrown 
together at a moment’s notice, allowing the army to move quickly across any 
obstacle and get to where they wanted to go. 
You need to find bridges, i.e. opportunities to tell your stories. Look for any 
chance to turn a standard question about anything, into a bridge to begin telling 
your story. For example, “What is your job title?” 
On the surface that might not seem like the ideal bridge, but with a little insight 
your response might become: 
“My job title is Product Line Manager. I was responsible for everything from the 
development of new products, to the obsolescence of old products. Marketing, 
sales, engineering, and production of the entire product line fell under my 
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Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any 
other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 
responsibility. One of the products was even my own idea based on feedback I 
received from my interactions with our customers. In the first year, it alone had 
achieved a sales level of over” 
The key to remember is that just because a question is asked as a closed ended 
question (yes/no, or one word answers), doesn’t mean that you have to answer it 
as a closed ended question. Answer the question asked, but then find a way to 
develop your answer and a bridge to a good story of yours. With an open mind, 
the most closed ended of questions can become a launch pad into a story. 
Pregnant Pause 
A good story can usually wind its way down a long path. There is always a 
danger that you will begin to bore the interviewer, who may wonder if an end is in 
sight. Some interviewers may get worried that they won’t be able to get through 
the fifteen questions on their list during the allotted time. Therefore, find natural 
breaks in your story and pause for a second. If the interviewer maintains eye 
contact or asks continuation questions, then keep going. But this will give them a 
chance to stop the story and ask a different question if they are getting bored and 
want to move on. 
Taking the Final Step 
By trying to answer each of your Part 2 questions with a basic story, you will be 
able to transition nicely into the final step, Part 3. Part 3 questions are based 
upon your answers to Part 2 questions and will be asked at the interviewer’s 
discretion. By using the story techniques listed above, you will have already 
determined the path that the interviewer will take with his follow-up Part 3 
questions. The interviewer will naturally ask questions that tie into your story and 
you will already be prepared for those questions and will ace Part 3 as easily as 
the others. 
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Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any 
other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 
Practice Makes Perfect 
Don’t try to answer every question by shooting from the hip. You’ll spend most of 
your time trying to think of what happened and repeating yourself. Think of the 
classic stories that you could tell and then practice going over them with your 
friends, explaining how you successfully achieved the goal, or took charge and 
gave leadership to your group project. You don’t want to have the story 
memorized, because it will become stale in the telling, but you want it to be 
smooth. This story must be live and in living color, where the interviewer can see 
himself taking part on the sidelines and watching the situation take place. Have 
your friends and family members quiz you by asking you random questions and 
see how well you can adapt to the question and give a lucid response. 
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Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any 
other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 
Special Report: How Your IELTS Score is Viewed, and 
What This Means for You 
For your IELTS score, you will be grouped in one of nine bands. 
If you are on the upper edge of one of these bands, it is definitely profitable to 
work your way into the next one by studying and practicing. 
Band Description Meaning
9 Expert User Fluent with complete understanding
8 Very Good User Full operational command, occasional inaccuracies
7 Good User Operational command, occasional inaccuracies
6 Competent User Effective command, inaccuracies
5 Modest User Partial command, many mistakes
4 Limited User Limited command, frequent problems
3 Extremely Limited User Only general understanding
2 Intermittent User Only basic understanding with difficulty
1 Non User No language ability
0 Did Not Take Test N/A
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Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any 
other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 
Special Report: What Jobs Require Which IELTS Scores 
Below is a list of different jobs and what each IELTS score band means to that 
occupation. If you have a lower IELTS score, you might want to consider either 
studying more and trying to increase your score, or a less linguistically 
demanding position. 
Linguistically 
demanding 
academic courses
Linguistically less 
demanding academic 
courses
Linguistically 
demanding training 
courses
Linguistically less 
demanding training 
courses
Band
(Medicine, Law, 
Linguistics, 
Journalism, Library 
Studies)
(Agriculture, Pure 
Mathematics, 
Technology, 
Computer-based 
work, 
Telecommunications)
(Air Traffic Control, 
Engineering, Pure 
Applied Sciences, 
Industrial Safety)
(Animal Husbandry, 
Catering, Fire 
Services)
9.0-7.5 Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable
7.0
Probably 
Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable
6.5
English Study 
Needed Probably Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable
6.0
English Study 
Needed
English Study 
Needed
Probably 
Acceptable Acceptable
5.5
English Study 
Needed
English Study 
Needed
English Study 
Needed
Probably 
Acceptable
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Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any 
other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 
Special Report: Which IELTS Study Guides and Practice 
Tests Are Worth Your Time 
We believe the following guides present uncommon value to our customers who 
wish to “really study” for the IELTS. While our manual teaches some valuable 
tricks and tips that no one else covers, learning the basic coursework tested on 
the IELTS is also helpful, though more time consuming. 
Practice Tests 
IELTS Practice Tests 
(Click above to order) 
This is the ONLY source for REAL IELTS tests. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED only 
for the practice tests- disregard their advice. 
Study Guide 
Cambridge IELTS 3 
Cabridge IELTS 3 is THE best comprehensive coursework guide to the IELTS. If 
you want to spend a couple months in preparation to squeeze every last drop out 
of your score, buy this book!