IELTS Speaking Part 2 - Describe a time when you gave advice to someone

Describe a time when you gave advice to someone is a common IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card that tests your ability to narrate a personal story. In this post, we provide a Band 9 model answer that uses advanced vocabulary and a clear structure to help you speak for the full two minutes. Whether you are giving professional guidance or a simple piece of friendly advice, these strategies will boost your Lexical Resource score.

There is one piece of advice that I gave a while back, and it is something that I try to follow whenever I am doing anything, and that is ‘done is better than perfect’. I used to be a perfectionist.  I was never satisfied with anything, and I had to re-do it or tweak it to make it better. The problem with that was, things often didn't get finished because I was too busy striving for perfection.

I can’t remember precisely when it was, but it was a few years back when I was working on a project with a classmate at college. I was becoming increasingly stressed because the deadline was looming, and we still had loads to do. The reason why we weren’t making much progress was because she kept going back and tweaking what we had done, rather than moving forward and finishing the project. She was driving me mad, and I was worried that we wouldn’t meet the deadline. Finally, I’d had enough so I said to her, ‘you know, I really admire your desire to have the perfect end product, but done is better than perfect’.

When I said it, she replied, ‘what utter nonsense’. The next day however, she came in and said she had reflected on it later, and realised that I was right, and this was incredibly useful and constructive advice. If we carried on changing minor details, it wasn’t going to add much to the finished product, but an unfinished project would certainly get us in trouble with our teacher. We would probably fail as well.

She had a much more positive attitude and focused on the finish line. Thanks to my sage advice, we got everything done with a day to spare and then we were able to make some final adjustments. She later told me that she tries to follow this advice all the time. She said that previously, she had suffered from a fear of failure and that stopped her from finishing things. I understood completely what she meant because I’d been there and had those same feelings.

a while back = some time ago

done is better than perfect = it is better to finish a job than not finish it

a perfectionist = a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection

I was never satisfied with = I was never happy with

to re-do = to do again

to tweak = to make small changes

to strive for perfection = to try to make something perfect

I can’t remember precisely = I don’t know

the deadline was looming = the date when we needed to complete it was near

progress = development

To drive someone mad = to make someone annoyed

end product = finished product

what utter nonsense = that’s stupid

To reflect on something = to think about something

constructive advice = useful advice to help you improve

To carry on doing something = to continue doing something

minor = small

sage advice = wise and knowledgeable advice

a day to spare = a day earlier than necessary

adjustments = changes

a fear of failure = worrying about doing something wrong

Common IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions related to advice:

• Why do some people dislike getting advice?

• Should parents always give advice to their children?

• Is professional advice better than advice from friends?