When you were a speaker in a meeting or a public function

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 505 with Model Answer:

Describe a time when you were a speaker in a meeting or a public function.

You should say:

• what type of meeting or public function it was
• why you talked in this programme
• what you talked about as a speaker in the programme

and explain your experience of being a speaker in this programme.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

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Model Answer 1:

Well, to tell the truth, I never had much opportunity to speak at any kind of meeting or public gathering except when I spoke at our local sports club meeting a few times. So, I will just go ahead and talk about the experience of speaking at one such club meeting.

Now, please don’t jump to the conclusion, even just for a second, that just because I spoke at that club meeting a few times, I somehow carried some kind of credentials with me of being an expert public speaker, or I was someone important! In fact, I was chosen to speak at our club meetings only because our club president had asked me to do so in his absence. Besides, I was probably chosen to speak at those club meetings also because I was the longest-serving patron of that sports club.

But, for whatever reasons that I was chosen to speak at those club meetings, I sure was glad that I was able to deliver the messages of my club president in his absence. However, even though, I was mainly chosen to speak on behalf of our club president to give a general account of the club activities over the previous month, I also felt the need of talking about a few other important issues, such as information about the club registration, coaching and fundraising. Besides, I also talked about the ways of enlisting more young people for membership in our club since most of the members were becoming inactive because of their old age.

Anyway, at the end of the meeting, I felt that I did a reasonably good job in getting across the messages within a short period of time, even though I don’t think that most of the club members there in that meeting were paying that much attention to what I was saying. Besides, I felt that I needed to invite some opinions from the sitting audience in front of me to make the meeting even more interesting, but I didn’t do so because of some unknown fear and nervousness.

Sample Answer 2:

About four or five months ago, I had the opportunity to speak at an annual meeting of the local social welfare committee of which I am a long-time member. The meeting was a platform for the members to come together and discuss the progress and challenges of the various welfare projects being carried out in the neighbourhood. Thank you very much for the opportunity to let me talk about this even here.

I was invited to talk in this meeting, and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to raise awareness about some important issues like tree plantation and minimizing noise pollution in our neighbourhood. These are issues that I feel passionately about, and I wanted to use this platform to bring attention to them.

As a speaker, I first thanked the committee members and organizers for the excellent work they were doing and how their contributions were making a positive impact in the neighbourhood. I then went on to talk about the importance of tree plantation and how it can help to improve the environment, as well as the need to minimize noise pollution in the neighbourhood, which can have negative effects on people's health and well-being. I also highlighted how the committee could contribute to these causes and encouraged others to take action.

Honestly speaking, it was a great experience for me to be a speaker at this meeting. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous at first as I don't often talk at public meetings. But, after a couple of minutes, I felt comfortable and delivered my speech with enthusiasm and passion. It was a great feeling to be able to share my thoughts and ideas with a group of people who were genuinely interested in making a positive impact in our neighbourhood. I am looking forward to more opportunities to speak at public events like this in the future.