IELTS Cue Card Sample Answer # Speech
Describe a speech that someone delivered. You should say,
- who delivered the speech
- what was the topic of the speech
Why did you liked/disliked the speech
SAMPLE ANSWER
[PARA 1]
I have heard numerous speeches, lectures, and commentaries throughout my life, but the one speech that still gets better of me and teaches me so much was the speech of Steve Jobs at Stanford. I remember, googling something about Steve Jobs a few years back because I wanted to know about him and fumbled onto his speech. There have been some speeches that I have heard before and some motivational videos that have struck me but nothing was better than his speech.
[PARA 2]
It was the commencement speech of Stanford graduate students and Steve chose to tell three stories of his life. The stories of connecting dots,
He talks of how we need to trust whatever our heart is saying and whatever is happening in the present, because no matter what, all these things will certainly do connect in the future and if we do it in the best way, it is going to stay with us for a longer period of time. And the fact that our all learning are going to get connected makes it possible to be able to just trust at whatever is happening in the present and move on with life.
[PARA 3]
The next story was about love and loss. He talks of how he got fired from his own company and then went on to find love and create new ventures and finally return back to his own company. He speaks of the fact that if you love what you do, life is going to be beautiful. The third story was about death. “If you live each day as if your last, someday it will be right.” And it is very powerful because when you know every day that you may die soon, is when you start living life like never before. Finally, when he closes his speech, he says, stays hungry stay foolish. And I think it is a very powerful message.
[PARA 4]
It was after that speech that I started closely following Steve Jobs and I realized that there is a lot that can be learned from him. The way he lived his life on his three philosophies and that helped him create a new history for the world. The reason that I loved the speech was that he was not talking about hard work and sacrifice and things that people get scared off. He was talking about simple plain things, love and loss. There was no reason not to understand him and whatever he said just struck me in my heart because it was so damn true.
What are the differences between a political speech and a speech given by a non-political person?
I think these days there seems to be a blurred line between both because even politicians give speeches where they talk of the benefits of the listener. But, on a very close notice, I would say a speech given by a political person has a lot of promises involved but the one by a non-political person tends to have a lot of examples of how things were done and how you might follow them.
What are the important aspects of a good speech?
I think a good speech is the one that strikes you in your heart and forms an impression that lasts forever. I remember listening to Barack Obama’s speech and it was so wow, that you felt so much connected to it. There was a great content that he had written but apart from that, the way he delivered the speech was beyond imagination. It was as if he was on a one to one conversation with the millions of people sitting over there. So, I think a good speech is not just great content but also the way the person delivers it.
What do you think makes a person a good speech giver?
A lot of practice makes someone perfect in anything and that is what I believe in. I think if there is someone who wants to really give good speech that he or she should practice a lot and when giving a speech it should not be that you are trying to tell someone something, so the focus shouldn’t be on making the other person listen but on making sure that you speak from the heart and when that happens, people do listen automatically.
