Describe a Speech you Gave Cue Card

Dec 9, 2025

Describe a Speech you Gave: IELTS Speaking Cue Card model answers have been provided below. The answers are centred upon questions - When and to whom you gave the speech?, What was the speech about?, Why did you give the speech?, How did you feel about it?

What is a Cue Card: IELTS Speaking Part 2 includes cue cards containing topics on which candidates are to speak. Candidates get 2-3 minutes time to speak and 1 minute for note-taking. In IELTS Speaking part 2, candidates' proficiency in grammar and vocabulary is assessed along with their confidence to speak in English.

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Topic: Describe a Speech you Gave - IELTS Cue Card

You should say

When and to whom you gave the speech?
What was the speech about?
Why did you give the speech?
How did you feel about it?

Answer 1:

When and to whom you gave the speech?

I gave that speech exactly two years ago at our college’s big annual cultural fest — the one where the whole campus turns into a chaotic carnival for three days straight. They’d picked me as the student rep to kick things off with the welcome address, so there I was, on stage under those blinding lights, facing maybe eight hundred people: my batchmates screaming my name, terrified juniors clutching their chairs, and professors trying to look stern in the front row.

What was the speech about?

The speech was basically me begging everyone to stop treating college like just classes and exams. I talked about how the real magic happens in the drama club at midnight, during dance practice fights that end in laughter, in the messy chaos of fest prep. I threw in shout-outs to every club that had won something that year and basically dared the freshers to sign up for at least one crazy thing that scares them.

Why did you give the speech?

I only said yes because the cultural secretary cornered me after class and went, “Bro, you owe me for that time I covered your proxy — now go talk to a thousand people.” (Terrifying but fair.)

How did you feel about it?

For the first thirty seconds my legs were jelly and I’m pretty sure my voice cracked on “Good evening.” But then I spotted my friends in the crowd making stupid faces, and the nerves melted. By the end, people were cheering like I’d announced free pizza. I walked off stage shaking, but the good kind — the kind that feels like growing a few inches taller. That day turned me from “the guy who mumbles in presentations” into “the guy who can actually hold a mic without wanting to die.” Still one of the proudest, most terrifying, best ten minutes of my college life.

Answer 2:

When and to whom you gave the speech?

I gave that talk last year during one of our Friday “lunch-and-learn” sessions at the office. About fifteen people were crammed into the conference room—my manager, a couple of senior analysts, and a bunch of new hires who still looked terrified of the coffee machine.

What was the speech about?

The topic was simple but brutal: why garbage data equals garbage decisions. I walked them through how a single typo in last year’s marketing campaign dataset cost us almost six figures in wasted ad spend, then showed the before-and-after once we finally cleaned it up. Nothing fancy—just real screenshots, ugly Excel sheets, and the exact moment the forecast flipped from “we’re doomed” to “we actually crushed it.”

Why did you give the speech?

My boss basically volunteered me the week before: “Hey, the newbies keep asking why we’re so obsessive about validation checks—can you scare them straight?” I spent three late nights turning my rant into slides, convinced I’d bore everyone to death.

How did you feel about it?

Standing up there, my heart was hammering so loud I was sure the mic would pick it up. But five minutes in, I saw the fresh grads furiously typing notes and even my grumpy manager nodding along. Someone asked a follow-up question, then another, and suddenly we ran twenty minutes over because people wouldn’t stop talking about their own data horror stories.

Walking out, I felt that weird high you get when something you care about actually lands. I still bump into those new hires in the pantry and they’ll randomly say, “Remember that missing-values story? Saved my butt last week.” Turns out turning nerdy frustration into a fifteen-minute rant was the most useful thing I did all year.

Answer 3:

When and to whom you gave the speech?

I gave that speech three years ago at my cousin Priya’s wedding reception, right after the couple had cut the cake and before the chaos of dinner began. About 150 people were there (uncles already tipsy on whisky, aunties comparing sarees, kids running wild under the fairy lights). I’d helped string up the night before).

What was the speech about?

I stood up with a mic that kept squeaking, heart pounding, and told the story of how Priya and I used to steal mangoes from the neighbour’s tree and blame the crows. Then I spilled the tea about the groom’s terrible dance moves at the sangeet (he knew it was coming and still turned red). I ended with the moment I realised they were perfect for each other: when he showed up at 3 a.m. during her finals week with coffee and silent company while she cried over statistics.

Why did you give the speech?

They asked me because we basically grew up as siblings (same summer vacations, shared secrets, the works). She texted me two weeks before: “Please say something. You know me better than I know myself.” How do you say no to that?

How did you feel about it?

I was a wreck beforehand, rewriting it in my head while the makeup artist did my eyeliner. But the second I started talking and saw Priya tearing up in her red lehenga, everything clicked. Half the room was laughing, half was crying, and my dad gave me that proud nod he saves for very rare occasions. Later, random aunties I’d never met kept hugging me saying, “Beta, you made us all cry happy tears.” Best five minutes of nerves I’ve ever had.”

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