Describe a conversation that changed your mind about something.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a conversation that changed your mind about something.
You should say
- who you were talking to
- what the subject was
- what they said
- and explain why it changed your view
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 188 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.A few years ago I had an argument with an older colleague about whether experience or qualifications matter more in hiring, and I was firmly on the side of qualifications. My argument was that a degree is at least measurable and that experience is largely luck about who employed you. What she said, and she said it without any particular drama, was that she had spent eleven years making hiring decisions and that the single best predictor she had found was whether somebody had ever been responsible for something going wrong. Not whether they had succeeded. Whether they had carried a failure. She said you cannot learn that from a course. What changed my mind was not that she was senior to me. It was that she had a specific, testable claim and I had a general principle, and I noticed the difference while she was speaking. I have hired four people since and I have asked a version of her question every time. She has since retired and I sent her a message about it last year, which she found considerably more meaningful than I had expected.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- qualifications
five syllables with the stress on the fourth
- measurable
four syllables with the stress on the first
- predictor
the exact noun for something that forecasts
- responsible
four syllables with the stress on the second
- testable
a precise adjective contrasting with general
- principle
the noun, distinguished from principal
- noticed
past tense marking the moment of change
How a strong answer is built
- 1Set up the disagreement and your original position.
- 2Give your own argument fairly.
- 3Report what they said, concretely.
- 4Explain what actually changed your mind.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a conversation that changed your mind about something.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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