Are video calls as effective as meeting face to face? Explain.
A strong Task 1 answer states the choice immediately, gives two supports or one support with an example, and lands its last word around forty seconds. Fifteen seconds of preparation is enough for the plan, not for the wording.
The prompt and the clock
Are video calls as effective as meeting face to face? Explain.
15 seconds to prepare, up to 45 seconds to speak
A model answer at the right length
99 words — what 45 seconds actually holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record yours first. A memorised TOEFL answer is audible in the rhythm, and raters mark delivery, which is exactly what memorisation damages. Read this afterwards for the shape and the vocabulary.For an ordinary working meeting, yes, and I would say video is often better because it forces an agenda. What video cannot do is the part around the meeting. Nobody has an unplanned conversation on a video call, and in my experience most of the useful information at work arrives in the four minutes before a meeting starts or while walking back afterward. Video also makes disagreement harder. The small signals that tell you somebody is uncomfortable mostly do not survive the connection, so people either say nothing or overcorrect. For anything difficult or new, I would still travel.
The words that carry it
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- agenda
three syllables with the stress on the second
- unplanned
a compact adjective, precise about what is lost
- afterward
the American form of the adverb
- disagreement
four syllables with the stress on the third
- signals
the precise noun for small social cues
- overcorrect
a compact verb for compensating too much
How to build the 45 seconds
- 1Concede the routine case and add a positive.
- 2Name what video cannot do, with an example.
- 3Add a second limitation about disagreement.
- 4State the practical rule you follow.
Sounds to watch
Straight answers
How long should this answer be?
Forty-five seconds, which is roughly 110 to 130 words at a natural pace. The model below is 99. If your version runs past fifty seconds the recording cuts off, and raters hear an answer that stops mid-sentence.
Does it matter which side I take?
No. Raters mark delivery, language use and topic development, never which opinion you chose. Pick one in the first second and spend the preparation time on two supports rather than on deciding.
What does sayit score here?
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar. The transcript is shown in full, so you can judge your own wording and development yourself.
What the score on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.Drill it until the clock stops mattering
A free account keeps every take, so you can watch your pace settle and your filler count fall across a fortnight.