Part 2 Practice: Describe a Person

Card 1 > Describe a person who has had an important influence on your life. > > You should say:

• who this person is > - how long you have known them > - what kind of person they are > > and explain why they have had such an important influence on you.

Card 2 > Describe a successful person you admire. > > You should say:

• who this person is > - what they have achieved > - how you first heard about them > > and explain why you admire them.

Card 3 > Describe an elderly person you know. > > You should say:

• who this person is > - how often you see them > - what you usually do together > > and explain what you have learned from them.

Use the Story Arc method:

1. Who (15s) — name and relationship. Keep it specific.
2. Context (20s) — how long, how you met, what they do.
3. Character (30s) — 2 or 3 specific qualities with examples.
4. Key moment (30s) — one concrete story that illustrates their influence.
5. Reflection (15s) — what you have taken from knowing them.

The person I want to talk about is my grandmother — my aama-baba as we call her in Nepali. She passed away three years ago, but she lived with us for most of my childhood, so I knew her very well.

She raised four children and seventeen grandchildren, somehow. What I remember most is that she was incredibly patient — I never saw her lose her temper, even when we were being difficult. She had a particular way of dealing with arguments: she would just listen, nod, and then quietly explain what she thought. There was never any drama.
One moment that really stuck with me was when I failed my school-leaving certificate on the first try, which in Nepal is a big deal. I was devastated. She sat with me and said, "Life has a way of making you retake the tests you skipped the first time — be grateful this one's just an exam." I think about that line probably once a month.
She influenced me because she showed me that you can be extremely strong without being loud about it. I'm still working on that.

• Starting with "Let me introduce..." — unnatural. Just say "The person I want to talk about is..."
• Generic descriptions — "He's very nice and very kind and very helpful" runs through three empty adjectives. Pick one quality, show it with a story.
• Running out at 45 seconds — most underperforming candidates stop well before 2 minutes. The story arc prevents this.
• Memorising — the examiner WILL ask follow-up questions. If your talk was rehearsed, you will freeze on the follow-up.

1. Pick one of the three cue cards above.
2. Set a 1-minute timer, write 4 bullet points (not sentences).
3. Set a 2-minute timer, record yourself speaking from your notes.
4. Play back. Check: Did you fill the time? Did the story arc flow?