Comparing and Persuading

Overview

Comparing and Persuading is the one task where comparison is the content. The screen shows two options with their details, and the prompt names someone you have to convince - usually a family member or friend with preferences of their own.

Preparation here is 60 seconds rather than 30, and Task 6 is the only other task that gets that long. The extra time exists because you have to take in two sets of details before you can choose between them.

Structure

• Sixty seconds of preparation - double the usual window.
• Sixty seconds of recorded speech.
• Two options presented together, each with its own details.
• A named listener whose priorities you are meant to address.

What to expect

Neither option is the right one. They are built to be close, so the choice is genuinely arguable and the persuasion has to do the work rather than the facts.

• Two venues for an event - a hall and a garden, a restaurant and a community centre.
• Two vehicles, two apartments, or two pieces of equipment.
• Two holidays, courses, or weekend plans.
• Two gifts for the same person.

Suggested steps and timing

Split the 60 seconds of preparation into three. Give the first 20 to reading both options properly. Use the next 20 to choose - not the better option, but the one whose advantages you can name in English - and to pick exactly two points of comparison. Spend the last 20 on the listener: what do they care about, and which of your two points speaks to it.

Then run the spoken minute: about 10 seconds to greet the listener and state your choice, 20 on the first comparison, 20 on the second, and 10 on a direct closing appeal. Say the choice in the first sentence - a minute is not long enough to build up to it.

Key strategies

• Compare rather than describe. "Far more spacious than" earns what "quite big" does not.
• Aim at the listener’s stated priority - cost, distance, comfort, space - and name it out loud.
• Concede once. "Although the hall is smaller, it is much closer to you" shows range and sounds honest.
• Address them directly throughout: "I know you were worried about parking…".

Common pitfalls

• Describing both options evenly, so no persuasion ever happens.
• Forgetting the named listener and delivering a generic review instead.
• Using the longer preparation to plan both cases, then having no time left to commit to one.
• Comparing on a point the listener has given no sign of caring about.

Final advice

The doubled preparation window is the thing to rehearse, not just the answer. Sixty seconds is long enough to read two options and still choose late, and candidates who drift through it arrive at a 60-second answer with two half-formed cases. Practise deciding out loud at the 40-second mark, every time, until committing early stops feeling risky.