IELTS Speaking Part 1 Topic: Advertisements with Band 9 Sample

1. How do you feel about advertisements?
I’m sick and tired of them, so I always try to find ways to bypass ads on any media platform. For example, when I use the Internet, I make use of a program that blocks advertisements and pop-ups on any web page. As for TV, I don’t watch it that often, so commercials are not really a problem to me.

2. Are there many advertisements in your country?
There are more than anyone could ever ask for. Seriously, it’s hard to go anywhere without seeing or hearing some kind of product commercial. It doesn’t help that advertisers in my country aren’t very good when it comes to making funny or clever content.

3. What are the various places where we see advertisements?
I think we are exposed to them mostly through media platforms such as TV, newspapers or the web. However, ads also take on some physical forms. Sometimes it could be a giant billboard, sometimes it could be your neighbour who gets commission for promoting a product.

4. Why do you think there are so many advertisements now?
I think there could be various reasons advertisements are so commonplace these days. Personally, though, I guess when businesses are competing so hard with each other, bringing the image of their product to the customers is as important as the product itself.

5. What kind of advertisements do you like the most?
Like I have mentioned, I don’t like ads. Though if I must pick one kind, then I would choose TV commercials, for the simple reason that I don’t watch TV, so they don’t bother me. The types of commercials that win me over must be creative and clever in some way. For example, I love shampoo ads for Old Spice because they feature an angry muscular man screaming at the audience about the product’s superiority. The tongue-in-cheek humor and over-the-top effects never fail to catch my attention.

6. Do advertisements influence your choice about what to buy?
They do and I don’t like that fact. I’d prefer to be informed about my purchase, do research, price-match and all that stuff. Still, the number of products and brands are overwhelming, so exposure through ads inevitably impacts my buying habits.

7. Do you think advertising plays an important role in today’s world?
I don’t think so. I agree that they are being plastered in every imaginable part of our lives, however we could and should live without them. No one ever says “I’d love a commercial to interrupt my favorite TV show, man”.

8. What sorts of advertisements leave the deepest impression on people?
I can’t speak for everyone, but in general there are two kinds of ads that get talked about: those with catchy tunes and those that are designed to trigger sympathy and compassion in its audience.