CELPIP Speaking: A Task-by-Task Guide to All 8 Tasks

Most of my CELPIP students do not struggle with all eight speaking tasks. They struggle with two or three specific ones — and because they practise all tasks the same way, their score stays stuck.

This guide breaks down each task one by one: what it asks, how much time you get, what raters are actually listening for, a simple answer skeleton you can reuse, and the mistakes I hear most often from students at CLB 5–7.

How CELPIP Speaking is scored

Before the tasks, one important thing. Every response is rated on four dimensions:

• Content and coherence — are your ideas relevant, developed, and logically connected?
• Vocabulary — is your word choice precise and natural for the situation?
• Listenability — is your speech easy to follow (pronunciation, rhythm, flow)?
• Task fulfillment — did you actually do what the task asked, in the right tone?

Notice what is not on that list: perfect grammar, a Canadian accent, or impressive words. A clear, organized, complete answer with small mistakes usually beats an "advanced" answer that drifts off-task.

Task 1: Giving Advice

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 90 seconds to speak.

What it asks: A friend or family member has a problem or decision, and you give them advice.

What raters listen for: A friendly, personal tone. Clear suggestions with reasons — not just "you should do X" repeated three ways.

Skeleton:

1. Acknowledge the situation ("I know choosing a college is a big decision...")
2. Give your main piece of advice
3. Explain why, with one concrete detail
4. Add a second suggestion or a small warning
5. Close warmly ("Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll do great.")

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• sounding like a formal presentation instead of talking to a friend
• giving advice with no reasons ("You should move. Also, you should save money.")
• stopping at 50 seconds — this task gives you 90 seconds; use them

Task 2: Talking about a Personal Experience

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: Describe a personal experience — a memorable trip, a celebration, a time you learned something.

What raters listen for: Past-tense storytelling that has a beginning, middle, and end, plus a little feeling or reflection.

Skeleton:

1. Set the scene: when, where, who
2. What happened, in 2–3 steps
3. One vivid detail
4. How you felt or what it meant to you

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• staying in the present tense the whole story
• listing facts with no feelings ("We went. We ate. We came back.")
• choosing a "perfect" story that is too complicated to tell in 60 seconds — a simple, small memory is easier to develop

Task 3: Describing a Scene

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: You see a picture. Describe it to someone who cannot see it.

What raters listen for: Location language and organized coverage of the scene — not a random jumping list.

Skeleton:

1. One sentence for the overall scene ("This picture shows a busy farmers' market.")
2. Foreground: the most noticeable people or action
3. Background or sides: what else is happening
4. One small guess about the situation ("It looks like it might be a weekend morning.")

Useful phrases: in the foreground, on the left, behind them, it seems like, I can see.

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• describing one person for 40 seconds and ignoring the rest of the scene
• no location words at all, so the listener cannot build a mental picture
• pure listing: "There is a man. There is a woman. There is a dog."

Task 4: Making Predictions

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: Looking at the same type of scene, predict what will probably happen next.

What raters listen for: Future forms and probability language, connected logically to what is in the picture.

Skeleton:

1. Main prediction ("I think the man in the blue jacket is going to...")
2. Why — what in the picture supports it
3. A second prediction about someone else
4. A short "and then" consequence

Useful phrases: is probably going to, will most likely, I imagine that, after that.

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• describing the scene again instead of predicting (this is the #1 problem I hear)
• one short prediction and then silence
• predictions with no connection to the picture

Task 5: Comparing and Persuading

Timing: 60 seconds to choose between two options, then about 60 seconds to prepare, and 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: You pick one of two options (two houses, two cars, two plans) and then persuade someone — often a family member who prefers the other option — that your choice is better.

What raters listen for: Comparison language and persuasive tone. You must mention the other option, not just praise yours.

Skeleton:

1. State your choice directly
2. Advantage 1, compared with the other option ("This one is cheaper, while the other...")
3. Advantage 2, with a detail that matters to the listener
4. Briefly admit one good point of the other option, then counter it
5. Closing push ("So I really think we should go with...")

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• spending the whole minute deciding, then panicking — choose fast; there is no "correct" option
• describing your choice without comparing ("It has three bedrooms. It has a garden.")
• forgetting who you are persuading — the task usually gives you a specific person

Task 6: Dealing with a Difficult Situation

Timing: 60 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: You are in an awkward situation with two possible people to talk to, and you choose one and explain the problem to them — often apologizing, requesting, or negotiating.

What raters listen for: Tone. This task is testing whether you can be polite and diplomatic in English while still communicating a difficult message.

Skeleton:

1. Open appropriately for the relationship ("Hi Sarah, I'm really sorry to bring this up, but...")
2. Explain the situation honestly
3. Acknowledge their side ("I completely understand this is short notice...")
4. Propose a solution or make your request
5. Close politely

Useful phrases: I was wondering if, would it be possible to, I really appreciate, I hope you understand.

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• being too direct ("You need to change the date.") — this hurts task fulfillment
• explaining the whole backstory and running out of time before the actual request
• forgetting to address the specific person the task names

Task 7: Expressing Opinions

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 90 seconds to speak.

What it asks: You get a statement or question — often about society, work, or daily life — and give your opinion.

What raters listen for: A clear position, developed reasons, and an example. This is the longest task together with Task 1, so development matters.

Skeleton:

1. State your opinion clearly in one sentence
2. Reason 1 + short example
3. Reason 2 + short example
4. Briefly mention the other side, if you have time ("Some people might say... but...")
5. Restate your position

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• giving an opinion with reasons but zero examples — examples are what make 90 seconds feel easy
• switching positions halfway through
• circling: saying the same reason in three different sentences

Task 8: Describing an Unusual Situation

Timing: 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak.

What it asks: You see a strange or unusual image — often an odd object or invention — and you describe it to someone over the phone who cannot see it.

What raters listen for: Can you communicate when you don't have the exact vocabulary? Shape, size, colour, material, comparison.

Skeleton:

1. Say why you are calling and what you are looking at
2. Overall impression ("It looks a bit like a bicycle, but...")
3. Details: shape, size, colour, parts, position
4. Your guess about what it is for

Useful phrases: it looks like, it's shaped like, it's about the size of, it might be used for, the strange part is.

Common CLB 5–7 mistakes:

• freezing because you do not know the exact word — the whole point is to describe around missing vocabulary
• no comparisons, which makes the description very hard to follow
• forgetting the "phone call" framing entirely

How to practise all 8 tasks efficiently

You do not need to give every task equal time. In my CELPIP classes I usually see the biggest score problems in Task 5, Task 6, and Task 8, because they test tone and improvisation, not just fluency.

A realistic weekly routine:

1. Do one full run of all 8 tasks, timed, and record yourself
2. Identify your 2 weakest tasks
3. Practise only those two, 3–4 times each, over the week
4. Re-record and compare

If vocabulary is what slows you down mid-answer, download my free CELPIP Speaking Vocabulary Booster — it groups useful phrases by task type, so you can build the skeletons above into your natural speech.

Final advice

CELPIP Speaking rewards people who know exactly what each task wants and give it a clear, complete, natural answer. Skeletons plus timed repetition will move your score more than any vocabulary list.

If you want structured preparation with feedback on your actual recorded answers, see my CELPIP preparation page. And if your main problem is simply not speaking enough between practice tests, the Speaking Club gives you regular live practice in a small group — which is exactly the kind of spontaneous speaking CELPIP tests.