A strong Describe Image response helps a listener understand the image without seeing it. Your job is to select the most useful information and explain it clearly, rather than naming every detail or filling the time with general statements.
You have 25 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak. Use preparation time to decide what the image shows and which details deserve a place in your response.
Start with the type of image
For a chart, check the title, labels, units and categories. Identify the largest and smallest values, an important comparison or a clear trend. Only describe an increase or decrease when the image actually shows change, such as values over time.
For a process, identify the starting point, the main stages and the outcome. For a photograph, focus on the main subject, visible actions and the arrangement of people or objects.
Write a few brief keywords if useful. A complete script is difficult to prepare in the available time and can distract you from the image itself.
Build the response around three moves
Introduce the image. State what it shows in one clear sentence.
Explain the strongest details. Choose two or three observations that reveal the main pattern or relationship.
Finish with an overall observation. Summarize what the image demonstrates, using only information it supports.
This structure is flexible. A simple photograph may not need a separate concluding sentence, while a process may be clearest when you move directly through its stages.
A chart example
Imagine a practice bar chart titled Preferred Ways to Commute. It shows bus at 40%, car at 35% and bicycle at 25%.
The bar chart compares three preferred ways to commute. The bus is the most popular option at 40%, followed by the car at 35%. Cycling accounts for the remaining 25%, making it the least popular choice. Overall, the bus leads, although the difference between bus and car is relatively small.
The response gives an overview, includes accurate values and explains the comparison. It does not claim that bus use is increasing, because the chart contains no time trend.
Adapt your language to the image
For charts, useful openings include “The chart compares…” and “The graph shows changes in…”. Use phrases such as the highest proportion, slightly lower or a steady increase only when the data supports them.
For processes, connect the stages with first, next, after this and finally. Explain what happens at each stage rather than listing labels without a relationship.
For photographs, in the foreground, on the left and behind can clarify location. Describe visible activity; avoid inventing people's jobs, feelings or reasons for being there.
Keep the delivery focused
Speak in manageable sentences and pause briefly between ideas. Empty endings such as “This picture is very useful in our lives” use time without describing the image.
Practise with different image types. After recording, check whether a listener could identify the main subject, whether every detail is accurate and whether your response reaches its final point before recording ends.
