CELPIP Speaking Task 5 Template: Comparing and Persuading

Task 5 puts two options in front of you — two apartments, two job offers, two trips — with a short set of details for each, and names a person you have to persuade. You get 60 seconds of prep and 60 seconds to speak.

That prep time is worth noticing. Most speaking tasks give you 30 seconds; this one doubles it because choosing a side and organising a comparison takes real thinking. Use it, but don't spend it deliberating — see Step 1.

Use this as a shape to fill, not a script to memorise. Raters score Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Listenability, and Task Fulfillment, and Task Fulfillment here has two halves: a genuine comparison of both options, and genuine persuasion. A neutral pros-and-cons list fails the second half no matter how fluent it sounds.

The five-part structure

Step 1 — Spend prep choosing, not agonising

Write fragments, not sentences. Two columns, two or three points each:

Option A          Option B
+ cheaper         + closer to work
- long commute    - smaller space

Then ask one question: which point matters most to the person named in the prompt? That answer picks your option and hands you your opening argument at the same time. Either option is defensible. The cost of hesitating is speaking time, not a wrong answer.

Step 2 — Commit in the first sentence

The listener should know your position before you explain anything. Do not build to it.

I'd go with [Option], [Name] — and I know [likely hesitation], but hear me out.

Applied:

I think you should take the downtown job, Priya — I know the pay is lower, but hear me out.

Step 3 — Compare, don't just describe

Describing your choice on its own is only half of Task Fulfillment. Every reason should touch both options. Comparative language is what makes the contrast audible:

The main advantage of [Option] over [the other] is [factor] — [your choice] gives you [benefit], whereas [the other] means [cost].

Applied:

The main advantage of the downtown job over the suburban one is time: you'd walk to work in ten minutes, whereas the other role means a forty-minute commute each way.

Step 4 — Name a real drawback and answer it

Pretending your option has no downside makes you sound like an advertisement. Naming one and dealing with it is what pushes a response toward the higher scores — it shows you're arguing, not reciting.

I know [genuine drawback] is a concern. But [reframe, offset, or comparison that shrinks it].

Applied:

I know the lower salary is a concern. But once you subtract fuel and parking for that commute, the actual gap is a lot narrower than it looks on paper.

Step 5 — Speak to the person, not about the situation

The prompt names a listener. Use you and your, and tie each benefit to something that listener actually wants. "Some people prefer a shorter commute" is a neutral observation; "you'd get an hour of your evening back" is persuasion.

That matters for you specifically because [something the listener cares about].

Step 6 — Close by restating the choice

Your last sentence should be the same recommendation as your first, sharpened by everything in between.

So even though [the other option] looks better on [one factor], [your choice] is the stronger call for you.

Worked walkthrough

Here is the whole process on one prompt, from a blank screen to a finished answer.

Prompt: Your sister is choosing between two apartments. Compare the two and persuade her to pick one.

1. Read it for who, what, and the ask.
Your sister, Maya, has to choose between two apartments, and the task has two halves: genuinely compare them, and genuinely persuade her toward one — a neutral pros-and-cons list fails the second half.

2. Plan — notes only.
In your 60 seconds of prep, jot fragments in two columns, then ask which factor matters most to Maya — that picks your side and your opening argument.

3. Turn each note into a line.

Commitment:

Go with the Riverdale place, Maya — I know it's the pricier, smaller one, but I think it's the right call for you.

Strongest comparison:

The main advantage over the Oakwood unit is the commute: Riverdale is a fifteen-minute walk to the hospital, whereas Oakwood means forty-five minutes on transit each way, twice a day. With the shifts you work, that difference is close to an extra hour and a half of your day, every day.

Drawback + answer:

Now, the three-hundred-and-fifty-dollar rent gap is real, and I'm not going to pretend it isn't — but once you take off a monthly transit pass and the coffees you'd buy to survive that commute, the actual gap shrinks a fair bit.

Second reason:

The one thing Oakwood genuinely has on it is the second bedroom, and if you needed a home office I'd point you there. You don't — you need sleep between twelve-hour shifts, and that walk home is what lets you actually rest instead of standing on a platform exhausted.

Close:

So even though Oakwood looks cheaper and bigger on paper, Riverdale is the one that'll still be working for you in six months.

4. Read it back.

Go with the Riverdale place, Maya — I know it's the pricier, smaller one, but I think it's the right call for you. The main advantage over the Oakwood unit is the commute: Riverdale is a fifteen-minute walk to the hospital, whereas Oakwood means forty-five minutes on transit each way, twice a day. With the shifts you work, that difference is close to an extra hour and a half of your day, every day. Now, the three-hundred-and-fifty-dollar rent gap is real, and I'm not going to pretend it isn't — but once you take off a monthly transit pass and the coffees you'd buy to survive that commute, the actual gap shrinks a fair bit. The one thing Oakwood genuinely has on it is the second bedroom, and if you needed a home office I'd point you there. You don't — you need sleep between twelve-hour shifts, and that walk home is what lets you actually rest instead of standing on a platform exhausted. So even though Oakwood looks cheaper and bigger on paper, Riverdale is the one that'll still be working for you in six months.

5. Check before you stop speaking.

• The choice lands in the first few words and the last line restates it.
• Every reason touches both units — the comparatives the main advantage over and whereas do the contrasting.
• One real drawback (the higher rent) is named and answered rather than dodged.
• It's aimed at Maya — her shifts, her rest, her money — using you throughout, and it fills the full 60 seconds.

Full model answer

Prompt: Your friend Daniel is choosing between two gyms. Compare the two and persuade him to pick one.

Go with Peak Fitness, Daniel — I know it's the pricier one, but I think it's the obvious choice for you. The main advantage over Riverside is that it's a five-minute walk from your door, whereas Riverside is a twenty-five minute drive each way. You've told me before that you stop going to places when they become a hassle, and honestly, that drive is going to be the thing that kills your routine by February. Now, the twenty-five dollar difference is real, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise — but you'd be spending a good chunk of that on gas anyway, so the gap is smaller than the sticker price suggests. The one thing Riverside genuinely has is the pool, and if you were swimming twice a week I'd tell you to go there. You're not — you're lifting. And Peak's machines are newer, which matters far more for what you actually do. So even though Riverside looks cheaper on paper, Peak Fitness is the one you'll still be using six months from now.

Why this scores well: the choice lands in the first three words, every reason contrasts both gyms rather than praising one, the cost drawback is named and answered instead of dodged, the pool is conceded honestly and then dismissed with a reason, and the whole thing is aimed at Daniel — his habits, his routine, his money — rather than at gyms in general.

Before you speak

• You chose an option within the first 20 seconds of prep
• Your notes are fragments, not sentences
• Your first sentence names the option
• Every reason mentions both options, not just yours
• At least one comparative phrase per reason
• One real drawback is named and answered
• You use the listener's name and you throughout
• Your last sentence restates the choice

Common mistakes

• Staying neutral. Listing strengths and weaknesses of both options without ever committing reads as a summary, not persuasion. Task Fulfillment drops even if the language is strong.
• Burying the choice. Building to your decision at the 45-second mark leaves no room to defend it. Lead with it.
• Describing one option only. Praising your pick without ever referencing the alternative is not comparison. If the phrases whereas and compared with never appear, check the response.
• Pretending there's no downside. An option with zero drawbacks sounds rehearsed. Concede one and answer it.
• Talking about people instead of to your listener. "Many people would prefer..." abandons the persuasive frame the prompt set up. Say you.
• Running out of prep with no plan. Weighing the options for the full 60 seconds means starting your response without a structure. Decide fast, then organise.