PTE Describe Image Tips and Tricks | Top 12

Does it matter if you miss a point or two in your PTE Describe Image questions? What exactly shall you focus on for a good score in this question type? That is what we will be discussing in this article as we share our Top 10 Tested and Proven PTE Describe Image Tips and Tricks with you.

Let’s go through them one by one:

Understand what type of image you are dealing with

The very first in our PTE Describe Image Tips and Tricks: Identify the type of image!

This is the first step. Unless you are able to understand what type of image is in your PTE Describe Image question, you will not be able to structure your response properly. So, first understand if it’s a graph, if a graph then what kind of graph, a chart, a table, a map, an infographic or something else? You can include this information in your introductory statement.

Prepare a template and structure for most common types of images

This tip is closely related to the previous one. For most common types of images you should have a set template in mind. You don’t necessarily have to use the exact template – but you should know enough to include the right information. For e.g. if it’s a graph then you should look at the axis and include that information in your response. If it is a table then you need to talk about the rankings and do some comparisons.

Identify the key points in the image and note them down.

You will have about 25 seconds to understand the image. In this time you should focus on getting down the key points of the image. Once the recorder opens up you should only focus on speaking. You don’t have to write down the whole response exactly as you will speak in the 25 seconds, but only the main points. Then you can go through them one by one in your response.

Decide the order in which you will describe the points

Next in our list of PTE Describe Image Tips and Tricks is: Decide the order!

This is related to the previous one. A natural flow of ideas is the best. So you can start with the point that conveys general information, then specifics and finally any comparisons and implications. But this decision which point to speak about in which order should be made in the first 25 seconds.

Always begin with an introduction!

Whenever you are explaining something – whether in PTE Describe Image or in the PTE retell lecture questions or anywhere else, you first need to introduce the topic and prepare the listener for what he is going to hear about. So that’s why begin your answer with an introduction and an overview of the image.

Don’t forget to make a conclusion!

Just as you must begin with an introduction, similarly you must also end your response with a conclusion. In this you can talk about the implications and sort of reiterate the main point of the image.

Focus on key points not on all the details

There will be many points that you can potentially touch in your response, but you can’t cover them all in your spoken response in 40 seconds. That is why you need to focus only on the key points, for example – the highest, the lowest, the biggest, the smallest, the change in trend, etc.

Club similar points together

If there are too many points in the image you should speak about similar points in one sentence. For example, if there is a bar graph which has a highest bar, a lowest bar and then half a dozen bars which are similar in height then you can just put them all together – don’t go through each one by one.

Keep an eye on the timer and try to complete within the given time

It is important that you give a structured response that is complete in entirety – in other words introduction, key points, and a conclusion. If you see you are running out of time – then club some points together and move on to the conclusion.

Practice by studying graphs, images, etc. in newspapers and websites

This is something you can do as a part of your normal everyday reading or Internet browsing. Of course this cannot take the place of practicing materials from PTE Mock Test packages, but this can complement those materials and provide you more variety and even some fun.

Learn the right vocabulary – words for comparison, contrast, amounts, trends

For e.g. more than, less than, rose, fell, in contrast, compared to, highest, and lowest. This is very useful in conveying the information in the right way. Combine your sentences using these words. This will help you with other PTE Academic question types as well.

Don’t hesitate and don’t get stuck anywhere in your response

Even if the image is difficult and you are having a hard time trying to understand it, you should still give a confident response even if simple in nature. As far as possible include all the main points in your response, but if for some reason you aren’t able to understand the main points then you can speak about the image in a simple manner – basically just read out what is in front of you.