IELTS

This is one other way to really impress the examiner and make him think that you have a wide range of English.

They are often, but not always, followed by the be verb

What Clauses

• What you need is perseverance.
• What my father told me as a kid has been very useful in my life up to now.
• What I am saying is (that) you need to be careful when deciding.
• What I ought to have done was try a lot harder.

Long noun Phrases

• The main idea was just not to quit -- keep going
• Something my boss did was really stupid
• The best thing to do in those situations is not to panic
• The good thing about studying hard has been (that) I passed the exam easily

It should be easy to get these types of sentences into your speaking. Just pay attention to the be verb and get it in the right tense.

Remember that they always like long and complex sentences. Short sentences with simple subjects and verbs will get you nowhere.