Between the stress of speaking in front of everyone, the fear of forgetting your lines, or your slideshow not working – oral exams aren’t exactly a walk in the park! To help you keep stress to a minimum, we’ll explain in this article how to prepare for your oral… using writing!

To get ready for your oral exam, the first thing you need to do is work on your script! Start by writing out everything you plan to say. This first step helps you organise your ideas, clarify your message, and get familiar with the content you’ll be presenting.

Before you start writing, it’s essential to understand the goals of your presentation – that way, you can avoid going off topic. Ask yourself:

• What’s the purpose of your presentation?
• What key points do you want to get across?
• Who’s your audience, and what are they expecting?

Once you’ve nailed down the purpose, you can get stuck into writing. Make sure your content is clearly structured and makes sense from start to finish. A good structure might look like this :

• Introduction: Present your topic, explain the aim of your talk, and grab your audience’s attention.
  ● Main body: Break your content into sections or sub-sections. Each part should cover a specific aspect of your topic. Make sure the flow is logical.
  ● Conclusion: Summarise the main points, reinforce your key message, and finish with a punchy takeaway or a thought-provoking question.

You can use Revision 2.0 Cards and find them again in the scribzee app!

Once you’ve written your full speech out on your revision cards, it’s time for the next step: grab some small cards (flashcards are perfect) and only write the key points. These could be dates, names, stats – whatever’s essential. The idea is to keep it short and sweet, just enough to jog your memory on the day.

❗Here, you’re not using flashcards in the usual way – they’re more like mini cue cards for your talk. But you can also revise with them by writing a question on one side and the answer on the back.

💡 To make things easier when you’re flipping through them, only write on one side – less chance of getting muddled !

Now that you’ve got your notes sorted, it’s time to practise! To feel totally confident on the day, you’ll want to know your talk like the back of your hand. And for that, there’s no secret – practise, practise, practise!

1️⃣      Start by revising with your full revision notes so you can really get familiar with the text. Highlight key info to make reading easier! You can even use one of the Pelikan highlighters 😉. Read it out loud several times to set the tone. After a few reads (three should do it), try to move away from your notes.

2️⃣      Once you’re comfy with the text and know it quite well, try practicing with just your flashcards. It’s harder – now you’re working off just a few keywords!

3️⃣      Finally, to really test yourself and make sure you know it inside out, practice without any notes. This will also help you spot any weak spots or parts you’re unsure of.

➡ Make sure you know what kind of notes you’re allowed to use on the day – can you use small cue cards? Just keywords? Or do you have to present without any notes at all? The fewer notes, the better – that way, you can keep your eyes off your cards and avoid sounding like you’re just reading. But of course, it’s up to you to decide what helps you feel most confident. 😉

Want to access your notes in just a few taps? Download Scribzee! In the app, you can organise all your revision notes into folders and subfolders. You can even track your progress with custom status updates!

Here’s an example:

•  no status
•  to review
•  almost there
•  learned

 Test yourself with the quiz mode

Once your notes are marked as 🎉 learned, you can switch to quiz mode in the app! Aim for a score of 100% to make sure you’re all set for your oral!

Quiz mode tests you using your flashcards – a handy tool for memorising your presentation. Just pop a question on the front and the answer on the back! It’s a fun way to revise and make sure you’ve got everything locked in.

Bonus tip: Scribzee detects the colour of the border and automatically files your flashcards into colour-coded folders – perfect for keeping everything tidy on your phone without wasting time!