English Oral Presentation

I have an English oral exam coming up and the second part of the exam includes choosing one of five topics given to you on a piece of paper 10 minutes before the exam and trying to create a 4-5 minute presentation on it as quickly as possible before delivering it to the examiner.

My main problem is that I'm finding it impossible to structure all the points in my head and remembering them all at once, which leads to me stammering often and screwing things up and the thought of it is making me extremely nervous and anxious.

Can anyone offer any advice on how I can try to structure a presentation in my head in around 7 minutes, enough to remember the points clearly and deliver a coherent discussion without any stammering?

I'm honestly terrified about this

Hello oscartales!

Don't worry, you can do it! I'm curious: what do you do in your 10 minutes preparation atm, and what has been the feedback from your tutors?

I have some suggestions. When you read through the topic, do you take notes and have a highlighter to hand? If I was you I would highlight all the key ideas that you want to pull out of the topic, and write down what you find interesting/important about the piece.

Then, I would write down an Intro, then the main points that you want to argue (3 points is always a nice idea), and a conclusion, each in bullet points. Take a note of what parts of the piece you want to draw attention to (perhaps quotes, or ideas?) under each of these headings.

Are you allowed to take in paper with you to the presentation? If so, having this structure written down should help you whilst you're standing up there presenting. Bullet points are easy to glance at, and you can keep them on a small piece of paper so that you don't have paper flying all over the place - instead, you can still look organised!

And, whenever you have made a point, take a pause and a deep breath before moving on. Although it may feel like an awkward silence to you, it will give you time to stay composed and think about what you're going to say next - and, it will allow the examiners to think about what you have said. Don't rush, take your time - it will make your points clear!

What do you think?


Sloppy J.

Thank you so much for your help! Unfortunately we're not allowed any pens/paper so the preparation has to take place in the mind that is to say which makes the whole thing a bit more tedious

My first try with my tutor went okay(ish) and I do think I've improved significantly but I still have a problem with stammering because of the nervousness/anxiety which is of course frowned upon because the examiner would be testing communication skills unfortunately

But I do think that the 'taking a deep breath' point would help me loads; I hadn't thought of it till now