Grand Oral of the 2022 bac: eleven practical tips from a public speaking teacher to succeed in the exam
Cyril Delhay, a public speaking teacher who helped design this exam, shares a few tips to help candidates cope as well as possible with this intimidating exam.
Ready for the Grand Oral ? Between Monday 20 June and Friday 1 July, candidates for the general and technological bac will take the final exam of the baccalaureate. The stakes are high: the exam has a coefficient of 10 in the general track and 14 in the technological track.
The exam, marked out of 20, lasts 40 minutes. The student arrives with two questions prepared with their teachers on one or two of their specialties (arts, history-geography, mathematics, physics-chemistry…). The jury, made up of two teachers, one of whom teaches one of the candidate's specialties, chooses one of the two questions. The student has 20 minutes to prepare. The Grand Oral itself also lasts 20 minutes, divided into three stages: a 5-minute presentation, a 10-minute interview with the jury and 5 minutes of discussion about the candidate's plans for further study.
This Grand Oral "provides practice in argumentation and public speaking", stressed the new Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, in a press release. A few days before this exam, which many students dread, franceinfo asked Cyril Delhay, a public speaking teacher at Sciences Po who helped design the exam, for some practical advice for candidates.
1"Beforehand, you can prepare yourself mentally for this oral"
"Of course, the Grand Oral is there to validate your speaking skills and your knowledge. But it is also an encounter, a moment when you share a little of yourself. You have to leave your fear of the jury at the door: the jury is well-meaning. It is as if, while preparing your oral, you had prepared a meal for friends. Once the preparations are over, you spend a pleasant moment and enjoy your guests' company. Here, your topic is the meal, and you share it with the jury.
Beforehand, you can prepare yourself mentally for this oral at home, like an athlete visualising a competition. Imagine yourself making your way to the exam centre and entering the room."
"This helps your brain get used to it, so that it seems less new and therefore less stressful."
Cyril Delhay
2"With heart coherence breathing, you can regain your calm"
"Under stress, we hold our breath, our mouth goes dry, our breathing becomes jerky and we sweat. We search for our words, when we don't stammer. Although part of this stress is completely beyond our control, because it is physiological, you can act on it if you listen to your body.
By regulating your breathing with heart coherence breathing, you can regain your calm. This technique, tried and tested by top athletes, consists of a sequence of inhalations and exhalations, each lasting five seconds, repeated for three minutes.
The more you practise beforehand, the better. So don't hesitate to do it two or three times a day in the days before the exam, and before entering the room on the day, or even during the 20 minutes of preparation before the Grand Oral."
3"Avoid writing out your whole presentation"
"During the 20 minutes of preparation, you will organise your ideas. What you should avoid is writing out your whole presentation, because you won't be able to read any notes during the oral and, above all, you won't have time. On the other hand, it is useful to write down your first and last sentences, to help you visualise where you start and where you want to end up.
It is like a plane taking off and landing: these are the trickiest moments of your presentation. Between these two sentences you can also jot down key words or figures, five or six at most, as reminders."
"Avoid reciting your notes; interact with the jury."
Cyril Delhay
4"Use short sentences"
"Forget about trying to say everything; focus on the essentials. To do this, use short sentences: subject, verb, object, with one idea per sentence. This will help you to be clear and to speak about your topic lucidly.
Also think of your speech as music punctuated by silences, about a third of your time. This will make what you say lively and allow you to sharpen your thinking. Putting a silence before a word highlights it, and even more so after it."
"Silences also allow you to breathe."
Cyril Delhay
5"Verbal tics can be eliminated in a few days"
"If you are worried about verbal tics, which spare no one, such as 'so', 'actually', 'um', 'there you go', they can be eliminated in a few days. Record yourself for one minute, then listen while counting your tics. If you do this two or three times, you are already halfway there, because your brain becomes aware of these verbal tics.
You can also practise talking about a subject you are passionate about to your friends, your family or in class. You will notice that when you are committed to what you are saying and want to share it, there are fewer filler words, or none at all. It also gives you an idea of the right pace."
6"When the body is well positioned, thinking becomes clearer"
"As soon as you enter the exam room, it is as if you were stepping onto a playing field and becoming aware of the other players. Here, you are interacting with the jury. To do this, you need to be aware of your body, the instrument that will allow you to practise the art of public speaking. During the first part of the exam, the candidate stands. Afterwards, they may sit down.
When the body is well positioned, thinking becomes clearer. Standing, firmly grounded, feet hip-width apart, you will become aware of your surroundings, of others and of your breathing. To be comfortable in this posture, you can find your reference position at home, the one that gives you a feeling of being rooted and stable."
"Why not take inspiration from the stance you adopt when you play your favourite sport?"
Cyril Delhay, public speaking teacher
7"It is important to develop open gestures"
"Under stress, we tend to keep our arms pressed against our body. We make reassuring gestures with our hands, fiddling with them or rubbing them on our legs. It is therefore important to develop open gestures that reach out to others and enrich what you say. Also think about the position of your fingers.
To have fluid, open gestures on the day, you can rehearse two or three gestures at home so that your body learns them. You can also watch speakers you like with the sound off, looking only at their gestures for inspiration."
8"You must look at the jury"
"Eye contact is very important. Under stress, we tend not to look straight ahead and to look for inspiration on the ceiling. If you do that, you fall short of the art of public speaking. You must look at the jury, even when you are searching for your words. It is essential to look straight ahead, because it helps you stay grounded and stops your body from swaying."
"You can practise for a few minutes a day at home, in front of the mirror. Of course, you should avoid looking anxious or glaring at the jury."
Cyril Delhay
9"Don't make the jury your compass during your oral"
"The jury is not there to grill you or to unsettle you, for example by rolling their eyes or sighing. They must remain fairly neutral, without being like a wall. Although the first five minutes take place without questions from the jury, you are interacting with them. You speak to them and listen to how your words resonate in their minds.
Commit yourself physically to what you are saying. But don't make the jury your compass during your oral. Let go of the anxiety about what they think and keep going. If they don't understand what you are saying, you will see it straight away, don't worry."
"You can practise with your classmates playing the role of the jury: this will make you think of the questions they might ask you on the day."
Cyril Delhay
10"You may not have an answer to everything, and that is fine"
"The beauty of speaking is imperfection. You cannot control everything or try to do something perfect, because that is the best way to fail. If your mind goes blank, don't hesitate to own it. Stop, breathe and start again. If you stammer, there is no need to apologise. Breathe and calmly start again: this shows that you are able to manage the situation. Remember: breathing is fundamental to avoid stammering.
In the last part of your oral, a question-and-answer session about your future, you may not have an answer to everything, and that is fine. Being able to say 'I don't know' shows intellectual honesty, and no one can hold it against you. You can even share the questions you are asking yourself."
11"The day before, stop working on your topics"
"The sooner you start practising, the better. Because the more you rehearse speaking, the more reflexes you build. And reflexes mean freedom. Don't hesitate to vary your short practice sessions. One day you work on short sentences, another on breathing, the next you play the jury, and so on.
But the day before, stop working on your topics. At most, run through your 20-minute preparation in your head, but no more. Clear your mind, do something else. Go for a walk, do some sport, keep an open mind: it will go well."
