OET Speaking Tips – Get an A on the OET Speaking
OET Speaking Tips 1 – Start the conversation
There is a misconception among many candidates the OET speaking sub-test is an examination and not a medical situation. So they wait for the interlocutor to initiate the conversation. Imagine that you are in a professional setting and you are the nurse, doctor or dentist. You are the controller. The OET person is the patient – not the OET person.
As such, it’s up to you to start the conversation.
Here’s an OET sample for nurses:
“Hello, my name is Jane and I’m the community nurse. Can I start with your name?”Don’t sit there and make the patient start the conversation. It’s up to you.
OET Speaking Tips 2 – Keep the conversation moving
It’s also up to you to maintain the conversation. If the conversation is paused you need to bring it back to the life.
Here’s a sample:
“So, please tell me a little bit more about your situation.”Or,“Is there anything that you would like to add?”
OET Speaking Tips 3 – Ask questions to get the patient to talk
If the patient is reluctant to speak, you need to ask questions that force him to speak.Consider the following two questions. Which one will get the conversation moving?
Do you feel sore?
Can you describe the pain to me?
Question A would give you a Yes or a NO answer.
You need to think of questions that will get the patient to talk – to open up and tell you more.
OET Speaking Tips 4 – Listen to the patient
Although the OET speaking sub-test is a test of your speaking ability, it is as much a test of your listening ability. In order to “reply” you need to understand what the patient says.
Perhaps more importantly, you need to “listen” in terms of hearing what the person has to say. Don’t just concentrate on your performance, concentrate on communication. You need to respond appropriately to what the patient says – even if you are nervous.
What’s interesting is that the more that you concentrate on communication through listening the less nervous you will be. When you focus on yourself – on your performance – the more nervous you will get.
OET Speaking Tips 5 – Adjust your language
Depending on who you are speaking to, you need to adjust your language to suit the scenario.
Think about this:
You are talking to a depressed 87-year-old man.You are talking to an aggressive 18-year-old man.How would your language change? How would the words and intonation change?
OET Speaking Tips 6 – Unexpected turns
Every now and then the OET person will test you by asking you something a little odd. He or she wants to see how well you respond – how flexible you are in your thinking and language.
For example, “What’s the phone number of the occupational therapist?”
What do you do? Do you laugh? No. You give a phone number, or you say:
“I will give you the number after our consultation.”
OET Speaking Tips 7 – Organise the role play
If you really want an A you will have to organise the role play into clear stages with an introduction, body and conclusion.
In the introduction you introduce yourself, welcome the patient and summarise the scenario.In the body you move through the tasks, one-by-one.
In the conclusion, if you have time, you should summarize the role play by saying:
“Ok, so we have discussed the use of X and although I understand you concerns, I think it’s the best thing to do.”
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