Building the 3-part exposé skeleton (written prep)

P45.oral-exam-prep.02 · Audience: guest, language-pro, it-ml · Prerequisites: Exam anatomy: the monologue suivi + débat format

Unité PO-02 · campagne 2 · the plan you will speak from.

The 30 preparation minutes produce one artefact: the skeleton — five lines of brouillon you can deliver a ten-minute exposé from. Build it in this order:

  1. La problématique — turn the subject into the question you will actually answer.
  2. La position — one sentence. Selon moi, ...
  3. Deux ou trois arguments, each with one example attached as a keyword (a name, a place, a date — enough to rebuild it aloud).
  4. Une concession (certes... mais...) or an anticipated objection (on me dira que...) — the B2 marker.
  5. La conclusion élargie — restate, then widen one step.

Two rules: keywords, never sentences (a read text kills the register band), and the plan is announced aloud when you speak (Je montrerai premièrement..., ensuite..., enfin...).

Worked once, on the sujet Faut-il interdire le téléphone portable au collège ?

Step 1, subject into problématique. Taken as given, the sujet is a yes/no trap — answer it head-on and you produce a list. Turn it into the question you can build ten minutes on: L'interdiction du portable protège-t-elle vraiment l'attention des élèves, ou déplace-t-elle le problème hors de l'école ? The subject names a measure; the problématique names what is at stake in it.

The four remaining lines, in brouillon — keywords only, because this is what your eye catches while your mouth is busy:

  • Position — utile, mais insuffisante
  • Argument 1 — attention en classe · le cours de huit heures
  • Argument 2 — les échanges à la pause · la cour de récréation
  • Concession — rassure les parents le soir → mais inutile en cours de maths
  • Conclusion élargie — apprendre à s'en servir → les écrans à la maison

Five lines, not one full sentence among them: that is the brouillon the two rules above demand. What you say from those keywords is the full French — the concession line, for instance, becomes: Certes, le portable rassure les parents le soir ; mais il n'a aucune utilité pendant un cours de maths.

Announcing the plan aloud. The second rule is spoken, not written, and it is the one sentence the examiner uses to follow you: Je montrerai premièrement que l'interdiction protège réellement l'attention en classe, ensuite qu'elle déplace le problème vers la cour de récréation, enfin qu'aucune règle ne remplace un apprentissage de l'usage.

If you take the objection branch instead of the concession. Step 4 offers a choice; worked on the same sujet, the anticipated objection runs: On me dira que les élèves contourneront l'interdiction de toute façon. Il est vrai qu'aucune règle n'est respectée à cent pour cent. Or une règle imparfaite change tout de même la norme du groupe, et c'est précisément ce que l'on cherche.

This is still written prep — no microphone needed. Check the skeleton logic below; the speaking itself starts in Speaking to B2.

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Building the 3-part exposé skeleton (written prep) — TransformerLab