Jobins Training · Free OET Practice
OET Speaking: listen, explain and adapt.
Professional and partner cards for all 12 professions, with practical guidance on the communication choices.
No registrationOriginal practiceModels explainedS01 · Opening and agenda · 2 scenarios
Open with a purpose and room for a reply
Goal: make an opening fit the setting rather than reciting one greeting for every task. Establish your role when needed, invite the person’s priority and agree a direction for the conversation.
Try two different openings
- First meeting: you are the outpatient nurse meeting Alex Morgan before a planned education appointment. Alex looks worried and says, “I don’t know why I need to be here.” Introduce yourself and explore what Alex understands.
- Continuing conversation: you have already introduced yourself to Mina Patel. She has just told you that the appointment letter was confusing. Respond to that concern without restarting the consultation.
Compare two possible responses
- “Hello, I’m Jordan, one of the outpatient nurses. Before we go through today’s appointment, could you tell me what you were told it would involve?” This establishes the role and checks understanding before explaining. After the reply, agree what to cover next.
- “Which part of the letter left you unsure, Mina?” This moves forward from the existing conversation. A repeated introduction would not address the concern.
Avoid: a long speech about every stage before discovering the person’s question. A useful opening gives the other person room to contribute.
Changed-response practice: Alex now replies, “I know what the appointment is for. I’m worried I’ll miss my bus home.” Respond to the new priority.
Compare the adaptation
“So it’s the timing that concerns you. What time is your bus? I can check the appointment arrangements with you.” Do not keep explaining the purpose after the patient says it is already understood. Do not promise a finish time that the card has not supplied.
S02 · Empathy and clarification · 3 prompts
Respond to the concern behind the words
Goal: show that you have understood the particular concern. Acknowledge it, explore what matters and offer a relevant next step. Avoid an automatic “Don’t worry” or a promise that everything will be fine.
Say your response before opening the examples
- “Last time I asked a question, everyone seemed too busy.”
- “I’m embarrassed that I didn’t understand the instructions.”
- “You keep saying there are options, but I still don’t know what happens next.”
Compare responses and their purpose
- “It sounds as though you felt you didn’t have a chance to ask. What would you most like us to go through today?” This acknowledges the experience without making assumptions about other staff.
- “Thank you for telling me. We can go through it together. Which part would you like me to explain first?” This reduces blame and gives a useful starting point; it does not test or criticise the patient.
- “You’d like a clearer plan for the next step. Let me explain that first, and then we can check whether it works for you.” The response identifies the need for structure rather than repeating a vague reassurance.
Notice: each response changes with the concern. Empathy is not one sentence inserted before a prepared lecture.
Fresh retry: the patient says, “I’m not embarrassed. I’m frustrated because I was given two different times.” Repair your assumption and ask a useful question.
Compare the repair
“Thank you for correcting me. You’re frustrated by the conflicting information. What times were you given?” Acknowledge the correction and investigate the actual issue; do not defend the earlier interpretation.
Paired role cards for all 12 professions
Each set provides the professional card, a separate partner card, selected model exchanges with explanations and a changed-response exercise. The real Speaking sub-test has two role plays; each set below supplies one.
Nursing
Continence assessment and support
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Nursing →Medicine
Suspected sleep apnoea: specialist assessment
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Medicine →Dentistry
Persistent symptoms after root-canal treatment
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Dentistry →Dietetics
Continuing nutrition support after coeliac diagnosis
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Dietetics →Occupational Therapy
Hand function and return to valued activities
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Occupational Therapy →Optometry
Cataract referral based on functional impact
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Optometry →Pharmacy
A clear medicines letter for a family carer
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Pharmacy →Physiotherapy
Ankle rehabilitation before return to running
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Physiotherapy →Podiatry
Persistent plantar heel pain during standing work
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Podiatry →Radiography
Responding to a patient after an interrupted MRI
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Radiography →Speech Pathology
Continuing support for a child who stammers
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Speech Pathology →Veterinary Science
Continuing a monitored feline weight programme
Full case notes, a writing task and model, plus paired Speaking cards and guided review.
Practise Veterinary Science →Assess how the conversation works
| Criterion | Use it to review your attempt |
|---|---|
| Intelligibility | Can your partner follow your speech without repeated effort? |
| Fluency | Can you keep the exchange moving while allowing natural pauses? |
| Appropriateness of language | Does the register and explanation suit this person? |
| Resources of grammar and expression | Can you express time, uncertainty, reasons and choices accurately? |
| Relationship building | Do you show attention to the person’s particular concern? |
| Understanding and incorporating the patient’s perspective | Does the plan respond to their priorities and constraints? |
| Providing structure | Do you signal changes of topic and explain information in manageable stages? |
| Information gathering | Do you ask, listen and clarify rather than assume? |
| Information giving | Do you explain clearly and check what the person has understood? |
Official OET clinical communication guide. Recordings, fluent-looking scripts and checklists do not by themselves establish an OET grade.