Louise Sallé, edited by Laura Laplaud 06:42, April 27, 2022

Doing theater to revise your baccalaureate: this is the winning method for preparing for the Grand oral, this new test with a high coefficient - 10 - which terrifies students.

Report in a Parisian theater class where a final year student, originally from Rennes, is training for the Grand oral, during her spring vacation.

The new baccalaureate test may scare some high school students.

How to argue well for five minutes in front of a jury on a question drawn by lot?

In a small theater at Cours Anna, in Neuilly-sur-Seine in the Paris suburbs, Johanna Cohen teaches 17-year-old Clara to project her voice.

At the other end of the room, the high school student is trying to get out powerful "AAAH", breathing through the lower part of her stomach.

“When you pass an exam, you play a character,” says theater teacher Johanna Cohen. 

Work on voice and posture

"I encourage all young people who pass the baccalaureate to work on this test by repeating texts, paying attention to their articulation, focusing on body exercises", she advises.

“There is a job that is very simple to do, it is to stick a pen in your mouth to over-articulate what you are saying,” she continues.

"It helps with good pronunciation, good speech."

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These exercises, Clara performs them diligently.

During the spring holidays, she traveled from Rennes to take this course which helps her to express herself better, she says.

"It helps me to carry my voice, to work on my posture, to look at my listener", enumerates the young girl.

"Because I often have eyes that wander when I talk to people," she admits.

"The goal of the Grand oral is to speak well, and I think the jury really pays attention to all the little details. In addition to the content of course."

Succeed in convincing and arguing

The main objective of the test is indeed to convince an audience.

During the lesson, Johanna asks Clara to explain why she likes chocolate.

"Go ahead, have fun", she encourages while her student tries to persuade her: "Chocolate, it de-stresses me... Before an exam, a competition... I like chocolate!", she exclaims. 

In two months, on the day of the oral, the discussion will be a little more serious.

It is from a question of philosophy that Clara will argue, the specialty she chose to follow in final year.