How should I prepare for an oral exam?

I would advise any student to prepare for an oral exam in 3 main ways.

Firstly, the student should get to grips with the factual content of their area of study. This will allow the to gain a general understanding which will allow for an in-depth, sustained discussion with the examiner. Personally, I found the best way to go about this was to read around the subject. Using the internet, this is easily done by accessing foreign news websites which provide better coverage of events in the area of study whilst also increasing exposure to the target language.

Secondly, linking with the previous point, is vocabulary building - the student should make sure they have plenty of topic-specific vocabulary at their fingertips. This can be garnered by reading relevant literature and news articles and recording key phrases and words that can allow for a sophisticated discussion.

Finally, speaking itself is of course the object of the exam, so at least some spontaneity should be possible. This is best achieved by practising speaking in the target language about the subject at hand with a classmate, teacher or tutor. Listening to online podcasts, listening to foreign music and watching foreign vidoes and films are particularly useful and engaging ways to get used to a language.