A useful way to vary the traditional approach to oral exams is to start with a picture which the student has to describe. After he/she has spoken as freely as possible, the examiner might add specific questions to prompt further responses, in particular to elicit interpretation of the situation. These latter questions can lead into more challenging areas and might be used to stretch the more able (see 14.3.3 on question types). A variation on this is to provide a story in pictures (eg a cartoon) that the student has to narrate following a few minutes preparation.

Both these approaches are an effective lead-in to or warm-up for freer conversation and avoid 'contamination' by any other language skill, ie they do not require candidates to read or listen as well. If they are intended to serve just as warm-up activities, then it is sensible not to allocate many marks to them. Alternatively, they could form a principal means of assessing oral ability and indeed might be an effective way to combine a degree of validity and reliability: all candidates have to talk about the same topic or event and use broadly similar language (especially vocabulary and tenses). To avoid the task foundering on unknown items of vocabulary, difficult but essential words might be provided beneath the pictures. Finally, it is obviously important that all pictures used are clear and unambiguous.