Planning further ahead
If you have been practising your commentary as directed, you should now be able to talk about what you are doing, as you are doing it, for at least some of the time that you are driving.
This project stays with basic actions, however, this time you are going to 'teach' yourself a manoeuvre by using something that driving instructors often describe as 'talk-through'. After you have mastered the manoeuvres as described below, try a quiet open road.
The purpose of this exercise is to improve the fluidity of your speech and to 'slow down' your thinking in order to create more time and space in your driving. The talk-through commentary should be slow paced and deliberate – adjust your driving to ensure that the commentary stays ahead of the action as opposed to describing what you are doing or have just done.
At this stage you are still developing the 'verbal skills' element of commentary - not attempting a full flowing commentary drive as you might do during an advanced driving test.
Choose one of the manoeuvres that you have practised this week and talk yourself through it. To do this you simply have to 'tell' yourself (out loud) what to do next in a step-by-step sequence as you complete the manoeuvre. The example below should give you an idea of what is required.
Turn-in-the-road, first 'leg'
"Prepare the car; check mirrors and blind spots; clutch up gently and steer briskly to the right; clutch down; clutch up gently and steer to the left; clutch down, brake gently, brake to stop; handbrake on, select neutral"
You will see from the example that you now say what you are about to do next. Stick to simple statements of instruction without including any reasons for the action. If you are not sure what to say, simply pause and think for a moment!
Your aim is to be as spontaneous as possible. No prepared scripts or ideas. If you do the same exercise three times, it's perfectly OK, in fact it's desirable, to use a slightly different form of words each time.
Important note: As with earlier commentary exercises this exercise has been kept deliberately 'easy'. If you are finding it difficult, return to earlier exercises and stick to the 'rules' or expect to encounter difficulties.
Thinking ahead
By developing this 'teaching' style of commentary you will start to 'think further ahead', especially if you try it when driving through a busy town or on the open road.
This exercise is useful for all drivers in terms of 'forward planning', but especially useful for those who supervise their friend or relatives when they are learning to drive and for those who are training to become professional driving instructors.
If you have not already done so, print and complete your Training Outcomes Worksheet for this unit before going out on your practise drives.
When you are confident that you have achieved the points above, print out and complete your Training Achievements Log before moving on to the next unit.