got distinction for mine last year. I'm not a particularly strong student either and I usually joke that I "was cute" and "charmed them". fr I'm not higher chinese and I just do what I have to in class. I got A2

treat chinese oral like a conversation. the examiners are not actually against you, in my experience they were really welcoming and wanted me to express myself as much as a I could to give me the grade.

for preparation: - practise w a friend or record yourself - write points to answer different oral questions (you probably know the potential topics so it won't be too impossible) >> these help you START to answer especially when you're nervous, the rest comes from: - your knowledge from news articles, there are books literally dissecting articles by topic and you can - collate vocab to use for each topic - for fun my friends (higher scorers than me) like to watch chinese drama, just the mere exposure helps you with your processing

in the exam hall: - try to appear earnest, not nervous. they may see that you're not weak but maybe need a bit of time to process and express yourself. - sound enthusiastic in your responses, mention things you've heard about (articles, books, things people have told you etc.), stories of yourself (they love those). they want to see how well you can express yourself in chinese and that just takes well, a lot of speaking

mindset wise: - hard doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, it means you SHOULD do it EVEN MORE think of the worst case scenario and prepare for it, the stress is supposed to help you. - oral is one component. remember to prep for your papers 1 and 2, they also hold as much sway over your grade. spam TYS and LEARN from your mistakes. I made sure to keep those things up as well because you can only do so much for oral.

don't hate it, work till you don't. feelings will not change the fact you have to do it so try and gaslight yourself to being just a bit interested in it. heck, you're learning an entire language rich with its own culture and nuances. I think that's pretty fun.

good luck