IHK Technical Discussion: Typical Questions & Format

In the technical discussion (Fachgespräch) of your IHK final exam, the examination board typically questions you for 15 to 20 minutes about your presentation or a practice-based task – drawing from four recurring categories: opening, transfer, detail, and situational questions. If you know this structure, practise your answers out loud instead of just thinking them through, and train with real sample questions, you walk in noticeably calmer.

This article is part of our exam preparation coverage and complements our overview of the IHK final exam with the oral component.

The technical discussion shows up in most German dual apprenticeships – from retail to commercial roles like office management or industrial clerks, all the way to trade and IT professions. The exact format differs by occupation, but the principle is the same everywhere: you don't just show that you know something, you show that you can explain and apply it in conversation.

What exactly is the technical discussion – and how does it work?

The technical discussion (Fachgespräch) is the oral part of your final apprenticeship exam. In most IHK apprenticeships it follows directly after a short presentation: you first present your task, project, or elective qualification, then the examination board questions you about it.

The IHK Karlsruhe checklist for retail clerks (Kaufleute im Einzelhandel) shows how this works in practice: the examination board gives you two practice-based tasks from an elective qualification, you choose one to work on, and you get 15 minutes in a separate room to prepare. You then present your solution and hold the technical discussion – with a maximum duration of 20 minutes.

In industrial IT occupations the format differs slightly but lands in a similar time range: according to the guide from IHK Hochrhein-Bodensee on the practical final exam (Part 2), the exam day includes 15 minutes of presentation, a short break, and then 15 minutes of technical discussion. Overall, the oral portion of most German apprenticeship exams falls somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes of actual conversation – the exact requirement is set out in your training regulation and can vary by occupation.

For a broader look at how oral exams work in general – beyond the specific technical discussion – see our article How Does an Oral Exam Work?

One thing worth knowing: the technical discussion is not an interrogation of isolated facts. Both IHK documents stress that it tests your ability to analyse workplace problems, justify solutions, and communicate appropriately – not to recite memorised knowledge. The Hochrhein-Bodensee guide even states this explicitly for IT occupations: no questions are asked outside the topics your project covers. In commercial occupations with elective qualifications, the scope of questions can extend a bit further beyond your chosen topic – the specifics are set by your training regulation.

Which question categories typically come up in the technical discussion?

Even though every exam plays out differently, four question types keep recurring in practice. If you have a response structure ready for each type, you won't waste time searching for words when it counts.

Opening questions

The board usually starts with an open question about your presentation or task: "Briefly explain what your project was about" or "What was the starting situation?" What counts here is a concise, clear summary in your own words – not reading your presentation back verbatim. Two to three sentences are enough: starting point, goal, your contribution.

Transfer questions

These questions test whether you can apply what you've learned to a different situation: "How would you have solved it if X had been different?" or "What alternative approach could you have taken?" A good answer names the alternative, briefly explains how it differs from your actual solution, and justifies why you chose your approach. This ability to justify is exactly what the IHK evaluation criteria for the technical discussion emphasise: argumentation and practice-oriented application, not just the correct outcome.

Detail questions

Here the board goes deep: technical terms, concrete figures, technical or legal background related to your task. The board often follows up on points you only touched on in your presentation – for example: "You mentioned costs of X euros – how did you calculate that?" or "Which regulation applied to this decision?"

If you don't have an immediate answer, that's not a disaster – what matters more is staying calm, thinking out loud, and honestly admitting what you're not (yet) sure about instead of guessing or going silent. Examination boards explicitly evaluate not just your technical knowledge but also how you handle the conversation – how you deal with follow-up questions and objections. A single stumble on a detail question rarely decides whether you pass or fail.

Situational questions

Toward the end, you'll often get practice-oriented "What would you do if…" questions that go beyond your specific task: a dissatisfied customer, a supply shortage, a conflict within the team. A workable answer structure: briefly frame the situation, outline your approach in two to three steps, state the expected outcome, and justify in one sentence why this particular approach makes sense. This sequence – frame, approach, outcome, justification – works for almost any situational question and gives you a thread to follow even under stress.

How much does the technical discussion count toward your final grade?

There's no single answer, because the weighting depends on your occupation and training regulation. Two examples from verified IHK documents show the general magnitude, though:

In industrial IT occupations, according to the IHK Hochrhein-Bodensee guide, the second exam component – presentation plus technical discussion combined – makes up 50 percent of the grade for Part 2 of the final exam; the other half comes from the workplace project and its documentation. In commercial continuing-education exams (Fortbildungsprüfungen) – for example toward a certified specialist (Fachwirt) qualification – IHK Nord Westfalen notes that within the oral exam, the technical discussion is weighted twice as heavily as the presentation. Both figures point in the same direction: the actual conversation typically counts at least as much as your prepared presentation, often more.

For your specific occupation: ask your IHK or vocational school for the exact weighting in your training regulation rather than relying on general rules of thumb.

How do you train realistically for the technical discussion?

Most apprentices prepare by reading through bullet points and running through them mentally – then wonder why they freeze up in the real exam. The reason: reading and speaking freely out loud under observation are two completely different skills.

What actually helps:

• Practise out loud, not just in your head. Actually say your answers, ideally standing up, the way you will on exam day.
• Collect real questions. Ask colleagues or your trainer about questions from past technical discussions at your company or IHK.
• Bring in a practice partner. Have someone ask you spontaneous follow-up questions, including a critical one – this best simulates the real exam situation.
• Record yourself and listen back. You'll notice where you speak too fast, fill thinking pauses with "um", or let answers run on too long.
• Keep the clock in mind. Practise at least once under real time pressure – with a timer, no interruptions – so the 15 to 20 minutes on exam day are no surprise.

If you want to work on the basic structure of your answers, our guide on how to ace your oral exam can help too – the principles carry over directly to the technical discussion.

A digital tool can also help with targeted question practice: the AI oral exam simulator from LearnCastAI lets you generate realistic questions from your own study material, record your spoken answer, and get instant feedback – a solid addition to practising with real people, but no replacement for it.

Conclusion

You can't memorise your way through a technical discussion, but you can prepare for it well. If you know the four question categories, have a short response structure ready for each, and above all practise out loud instead of just reading, you cut down on the biggest failure point: freezing up under observation. That's no guarantee of passing – but it's a noticeably better starting position. If you want to turn your own training materials into practice questions, summaries, and a study podcast automatically, you can try LearnCastAI for that too; but the underlying principles – practise out loud, use real questions, get feedback – work just as well with classmates and a sheet of paper.