Best Techniques You Can Use To Pass Your Dissertation Defense

Most students get a headache at the idea of defending their dissertation. Inexperienced speakers begin to panic, but those who prepare their work early stay confident knowing that everything will work out well. The following article is meant for someone like you; a student looking for the best strategies to defend their dissertation.

First, let’s note that theses and research papers are often personal assignments. Presentation and defense work is also personal, which means that your work is as good as you are. On the other hand, presentation committees are often ready to challenge you with all sorts of questions related to your work. They can pick any random word, any sentence or phrase in your work that they think is unclear. This therefore means that the best strategy to use to win in your presentation is preparation. Go through you work as many times as possible, check for errors and ambiguities, and make corrections where possible. Be sure that you know the meaning of every word in your work. Each time you have some problem, just ask yourself, "how did I write my dissertation?"

Practicing for the presentation is part of your preparation. Start practicing early, ask friends and other scholars to be your mock judges, prepare your slides accordingly and at times, tape record yourself as you make the presentation and evaluate your performance.

Listen to other defense talks

Look for a DVD or an online clip of someone making a dissertation defense, listen and learn from them. Look mainly for a defense talk related to your research topic, evaluate their talking speeds, confidence, how they argue points out and then note things you learn from them. In most universities, and other institutions; there are instances where scholars make public defense talks. Attend such talks and learn from them.

Don’t let distractions get to you

Sometimes, your defense talk might come at a time when you are busy applying for jobs, attending interviews or while you are in the middle of a personal project. Irrespective of the challenges you may be experiencing, always put your project at the forefront of your priorities. Try and complete all other personal tasks before the last two weeks to presentation day.

Have a good structure

A good dissertation defense should be organized. It should have an introduction, a well-structured main body and the conclusion remarks. Make your slides and words rhyme as you defend your research work, but most importantly use simple and clear language that has less jargon.