Five Essential Things About Dissertation Defense You Should Remember
Admittedly, defending your thesis is another dreadful process that you must successfully go through after the time-consuming and energy-draining writing process. It is a normal feeling to feel apprehensive and nervous in oral defense just like when you started the writing process. However, the reason why many students aren’t able to defend their dissertation well is having negative thoughts and not merely because they lack the skills and the intelligence to do so.
Writing a dissertation at first isn’t a piece of cake but with effective writing tips, one may successfully complete a writing project that is worth-reading and exceptional and something that could impress the professors. The same goes with defending your dissertation, it may seem quite frightening at the start, but the good news is that there are useful tips on how you can survive your oral defense.
Here are five valuable factors you need to take in mind when defending your scholarly thesis:
- Be sure to get a good night’s sleep before the oral defense day.
- Have fun.
- Never ever be scared of admitting that you do not know the answer to the question.
- See to it to keep it simple.
- Know when it is high time to stop talking.
Bear in mind that cramming is never an option as this won’t offer you any perks at all. If you try to get a good sleep, this will greatly help boost your mood and it will be easier for you to deliver your report and provide answers to the panel.
Perhaps, you may find this tip a strange one but this is actually very important. If you feel so pressured and forced, this would only lead to a negative outcome once you reach the oral defense day. Take note that the situation won’t change just because you feel nervous and worried. Such negative vibes would even make the situation worse. So, instead of being overly scared, just be cool about it no matter how weird this may seem. Remind yourself that this is your one great chance to show your skills and wit so have fun with it.
Of course, it is not a good or a polite way to tell your panel that you do not know the answer, you may consider saying I do not precisely know how to respond to that question but…- this would somehow calm your committee down. There is nothing true with being honest but as always this must be disclosed in a polite approach.
When summing up your work, simply tell the panel what you did and avoid statements that are irrelevant and not useful for the defense.
It is best to shut up when you are not certain or prepared to discuss something. Just wait if the panel has follow-up questions.