How To Prepare To A Dissertation Proposal Defense: Vital Advice
For any student, the dissertation defense is a critical moment. That is when you have to defend your ideas, to prove your knowledge and to bring solid arguments that support your dissertation. It is not easy, but it is perfectly doable as long as you know what to expect. The worst thing that you can do is to worry every day about this moment, thinking that the professors are there to make you fail. Follow these tips to prepare yourself for the defense:
- Rehearse in front of the mirror. When you do this it doesn’t matter what you say, but how you say it. The main purpose is to study your body language and see if you express yourself in the right way. If your gestures are shy, and you tend to look down all the time, the professors will think that you do not have enough knowledge. If you walk on the stage too much, they will assume that you are nervous.
- Find out who will ask the questions. It is very important to know what to expect from the person who will conduct the interview. If he is a demanding professor, you will need to prepare some really good answers. On the other hand, if this person is one of the teachers that you love, you can be more relaxed and find some fun facts to introduce in your presentation.
- Read your dissertation proposal again and again. You do not have to memorize it, but you need to understand it in a very good way. Once you know the ideas, you can develop them and find new and new arguments for the statements that you made.
- Write on a paper a few ideas. Let’s say that you freak out and you forget everything you know when you see the professors. It can happen to anyone, but there is a quick way to solve this. All you need is to take a look at some of your ideas, and everything will come back to you in a second.
- Prepare some extra material. A proposal is usually not very long, so you can not introduce too many information in it. To impress everyone, prepare some new references and quotations and use them when you answer the questions. They will notice that you have solid knowledge about the subject and they will be happy to discuss with you.