Tips - Part I
Just imagine a project defence room where you are presenting your research work in such a fabulous way, and your panel members just can’t stop nodding, gazing at you with their mouths wide open and clapping non-stop for you…It is just an imagination, so wake up! Put more work to it by reading this article, apply it and pray your panel members do not turn your project defence to project attack!
Project defence has come to stay, and the only way to graduate in Nigerian universities is to at least defend what you have written (or copied and paste) in a convincing manner. Gone are the days when you could just copy and paste an article from the internet and dump for your school. Our Nigerian school system is changing from dumping grounds to speech-oriented institutions, which means that you must be good at presentations in order to scale through. At times students confuse themselves with content of their work. The truth is that it is better to be more confident with a poor content, than to be un-able to defend an excellent research work.
In this article, I am going to give out some useful tips and tricks on how you can have an awesome project defence and presentation. In order to make reading this article more pleasurable, I am going to give tips on how what to do before the defence day, on the defence day, and inside the defence room. Enjoy!
Tips To Apply Before Your Defence Day
First before your project defence, you must ensure you have a romantic relationship with your project topic and the whole content. When I say ‘romantic relationship’, I mean your research topic or research thesis must be of great interest to you.
If your topic is too difficult or it was imposed on you by your project supervisor, you better start loving the topic or better still; look for a way to get it changed for you. In my little experience, I have discovered that students who hate their topics usually have problems flowing in the defence room, and it can mean bad for you. One trick to choose a nice research topic is by looking for subjects that you love talking about.
If you’re a car freak, you should be considering topics like ‘the impact of official cars on employee productivity’. You would be amazed how this simple trick will go a long way in helping you.
Second, do adequate research on your topic. Before defending or presenting your project, you should source for similar materials on your topic. Focus on how the problem was identified and addressed. Do not dream of having an awesome presentation if you do not know common terminologies associated with your topic. Identify your keywords, variables, background of the study, history of the study and all the variables before your defence date. If you writing on ‘employee motivation and its impact on productivity, you should be able to know your two variables-‘employee motivation’ and ‘productivity’.
Third, know your motivation for the study or research. Most final year students in Nigeria defending their projects do not perform well because, they fail to identify their motives for the study. The motivation for your study is probably the first answer to numerous questions you may be asked in the defence room. Before a research is undertaken, there is usually a problem to solve.
The desire to solve that problem becomes your motivation for the study. Please do not use money, or the need to graduate as motivations for your study. Motivation for the study is best applied in questions like ‘why undertake this study’? ‘Tell us about your work’?
Fourth, know your strength as well as your weaknesses. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will help you prepare a backup plan in case the direction of the defence changed in an unfavourable way.
Fifth, discuss with professionals in your research field and do group discussions with friends. Make your friends your panel members, and defend in front of them. Tell them to criticize and ask numerous questions. With this little training you will be tuning your mind set for what a defence room will look like. You can also seek professional help.
On The (Special) Day Of Defence
On the day of defence, a lot of students panic and some may even forget their project topics. Just apply the following tricks and tips and you will be just fine!
First, rehearse with friends again. Look for people to discuss your project with all over again. This will help you remember your key points.
Second, develop good self-esteem and confidence. Before you enter the defence room, make use of some good self-esteem! Think well about yourself, and have in mind that these professors and senior lecturers you are going to face are human beings that do not know everything. So be in control. See yourself as someone going to lecture a bunch of people that do not know much. Remember 90% of your fears cannot be seen at first, unless you start showing it.
In The Defence Room
Knock first before you enter.
Greet the panel members with lots of smile
Wait for your first question
Answer with great confidence. While answering your questions look straight into the eyes of your panel members, and never be rude. All the best!
Tips - Part II
How To Defend/Present A Project
On the last year of every academic tenure, each graduating student is expected to defend a project because it is a prerequisite for the award of whatever degree is being pursued. While this may be necessary, it is no news that 50% of students always wish that they could skip this part. Just thinking about it sends chills down spines.
What if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way?
Do you know a project defense is supposed to be a regular oral test where students are supposed to have fun interacting with their lecturers and project supervisors while making a lot of sense? It might sound like wishful thinking, but it is how it should be. Your project defense should not be filled with dread and trepidation; rather it should be a period of creating ideas you can be proud of ten years down the line.
Okay, welcome back to the real world.
Project defense is a highly personalized exercise. You should know your stuff and be ready to defend what you have written as a student/researcher. This means that students cannot simply copy and paste data what they have received from the library, the internet, or project samples and present as their project. You must actively participate in the study method to protect the validity and originality of your project.
You should note that external examiners and a lecturer at your department will make up the defense panel. At this level, external examiners want to test the depth of your project work and may ask questions about apparent weaknesses in the research work. This is apparently to test the knowledge of the student on the subject of research.
To successfully defend your project, here are a few tips that would prove extremely useful to you:
Be conversant and passionate about your project work
The role that passion plays in any endeavor cannot be overemphasized. So many prospective defense students make the mistake of writing on a topic that they have no particular interest in. It is either a case of being pushed by supervisors or colleagues to research and write about a vague or incomprehensible project topic, or they create their topics from pre-written/typewritten topics they have seen on the internet. No matter where the project topic is obtained from, a total comprehension of the topic is essential. This would require a lot of reading and research, yes. But the benefit would be that you would have nothing to fear during the defense.
Rehearse likely questions that you may be asked on defense day
Since you do not expect lecturers to follow a pattern during questioning, it is essential to rehearse possible questions that could come up during your defense. Prepare your answers and get acquainted with them. Try not to cram your answers. Just understand them and ensure that no matter the combination of words you use at any point in time, the answer will be comprehended. It will be great disaster if a question is asked, and you are unable to give concise answers.
Have a mock project defense
A great defense strategy is often adopted during long hours of mock defense or in some cases, mock trials. Ask any lawyer you know who understands the art of defense. Many students make the wrong decision and end up leaving the bulk of their preparation until the 11th hour. With great haste and with half-baked preparations, they venture into project defense, only to be floored by their supervisors and lecturers. Practice is good but practice and extra practice will increase your confidence, enabling you to make the best impression.
Be time conscious
During practice, keep your alarm clock or a stopwatch handy so that you keep an eye on the actual time you spend on each point or section. This will enable you to tackle the most significant aspects in time and also ensure you cover enough ground before you get cut off. However, it is of the utmost significance when you prepare your project defense that you function with time so that you do not get too tiresome and make the examiners uninterested in what you have to say.
Prepare your slides
A lot of project defenses would require every participant to prepare a slide with the significant points of his/her presentation displayed in lists. A lot of students are usually tempted by the idea of brevity and end up crowding the slides with a lot of points. It doesn’t work that way. The number one rule when preparing a slide is to pick the key points and put them on different slides. Also, you could add diagrams where needed. Present numerical facts using tables or charts; use bold and clear fonts during your slide preparation.
Ensure that you get your facts right
One thing you wouldn’t find funny on defense day is having to explain facts you are not sure of. Most defense panels are comprised of people who would go to great lengths to ensure that whatever data you present is correct. If you are not sure about an idea, fact, or figure, desist from using it because it could embarrass you.
Body language and confidence
With confidence, you can sell any idea. However, confidence comes from preparation. One important way to display confidence is your body language. Body language involves making eye contact, watching the way you gesticulate, and controlling your facial expressions too. Here are some tips to help your body language when presenting your project defense.
Make brief eye contact with one or more members of the audience/panel members.
If you feel fidgety, lightly grip the pulpit stand; that is if there is any available. If there is none, grip your handkerchief. It will reduce the tendency of shaking while you speak.
If you enjoy gesticulating when you talk, do not overdo it because it can be distracting. A lot of students may be tempted to pace the floor when they speak. That might not be such a great idea, because it can distract your audience and panel members. The right thing to do will be to stand on either side of the stage or projector, switch positions once in a while then stand and deliver your project.
Be careful when answering questions
If you are asked a question you do not have an instant answer to, repeat or rephrase the question before responding. This will give you enough time to think of the right answer. Whenever possible, avoid an argument with an external examiner, but wherever you have solid ideas that you can support, express them. Make sure your answers help the earlier points you made from the onset of your defense. If you are asked a question that sounds opinionated or aggressive, try to rephrase the question before answering it. You can rephrase the question with a phrase like “If I comprehend your query…” You can also suggest an alternative question with phrases such as: “I believe the question should be…”, ‘If I get you correctly…,’ “In my opinion, a suitable solution which would be appropriate is…” etc.
Score high points with your dressing
The first impression you would make once you walk into the room is with your dressing. As a lady, your hair should be neat, makeup mild, outfit color conservative, and decent. Go for shoes that would enable you to walk confidently and smartly, avoid heels at all cost, except if they are the low comfy ones. Also, desist from using colorful hair extensions; black or brown should do. Overall, your appearance should be formal. As a gentleman, your hair cut should be neat and low, beards trimmed or shaved entirely. Ensure that whatever shirt or suit you choose to wear will be snugly fit and well ironed. Invest in wearing matching accessories, and combine your colors well (ask any female friend if you need to).
Project defense will be a real walkover for you if you carry out all these tips. Enjoy your defense.
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