Thesis defense

[avee]

So as much as I am happy to move on to the PhD, I still need to finish my M.S. this semester. I am defending my thesis April 18th, and am looking for any advice I can receive on how to go about planning for the presentation. I have seen faculty candidate research presentations at my university, and have also done one conference presentation on my own research. How long should I be expecting to do my initial presentation before q&a... and give me as much advice as you possibly can. Did many of you stick to your PowerPoint and do the exhaustive explanations, or did you have a charismatic approach to presenting? I find myself always in the middle somewhere and just want to ensure I do this the right way.

Any suggestions are MUCH appreciated. I guess I feel a bit nervous because I will not only have sociologists in the room, but people from social and behavioral health, political science, and gender studies departments. My thesis grounds a theoretical argument, which may be awkward for the more pragmatic audience members.

For those who have defended: please chime in here.

[socspice]

You should get guidance from your chair and other students in your program about what the norms in your department are.

My advice would be to prepare a 12-15 minute conference presentation for a general audience. But really, this is a question for your chair.

[avee]

Chair has been e-mailed and that is good to go. I just want to hear more about others' experiences and what they might recommend based upon their successes and failures during their presentations.

[msafiri]

I would email your chair. My MA thesis defense went like this: 20 minute presentation, then Q&A from the audience (as in, my grad school friends, one of whom was given a "softball" question to ask first), then they kicked the audience out and my committee asked me questions. The questions they asked were mainly about the document itself, rather than the presentation. After that, they kicked me out and had a private discussion before inviting me back in to tell me that I'd passed and what revisions needed to be made.

Oh, in my department(s) there's usually food of some sort. My chair agreed to provide doughnuts and coffee so that was one less thing for me to worry about.

[avee]

That's interesting. Our program is different in terms of format. I think it will be 30 minutes for my presentation and then Q&A with some interruption questions throughout the presentation. I know I'll have to leave the room in the end for their deliberation. Our program is very small and I am the only one defending a thesis this year, but will be an "example" for the 8 thesis-track students who came in Fall 2011. So, a little bit of pressure and I am just hoping to deliver well.

[dizzid]

avee I know this isn't advice but I think you'll do great

[avee]

Dizzi!! You should have come to my defense! It's so funny we are both on this forum together

[dizzid]

YOU SHOULDVE INVITED ME! Let's get coffee or tea and talk about it after your "game" on Saturday??!?!

[Darth.Vegan]

I'm sure you did great, congrats!