I spent the entire day distracting myself with running and cycling.
I tried to find a new outfit at the mall, and came home with one thing: a pair of new running shoes. The trip was successful though not what I set out for.
Now I am going over my presentation slides.
anxious, anxious, anxious. what if I look like I don’t know what I’m talking about???
anxious, anxious, anxious. what if I look like I don’t know what I’m talking about???
PUHlease. You’re kidding right? YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT!
I’m looking forward to the second part - talking about the Reading List. You should see that powerpoint, it’s GORGEOUS - found a picture of nearly every book and the annotations are on there so my audience can read them. I worked really hard on that and wanted to be able to share it.
this is just a minor freak attack, it will pass…
You’re gonna rock it.
Wear your favourite swimsuit underneath your presentation clothes - that ought to make you smile.
(Try to) get an early night tonight and then have 1/2 a cup of tea before you go tomorrow AM. 
Wear your favourite swimsuit underneath your presentation clothes - that ought to make you smile.
LOL! I might.
I am wearing a coral long sleeve top, with either: a pair of brown dress pants… or, a white dress that has a light blue/green springy pattern. And dress sandals (light brown).
You did the work. You know your topic. You’ll be fine. Go for a run beforehand if you can. It will help get rid of some of the nervous energy.
My schedule tomorrow is an easy run (6-8 mi. did 20 today :D) and I am hoping to fit quick rides and swims in.
Defense is 2-4 pm. Parents are coming up early so I have minions to do my bidding all day as far as setting up, listen to me rehearse if I want to, etc.
I should’ve scheduled it in the morning!
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but try to get a good run or swim in beforehand …it works wonders for the nerves. Just try not to be late because you’re having too much fun 
My mentor told me the other day that he was late to his PhD defense because he lost track of time running…
Wear something that makes you feel smart/sophisticated, but not uncomfortable. For my qualifying exam defense, I wore comfy dress pants, a light sweater, cute shoes, no make-up (I HATE it), and my hair in a ponytail (one thing less to fidget with) …that’s what worked for me 
I know you are going to do AWESOME!!! There is no way you will go in totally calm, but simple things like a good workout and dressing for you really will make a difference.
Good luck, girl
What kind of thesis are you defending?
If it’s a PhD thesis, don’t worry. You wouldn’t be allowed to defend if it wasn’t going to be a slam dunk.
If it’s a masters thesis, then you’ll probably know what you’re talking about, and appear that way too, but evil faculty members could throw you off with certain questions. Some people feel it’s necessary to push you until you reach the limit of your understanding. Think about classy ways of deflecting questions that you can’t answer. Key phrases include “that’s a good question” and “it would be interesting to look into that.”
If it’s some other kind of thesis, then yeah you’ll probably look like you don’t know what you’re talking about, because you probably won’t know enough. But that’s expected so who cares.
Either way, don’t worry now, because there’s nothing you can do in the next however many hours to change anything. Focus on good presentation style rather than content at this point.
After the fact, the best way to evaluate your presentation is based on the questions you receive. If no one asks any questions, you did a bad job. If you get a lot of questions, then you did a good job. If you get a lot of questions asking for clarification of slides, then you did a bad job again. You won’t know how it went until it’s too late to do anything about it, so kick back and relax.
undergraduate Honors thesis.
Both times I’ve defended, I’ve been in the zone. I spent the last 20 minutes of my MSAE defense correcting one of my committee members - a 25-year PhD in aerodynamics. I couldn’t have done that again on my best day. The way to look at it is that you’ve presumably put a lot of time and effort into your research. All you’re doing in your defense is summarizing what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, and how/why it’s applicable. It also helps to present from your head, not from your slides. On the flipside, I’ve seen some of the smartest researchers in my field mentally shut down 10 minutes into a presentation because someone asked them a question unrelated to their slide content. Trust what you know, and you’ll do just fine.
#1) You could give a completely worthless presentation and it wouldn’t matter being an undergrad, if there is anything useful the people will be impressed
#2) If you are doing a powerpoint, put the slides you can’t fit into the presentation at the end so if someone asks a question on a topic you briefly mentioned you can to a slide at the end that explains the topic better
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Hey, you and your dad both read it, right? What did you think?
I’ve gotten rave reviews from some other readers but unforuntely none of them have ex phys backgrounds.
You’ll do fine. I found the basic idea of your thesis quite interesting, so just explain it the way you mentioned it to me. Only take more time.
And yes, go for a run tomorrow morning. Shake out the arms. Deep breaths. And when you head in for the defense, definitely wear the swimsuit underneath to stay a little off-center. Good luck!
did you read it? I emailed it to a bunch of people here and never got responses.
don’t forget to bring bagels and coffee
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Defended two weeks ago.
Was given a tip a couple of years ago from my jurisprudence prof (a real hard nosed lawyer who ALWAYS caught everyone’s attention)…ACT CONFIDENT…not cocky, but confident. Present with your shoulders back and your nose, half-way in the air.
Also, something I’ve found that works through many presentations to doctors, academics, students, etc…say JUST what needs to be said. Not more, not less. Too little seems very general, too much is rambling. Keep extra ammo in your back pocket…leave some out on purpose. That way when they ask for clarification, you can drop the grenade of info on their lap.
Good luck!
Ah, just blow it off and go for a hike in the woods!
Seriously, you’ll do fine. Good luck!
It’s in the afternoon.
My mom is in charge of food and she ordered a ‘dessert tray’ from a local bakery, and is getting soda and juice.
I’m one of those rude people. I read your thesis and thought it was great but between swapping roles with work and moving country (Hong Kong to Sydney) I didn’t get around to the detailed response I thought you deserved. Very sorry about that.
All the best for your defense though, I’m sure you’ll be fantastic. It’s something that you know back to front and you’re passionate about. You will kill it.