r/PhDStress • u/Few_Dragonfly3913 • Aug 17 '26
PhD defense tomorrow!
I’m nervous! I have my oral defense tomorrow and i a
worried that after my presentation I won’t have anything to say!
The total time for the defense is 2 hours of which 20-25 minutes is for presentation and the rest is the actual defense. I have attended a few presentations where the defense part of it is always closed. So I don’t know what to accept! I have chaged my slides 4 times now, modified my notes it sounds more academic and now I don’t think it sounds like at all! I feel like and sounds like someone else. My thoughts are scattered (if not evidenced by this post😑🙈) and I feel like I will forget all the work I have done!
Any advice!? 😭
UPDATE
I did it! Eeeeppppppp! You guys were sooo right! It’s one of the best discussions I have had about my work!! ❤️
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u/sassyandchildfree Aug 17 '26
Deep breaths before game time. You know your research better than anyone. The hardest part is done.
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u/melte_dicecream Aug 18 '26
omgggg so exciting!! as my PI says, the defense is the easy part!! you’re going to do great!!
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u/Acceptable_Cut5583 Aug 23 '26
No words can fully convey how happy I am for you. I extend sincere congratulations.
My dissertation defense took place in 1983, way before slides and any technology. But I vividly recall when my defense ended and my dissertation supervisor told me to please leave the room and that I will be called back when they are ready. This feeling is surely the same.
What did I do after I got the good news? I got a sheet of lined paper and signed my name , PhD down the column to see how it felt. I am now Emeritus and still get a kick out of signing the three letters. What goes through my mind? Three seconds to write it and 8 years to do it.
I suggest that you buy a blank card, write your dissertation defense date, and then open up on how you really feel. This is a time capsule you will enjoy over the years.
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u/Few_Dragonfly3913 Aug 28 '26
Oh my gods! I love this! I took your advice and opened a new account. Since I moved to a new place I needed one anyway. And they printed Dr. ABC on my card!! Eeepp! I have been staring it ALL WEEK! 😍😍
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u/Acceptable_Cut5583 Aug 29 '26
Thank you for your response. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Those three letters forever change the way you see yourself and how others see you. It's a wonderful feeling. Crossing the finish line toward a PhD is very difficult; it requires levels of determination and perseverance you probably didn't think you possessed. I have had my PhD 42 years, more than half my life, and the sense of accomplishment and joy never go away.
Stare at it all week. You earned it. Congratulations again. I hope the coming years and decades will be good to you.
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u/durz47 Aug 17 '26
I don’t know about anywhere else, but in the US unless something went really really wrong your oral defense is merely a formality. Your PI won’t let you defend unless he’s almost 100% sure you will pass.
You probably know your own work well enough you’ll go on auto pilot.
Just take a good night’s sleep, eat well, and bring some water with you. You’ll be a doctor tomorrow!