How to Start and Give a Great Thesis Defense Presentation

To complete a graduate degree, you’ll likely need to create a thesis defense presentation. You must complete a thesis to finish many graduate degree programs.

It’s important to have an impressive thesis defense presentation. (Image Source: Envato Elements)

A thesis is a paper where you explore a topic in depth that’s related to what you’ve studied. After completing your thesis paper, you will be asked to defend it through a presentation.

You give this thesis defense in a meeting with a panel of two or more professors in your program. The panel could include other professionals related to your field.

In your thesis defense presentation, you will be asked questions about your topic. The purpose of the questions is to get you to think deeply about your work, so the questions could be open-ended.

To create a thesis defense presentation, you need to know how to make a thesis presentation and how to start your thesis defense. Keep reading to find out more about thesis defense presentations.

How to Structure Your PPT for Thesis Defense

It’s just as important to start your presentation strong as it is to end strong. (Image Source: Envato Elements)

Thesis defense presentations can vary in length. They can be 20 minutes long or two hours long. It depends on how much time is allowed for your presentation and questions.

Talk to your professor to find out how much time is set aside for your presentation. Your thesis defense presentation will be unique to your thesis. But a good presentation includes the following structure:

Title. You need a title just as your research paper needed a title. The title slide will include the information that you’d include on your paper title. This information can include the title, your name, your school, and course name.
Introduction. Just like most presentations, your thesis defense presentation should include an introduction slide. This slide should have the topic of your thesis and the question that your presentation answers. It should also include any objections to your research and the answer you’ll be defending in your thesis presentation.
Literature Review. Next, create two or more slides with a review of the literature used in your research. It doesn’t need to be a complete bibliography. Although you do need to cite your sources, these slides should include your most relevant sources.
Methodology. These slides in your thesis presentation are where you describe what method you used and an explanation of why you chose that method. If you’ve got some original research, include the details of that research and how you analyzed the data that you got from that research.
Results. Some of the most important slides of your PPT for thesis defense contain the results of your research. This should include a description of the data you collected by researching and the results of your data analysis. You also should highlight what your most noteworthy finding was.
Discussion. These slides of your PPT for thesis defense need to include your research results. Also, show how the results support your argument and how it relates to your original question.
Conclusion. The conclusion thesis presentation slides should restate your original research questions, show the results of your research, and suggest future research and any final recommendations.
Ending Slide. The ending slides of your thesis defense presentation are where you add an interesting fact, quote, gif, or hypothetical question. The point is to get your audience to continue to think about your topic while also grabbing their attention. You want your presentation to be memorable.

How to Make a Thesis Presentation

After you’ve seen what the structure of a thesis defense presentation is, there are some more tips that you can follow. Here are tips on how to create a thesis defense presentation:

1. Define Your Concept

When you start with a template, you’re starting with a good base.

After choosing which template to use, the next step is to choose the concept of your thesis defense presentation. Your concept should be relevant to your thesis. To have a fully rounded concept, try to make your presentation templates design relevant to your thesis topic.

Before working on your defense, think about the message you want to convey. This will help you choose elements such as font images and a theme that’ll be cohesive.

2. Know Your Audience

Most people give their thesis defense presentation to an academic panel. This panel will look to see if you’ve developed a thorough understanding of your topic and thesis. They’ll also be looking to see if you’ve got a solid foundation for your argument.

This is why your presentation is important. You don’t want a sloppy presentation because it can give the impression of laziness and that you don’t care about your presentation. So, choose all aspects of your presentation carefully.

If you decide to add humor to your presentation, be careful not to offend your audience.

3. Keep Your Slides Focused

Focused slides are less overwhelming for the audience.

Part of giving a good thesis presentation is to have focused slides. This means that you don’t want to have too much information on a slide. It’s best to follow the rule of one point per slide. If you’ve got too much on a single slide, it can be hard for the audience to follow you.

4. Structure Your Presentation

After you’ve chosen your concept, it’s time to structure the content of your thesis. When structuring your information, you want to show that you understand the subject matter and that you’re organized.

5. Less Is More

Fewer elements on a slide make it easier for an audience to focus on your point.

Remember that you don’t want to have long blocks of text on your PPT for thesis defense. The panel wants to hear you speak on your thesis, not reread your paper.

Each slide should have enough information that you can make your point. It’s important that your audience listens more than they read. By speaking, you show your audience that you know the topic you’re presenting on. So, when creating your slides, remember that less is more.

6. Consider Your Typography

After choosing your thesis presentation subject, consider what typography to use. Your typography should create an impact without distracting from your topic.

When considering your typography, consider your text’s colors. Your text’s colors should contrast with your slide’s background. If the text doesn’t contrast well, it can distract the audience, causing them not to pay attention as you speak.

When thinking about the typography, also consider the room you’ll be giving your thesis presentation to know what size your text should be.

7. Stick to Important Data

Don’t overwhelm the audience with a large amount of data. Stick to important data.

Include data that’ll strengthen your argument. Your data should also show that you’ve researched your thesis. If you can, add visuals that are relevant to your data. Visuals stimulate your brain and can increase how fast you process information. So, including relevant visuals can make your data easier to process and remember.

8. Consistency Is Key

When thinking about how to make a thesis presentation, think about consistency. For an impressive presentation, your presentation should flow well. It’s easier to have consistency when using a template because it’s already designed by a professional.

Check your finished presentation for consistency. This means making sure all your titles on slides are the same font and font size. Also, make sure that your body text is consistent throughout.

9. Explain Your Thesis

The most important part of your thesis defense presentation is explaining your thesis.

The next step in how to make a thesis presentation is to explain your thesis in great detail. The first part of this is your methodology slide. This is where you explain what method you used for your research, why you chose the topic, and how you conducted your research.

For this part of your thesis, chart and tables in your presentation are helpful in explaining data. In this section, keep your text minimal to let the chart, graphs, and data stand out.

Next, tell the audience what the data means. Infographics are a great option to use in this section. Infographics and icons can quickly and simply show your message.

10. End Your Thesis

The last section of your thesis presentation is where you end it. Make your ending memorable to keep your audience thinking.

In your conclusion, overview your thesis topic and remind the audience of the answer that your research proved. Next, cover the important research points you want your audience to remember. A slide with icons is a great way to do this. Also, address your shortcomings in your research and how there can be improvements in future research.

Finally, use some more presentation tips by reading this helpful article:

How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint (No More Boring Presentations)

Sarah Joy

29 Sep 2021

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Post date August 18, 2022

This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Sarah Joy

To complete a graduate degree, you'll likely need to create a thesis defense presentation. You must complete a thesis to finish many graduate degree programs.

It's important to have an impressive thesis defense presentation. (Image Source: Envato Elements)

A thesis is a paper where you explore a topic in depth that's related to what you’ve studied. After completing your thesis paper, you will be asked to defend it through a presentation.