Dissertation Final Oral Defense
Having completed your dissertation/thesis, your chair/mentor has likely suggested that you begin preparing for your oral defense or, in the European tradition, the viva voce examination. The relief of knowing that you have written (and rewritten) thousands of words and actually conducted research and found something that contributes to your field of study is exhilarating. You should rightly revel in the joyful exhilaration of an achievement that so few obtain. After all, less than 1.5% of the U.S. population has an earned doctoral degree. Yet that palpable sense of relief and joyful exhilaration is short lived when you realize that you are still among the “all-but-dissertation” (ABD) crowd. One last step stands between you and the 1.5% club—your successful oral defense of your dissertation research. Before you panic, before you become anxiety ridden, before you lose your natural breathing rhythm, before your endure fretful nights without sleep, read on.
“What we call the beginning is often the end.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from...
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
Be encouraged. Having worked with Dr. Debra Fisher from the early conceptual stages, you are already prepared for your oral defense/viva voce. Dr. Fisher agrees with Trafford and Leshem’s (2008)* argument that your entire doctoral experience should be about preparing for your final defense/viva voce. In keeping with Eliot's poetic expression, unaware you started with the end in mind. By design, while you were focused on achieving short-term objectives and approvals along the way, Dr. Fisher was advising and coaching with the long-term view of the final oral defense in mind. So rest assured that you already have in place what you will need to respond with confidence to your committee/examiners' questions about your dissertation research.
Some doctoral committees/examiners prefer that you prepare a PowerPoint presentation, while others do not. Some final oral defenses take place in a conference room on the university campus, while others are conducted utilizing audio conference call or online meeting technology. Regardless of the format or location, Dr. Fisher is experienced at guiding and coaching doctoral candidates through this final step of achieving the earned doctorate and becoming a member of the 1.5% club.
* Trafford, V., & Leshem, S. (2008). Stepping stones to achieving your doctorate by focusing on your viva from the start. New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.