When asked to prepare a short presentation for my PhD viva*, I knew I had enough to discuss. After all, I had worked on my research for four years already!
*Depending on where you study, this oral examination is also known as viva voce, defence, defension, or rigorosum.
However, when it came to making the presentation, I quickly realised that I lacked examples to guide and inspire me. What should I include? What should the slides look like?
To help future PhD students in the same situation, I am sharing the slides I brought to my viva for my PhD in Statistics at the School of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. Take them as an example, inspiration, or first step towards designing your very own viva presentation!
A few things to consider
Take the thesis as read
You can — and should — assume that your examiners/committee have read your thesis in detail. They might have read it the night before or maybe two weeks ago, so be conscious of that throughout the process.
Start with why
Given that most people in the room have read your thesis, why are you being asked to give a presentation in the first place? On one hand, this may be for your own good. Talking for a couple of minutes about something you have prepared can ease nervousness as it gives you some certainty in an otherwise uncertain environment. On the other hand, it gives your examiners a few moments to get in the right headspace instead of having to cold-start the examination.
Big vs small picture
A PhD thesis can be a collection of intricate aspects of research, many of which you will discuss during your viva. Your presentation is not the place to mention each and every one of them. Instead, I found it helpful to discuss the background of the model I was working on and to give a bird’s eye view of my research. For that, Slide 5 arranges my four sub-topics along two axes. Depending on your project, you may wish to remind your examiners of some notation, but I would shy away from using too many equations in this presentation.
Short and sweet
You will likely be given some indication on how long this presentation should be (if not, ask!). I found 10 slides across 10 minutes to be a good length to get into the groove without running the risk of boring your committee. Remember, they (should) have read your thesis and you do not need to mention every single detail of your work.
Made to talk
I designed these slides for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to accompany my presentation. Hence, they are not meant to convey all information as a stand-alone document. Instead, aim for just enough content to guide yourself through what you want to say.
Practice makes perfect
You must take the time to run through your presentation to get timing and content right. If you can, get a trusted friend to give feedback, but — at a pinch — even a stapler will make a good audience. Do not skip slides in this dry run! It’s all about speaking the words out loud you plan to say. Use a stopwatch to check that you hit your target length.
And finally…
Be prepared to not use your slides at all! Your examiners might have a really interesting question two minutes into your presentation! Just go with the flow! You may wish to keep the slides on the screen and return to them at a later point should the opportunity present itself.
With that, best of luck for your viva! Despite being a challenging situation, it can actually be a rewarding experience. A well-prepared presentation is the first step in that direction!
If you are curious about the research behind these slides, you can find my thesis here: https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/41624
Isabella Deutsch 