Kursbeschreibung

Course language: English

Target group:

Doctoral candidates within the finalisation phase of their preparation for the defence.

Trainer:

Katharine Simmons

2-Day-Seminar:

Wednesday, 25 February 2026, 09:00 a.m. - 05:30 p.m.

Thursday, 26 February 2026, 09:00 a.m. - 05:30 p.m.

Content:

The workshop will prepare you for the special (communication) challenges of defending your thesis.

It is not about learning basic presentation techniques: the workshop will focus on getting you ready for that unique presenting situation, your defence. The aim is to enable you to perform in a strong and calm manner, even in the face of a critical panel and stress-related blackouts.

Getting started.

1. Basic instructions regarding “How to present my defence/ my disputation2
2. Disputation vs. scientific talk at a conference: when do I emphasise my stake in the research I show, when do I cite others’ contributions
3. Achieving best performance:

•    Voice and body language
•    How do I prepare myself optimally? How will I deal with the physical challenges of this situation? (high adrenaline, speaking in an intimidating/virtual room, rehearsing in front of a group?)
•    Introducing myself: Match Pitch! Why do I do what I do?

Dealing with Questions:

1.    Dealing with critical or even provocative questions
2.    Dealing with knowledge gaps, short blackouts, the stress this causes: „Grace under Pressure“
3.    A-C-E-S Strategies with questions: A – Accept, C – Clarify, E – Elaborate, S – Story options

• Preparing short responses, buying time with ready responses while collecting thoughts and finding your answer
• Active listening: what is really being asked??

Test presentation (considerably shorter than the disputation talk) including feedback

Using a very short test presentation we will practise the following aspects:

• particular structure, highlighting for effect
• what is the through-line - editing to the essentials
• giving and receiving feedback – feedback culture: improving own self-confidence thanks to constructive feedback in this workshop

Homework for second day: prepare a mini presentation – on second day work in pairs, then present short talk. Feedback from group.

Day 2:

present, practise Q&A session – focus on all strategies, prepare language for all situations

Registration:

Our courses are avilable via the booking portal of Kiel University's Continuing Professional Development Center. You will find them listed under the category  Exclusively for Doctoral Researchers. Courses within this category are part of the Graduate Center's qualification program. They are free of charge for doctoral researchers who are registered with the Graduate Center. To get access to these courses you must be register with the Graduate Center, here.

Registrations are welcome until 8 February 2026. We will then determine whether the minimum number of 10 participants has been reached. Should the minimum number of participants not have been reached, the event will not take place due to financial reasons. Once the minimum number of participants has been reached, further registrations are possible until 8 days before the event begins.

Organizational details:

•    As a general rule, we expect you to participate in our online events with the camera switched on. Please comply with the request of the trainers and/or lecturers if they remind you to do so.
•    Please note the data protection statement of the Graduate Center.
•    Please find information at the website of the Graduate Center for registration, waiting list and de-registration.
•    Please find information at the website of the Graduate Center for sanctions.
•    In order to book courses through booking portal of Kiel University's Continuing Professional Development Center, you will need to create a personal account. Once you have done so, you can use this account to register for the Graduate Center’s courses. This offers two main advantages:

1.    In addition to the Exclusively for Doctoral Researchers category, you will also have access to the full range of courses offered by the Continuing Professional Development Center and you can explore whether they might be of interest to you.
2.    You will have a consolidated record of all courses you have attended in one place.