📑Things You Should Know Before Doing Your First Project Defense

So today, I had my Fourth Semester Project Defense at my College. And My project also got accepted in the first defense. Thus, I am writing this to share my learnings and experience from my First Project Defense. So if you also have a Project Defense or you need to prepare a Report then this article is for you 😉

We all get nervous and get panic moments during project defense but you know this usually happens when you haven't invested 100% on your project or you are a lazy person like me. To most of the students, It gives a chill vibe down the spine but believe me this will develop your critical thinking capability and oral skills with lecturers in a more focused way.

so let me give you a quick background before diving into the topic

My Experience in Doing Project: Bidhyarthisewa

We made an eCommerce Website using HTML/CSS in frontend and PHP in server-side programming while MySQL in Database. And yeah, we did make the app in a rush just before the day of submission because I am a procrastination expert. So especially I would like to suggest you do projects every day from the time of the Notice or even before if you have thought of some passion projects so that you won't have to stress/hurry during peak hours. But we all know nothing goes according to plan and after all, we need to rush during peak hours. You Know, You shouldn't be like me 😜

Now, let's dive into the topic: You might know that you should bring a Final Project Report and do a PPT presentation in front of the assessors(Teachers who mark you and ask questions about the Project during defense).

Things you should consider during Project Defense Presentation:

Have a Good Formal Dress

One of the lecturers pointed out on our dress which realized us that we need to be wearing a bit more formal dress during the presentation

2. Prefer English Language

English Language is Optional as you can speak on any language you are familiar with but you know if you can pitch in English language then you can pitch your idea to any global audience which will enhance your communication skills. However, you can explain on any language you are comfortable with.

Every Team Member should be Presenting

if you are a team of 3 members then make sure that every member of the team has someplace on the slides. For that discuss, plan and practice on the topics each person will explain on the slide so that you will build up confidence. Also, assessors won't like if someone is not presenting.

4. Act Formal

Don't think it is a normal pitch, take it as you are presenting your ideas in front of investors for that you need to have good manners and also proper eye contact with them. Also, don't fold your hand and stand still and show the lecturers that you are a civic and mature person.

5. Ask for Guidance with Seniors

It really helped me a lot during my defense as one of my also teachers told me If I had copied contents from other reports as I had done most of the things perfectly as per requirements which I got to know by having conversations with seniors. Fear not to ask for help and take suggestions/feedback about your project Report/PPT.

6.Follow 6*6 Format in Slides

Try to use at max 6 points and 6 words in a line in your slides. Also do use Figures and diagrams that will explain more about the content like: And in the diagram explain properly by pointing with your hands but make sure you do not spend more time on a single slide as you will have limited time for the presentation.

7.Be Bold and Confidence

Confidence is the key factor of how you will be evaluated by the accessor so practice enough so that you build up confidence and also speak boldly i.e. clearly. Also, answer properly by specifying the answer in point with explanations.

Points to be considered in your report:

Make sure you have used the correct format in Title Page i.e. I had written " First Project Final Report" but what the teacher suggested was to write "Final Report of Project I" so do review with your supervisor before submitting the report.
Also look at the old samples and maintain your report accordingly but make sure you are not following the wrong one as I did🤦‍♂️
Also follow Project Manual strictly and spend enough time understanding what type of content you need to write
Don't write more that 5 objectives of your project, Be Specific and concise with what your are trying to do with project
In Literature Review, do use citations of the journals you used. And you need to include sth from journals or other publications.
On Methodology make sure you follow the right model. We used Incremental Model on our project: Make sure that you draw the model yourself either in Figma, draw.io, or using any of your favorite design tools. And in explanation, you need to talk about the things you did on each step rather than explaining the model like I did.Example: In Analysis Phase, we collected all the necessary requirements for our project and then researched about eCommerce in detail. and more... Also don't forget to include what result you got in each increment in paragraph or point as you like. And also explain why you are using this model.
Make Diagram like Use Case Diagram, ER Diagram, Class diagram, etc. by referring to the features your project have. Also make sure your Database naming is similar to naming ER Diagram, Class Diagram entities. As lecturer will ask questions regarding these diagrams so you should understand what you are doing!
Also make sure that one can understand about your project by reading the Abstract and Conclusion, thus work properly on that.
Write your future works in specific ways like integrating Payment Gateways, Implementing a Recommendation system, etc.
Also give proper time in Bibliography which you can do by the help of citationmachine.net

And Finally, Include few screenshots of the projects in the report and make sure you have done proper margin and also have given page number.

Major Questions asked about projects?

Validating Signup Page and showing them the code you used to validate. Also, enter 1 in each input field and seeing whether the form is submitted or not as the lecturer will try to find defects in the system so make sure you have implemented at least this feature.
Explaining abit about RegEX
Difference between Session and Cookies
Questions according to the roles we are in like if you are doing design then he had asked us about What is Layer in FIgma?
How many databases are used? How many tables are there in db?
How to change the color of text using Inspect feature which is mainly asked to those who have done design.
Showing full demo of your project.
How has it fulfilled the objectives of the project? And some other questions regarding projects so make sure to present with confidence and patience in front of assessors.

Conclusion and Final Note

You don't have to fear and stress thinking about the defense as the lecturer will try to critic a lot on your project so just take things lightly and don't take it personally by doubting your skills and hard work. Also, many points of evaluation differ from lecturer to lecturer thus sometime you might face a strict one while other times you might get into a chill lecturer who asks easy questions. Thus be Bold and speak with confidence in front of accessors.

All the best! Wish your project get accepted in First Attempt✌️