BLDE University


How To Write A Strong Dissertation Proposal Defense Outline: Basic Tips

When you are creating a dissertation proposal defense outline you want to treat the same as any other outline.

First of all, your dissertation proposal defense is a chance for you to defend the proposal that you have submitted for your dissertation. This means that you have a dissertation idea in mind and you have the steps that you want to take already established. But now you have to submit what you want to do in the form of an official proposal. And sometimes you might have to defend your proposal and prove to your review board why you should be allowed to pursue your topic further. This is an opportunity for you to really show off what you know and prove to your review board that you are passionate about this topic and you have what it takes to finish it. In addition to this you want to use this opportunity as a learning process. Your goal should be to prove not only to your review board but to yourself that you have thorough knowledge about this potential topic and that you are passionate about it and ready to complete your long dissertation process.

  • When you are writing your defense proposal the first thing you want to do is to create an outline. The defense proposal outline is very similar to an outline you would use for any other writing task. The purpose of this outline is to make sure you have all of the pieces of evidence that you require and that they are listed in the appropriate order.
  • You want to check that you have each key point and supporting data. In the exact same way that you would create an outline for a standard research paper you want to create an outline for your defense which is either chronological order ordered from your strongest to your weakest argument.

  • With the outline you can use, numbers, bullet points, or letters to keep the information organized. You should use whatever fits your personality and learning style best. Not be restricted or limited by what other people do for their outline.
  • When you write your outline you can make it as thorough and comprehensive or as short and fragmented as you see fit.
  • This will give you an opportunity to not only play around with the information you have but to also play around with the order of the information that you have. This will give you the chance to figure out the best order for your main points and to rehearse them.