Hey, it’s Rodney from FuKazee. I run a program that teaches Masters and PhD students how to use AI ethically and powerfully for literature reviews, data analysis, writing, and yes — even defense prep. I’ve watched hundreds of postgrads go from “I’m never going to finish this thing” to “I just defended with zero corrections” in months, not years.
A few weeks ago I fell down a massive Reddit rabbit hole (this exact thread in r/GradSchool) where people spilled their absolute best defense tips. Some of it was gold. Some of it was hilarious. All of it was brutally honest. I’ve combined the best bits from that thread + other top Reddit threads + my own experience coaching 300+ students through defenses, and added the AI hacks that my FuKazee students swear by.
Here’s the TL;DR (because you’re probably stressed and skimming):
TL;DR – The 12 Things That Actually Matter Most
- You are the expert — act like it.
- They already think you’ll pass (or they wouldn’t let you defend).
- Get in front of every weakness/limitation before they do.
- Have “bonus slides” ready for the inevitable “why didn’t you do X?” questions.
- Practice until you can present drunk, hungover, or half-asleep.
- Make a list of the 15 scariest possible questions and prepare answers.
- Bring water → sip it casually → look relaxed (psychology hack).
- Have a dedicated limitations/future work slide — it makes you look smart, not weak.
- Use AI to generate 50+ brutal questions from your thesis in 10 minutes.
- Don’t schedule right before lunch or after 4 pm (hangry committees are real).
- Eat something, invite friendly faces, and enjoy the damn thing.
- Sleep the night before. Seriously.
Now let’s unpack the gold.
1. Mindset: They Want You to Pass (Really)
Every single long-time Redditor said some version of this:
“They wouldn’t let you defend if you weren’t going to pass.”
Your committee has already read the damn thing. Your supervisor isn’t going to let you walk into a bloodbath. The defense is mostly a rite of passage + making sure you can talk about your work intelligently.
One person said their advancement to candidacy was harder than the actual PhD defense. Another said the first question they prepped for out of pure fear was literally the first one asked. Another defended, passed with no corrections, and wrote: “your advice to enjoy having the undivided attention of three very smart people on your research was so helpful. I had the best time.”
Shift your mindset from “please don’t fail me” to “let me show you how cool this project is.”
2. Own Your Limitations (This One Trick Saves Lives)
The single most repeated advice across every thread:
Get there first.
Have a beautiful limitations slide (or two). Frame every weakness as “here’s what I’d love to explore next with more time/funding/data.”
Redditors said when you do this, the committee nods and moves on. When you pretend it’s perfect, they will destroy you.
Pro AI hack my students use: Upload your thesis PDF to Claude or GPT-4o and ask:
“Act as a hostile examiner. List 25 brutal but fair questions/criticisms of this thesis, especially methodology, assumptions, alternative explanations, and scope.”
You’ll get questions you never thought of in minutes. Prepare answers → bonus slides → you look bulletproof.
3. Bonus Slides Are Your Secret Weapon
Almost everyone who defended smoothly had these.
Create 10–15 extra slides (methodology alternatives, null results you cut, extra analyses you ran, tangential literature) and hide them at the end of your deck.
When someone asks “Why didn’t you use method B?” you casually go “Great question — I actually tried it, here’s the slide…” and flip to it.
Looks like god-tier preparation. Takes 2-3 hours max. 100 % success rate in my cohort.
4. Presentation Hacks That Actually Work
- One idea per slide. Max 3 bullets. If your committee has to read walls of text, they get cranky.
- Practice with normal humans (friends, family, random lab mates who know nothing about your topic). If your grandma’s eyes don’t glaze over, you’re good.
- Bring a bottle of water and sip it slowly. Redditors swear it signals “I’m chill” and in control.”
- Business casual, leaning business. No suit, no hoodie.
- Invite friendly faces if allowed — having people you can make eye contact with is magic when you’re nervous.
- Don’t schedule your defense right before lunch or after 4 pm. Hungry/tired examiners are savage.
5. The Night Before & Day Of
Best advice I saw:
“Go to a movie the night before.”
“Watch something stupid on TV.”
“Broke up with girlfriend day before” (okay maybe not that one).
Point is — stop working by 7 pm the night before. Your brain needs to consolidate.
Day of: Eat breakfast. Real food. One student almost fainted because nerves killed their appetite. Another said they felt lightheaded until they forced down a banana.
6. How AI Makes Defense Prep Stupidly Easy (The FuKazee Special)
This is the part most Reddit threads miss because they’re old.
My students do this and laugh at how unfair it is:
- Upload thesis → ask AI: “Generate 50 potential defense questions ranked by scariness.”
- Ask it to role-play each committee member based on their publications (“Pretend you are Prof. X who loves Bayesian stats — what would you ask me?”)
- Have it create your bonus slides content in seconds.
- Use ElevenLabs or NotebookLM to turn your script into a podcast → listen while driving/walking/cooking.
- Use Canva, Gamma.app or Tome to turn your bullet points into gorgeous slides in 10 minutes instead of 10 hours.
One of my cohort members generated 73 questions, prepared for all of them, and got asked exactly 8 — all of which were on her list. She finished in record time and the external examiner said it was the best-prepared candidate he’d seen in years.
Final Words
You’ve seen students who were stuck for 7–11 years finish and defend within months of joining FuKazee because AI removes the soul-crushing parts of research.
If you want to walk into your defense calm, confident, and with bonus slides that make your committee think you’re a genius, come learn the exact system.
We’ve got a cohort starting soon that covers everything from literature review to defense prep using AI (ethically, no plagiarism flags).
Spots fill fast → grab one here: https://fukazee.com
You’ve already done the hardest part. Now go enjoy your defense. You’ve got this.
Peace and love,
Rodney
FuKazee
P.S. If you just want the AI prompt pack I give my students for defense prep (50+ prompts that saved hundreds of hours), reply or send me an email lead@fukazee.com or DM me on Instagram @fu_kazee — I’ll send it.
