Before I read your chapters, I've read three things: your abstract, the promise at the end of your introduction, and your conclusion. By then I already have a view of the thesis, and the rest of my reading either confirms it or fights it.
The most common problem I find isn't on any one of those pages. It's in the gap between them: an introduction that promises one thesis and a conclusion that delivers a slightly different one.
The three pages we'll read
1 · An abstract. Can you tell from it alone what was found and why it matters?
2 · The last page of an introduction. What exactly does it promise the thesis will show, and would you hold the author to it?
3 · The opening of a conclusion. Does it answer the question the introduction set, in words you could put side by side with it?
How the hour runs
- First 5 minutes. How an examiner reads these pages, and the test for each.
- Next 35 minutes. Each page is read aloud, cold. You score it in the chat, pass or revise. Then my verdict, and the sentence I'd write in the examiner's report.
- Last 20 minutes. Your questions.
You'll leave with
- A one-line test for your abstract
- A way to write down exactly what your introduction promises
- A side-by-side check that your conclusion keeps that promise
All three work on your own thesis the same evening. The recording goes to everyone who registers.
Who it's for: anyone doing a PhD, DBA or professional doctorate. If you're near submission, this is the check to run before you send it. If you're earlier, it's the promise to write down now, while it's still cheap to change.
