MTM student in 3 Minute Thesis finals
Master of Tourism student Julie Moularde entered the 3 Minute Thesis competition and progressed as far as the finals round.
MTM student Julie Moularde participated in the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition held at Victoria University in September 2014, where she won the Faculty of Commerce round. The 3MT challenges post-graduate students to present their thesis and its significance to a non-specialist audience in less than 3 minutes. Based on her Faculty round success and experience of competing in the VUW final she explains the process and benefits of taking part in the 3MT® competition.
“I originally signed up for the 3MT® because of the prizes. The potential to win $3000 in 3 minutes is quite enticing. I won my faculty round and made it to the VUW finals. I wasn’t part of the students who received prizes at the finals, but I learned a lot from the competition overall.
It was a good personal challenge. I wanted to push myself and overcome my fear of public speaking. This was a very different experience compared to any other presentations, in class or at work, I have done before.
I learned that doing your homework is key in any successful endeavour. I carefully considered the judging criteria, watched videos of past winners, and practiced a lot. My advice is to never assume you know best, and always look at what other people do well.
Lastly, I learned a lot about my own research. Reducing months of reading and research to its bare bones and avoiding specialist jargon actually allowed me to better understand what I was doing.
It is easy to get drowned in the fine points when writing a thesis. The 3MT® competition was a focusing exercise. It was a process which made me consider the final value of my research: What am I doing, why am I doing it, why is it significant, who will it help?
In the end, it was a lot of work for only 3 minutes but it was worth the time and effort. I entered this completion as a personal challenge and surprised myself by winning my faculty round out of a group of 8 competitors. Going to the finals was exciting. I didn’t win $3000 but I have no regrets. I better understand the merits of my research and some of the key aspect that I will write about in my implications and conclusion chapters. And I also proved to myself that public speaking was just like anything else, it simply requires practice. ”