SIWES Defence in Nigeria: How to Greet and Introduce Yourself

After completing your six-month internship, you will present your SIWES (Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme) Defence—a formal presentation where you explain your industrial training experiences, challenges, and key lessons to your lecturers in your department or faculty.

The purpose of the defence is to assess your practical knowledge and industrial exposure, confirm your active participation in the training, and develop your presentation and reporting skills.

The oral presentation requirements for industrial training students in Nigeria include a SIWES report, a logbook, and PowerPoint slides.

To greet your lecturers and supervisors during your defence, you can say “Good morning/afternoon, my distinguished lecturers”.

You can also mention their names one by one.

When introducing yourself during the presentation, greet the panel, state your full name, matriculation or registration number, department, and faculty.

Then, mention the title of your presentation, briefly introduce the company where you worked, and highlight a key takeaway or area of focus from your experience.

Example introduction:

Good morning, my distinguished lecturers. My name is Onuoha Chinedu, and I am a student in the Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, at Imo State University. Today, I will be presenting my SIWES project titled ‘Widal Test,’ which I completed at Dominion Hospital, Owerri, Imo State. My presentation focuses on the Widal test procedure, kit, reagent, principle, and result interpretation.

To make a great presentation, keep your introduction brief and straight to the point.

Practice your presentation and ensure your PowerPoint is clean and well organized.

Your oral presentation at the end of your industrial training is often the most challenging phase of the program.

In some schools and departments in Nigeria, the defence carries more marks.

This was how my Department (Biochemistry) in IMSU graded me, yours could be different.

Logbook = 20 marks
Report = 30 marks
Oral Presentation = 50 marks

Any mistakes made in this stage may eventually ruin all your efforts and hard work.

So, you will have to be serious and prepared.

Here are the rules to follow before, during, and after your defence or presentation:

1. Early Revision and Preparation

Go through your logbook and report before submission and presentation, because you might be asked questions from there.

2. Dress Code

Most Nigerian schools and departments have their own unique or custom dress to be worn by their internship students on the presentation day.

Some wear suits.

I wore suit on my own day.

Ensure to look neat, smart, presentable and lively.

This isn’t the period to fall sick.

Any bad luck must be prevented and rejected fully.

As a man, if you have dreadlocks, an afro, tattoos, or earrings, consider trimming your hair, covering your tattoos, and removing the earrings as a sign of professionalism and respect.

For women, if you usually wear revealing or inappropriate outfits, now is the time to dress modestly and appear responsible.

I’m not saying that having dreadlocks, tattoos, earrings, excessive makeup’s makes you evil.

No! This is Nigeria!

You’ll probably look irresponsible in the eyes of your supervisors (lecturers).

They may even doubt if actually you are one of their students and participated in the training at all, if you should appear tattered, rugged or irresponsible.

Remember that “First Impression Matters A Lot”.

3. Confidence

Most Nigerian students battle with stage fright.

You don’t usually have the boldness to speak in public.

You might know and have all the ideas, answers and solutions within you, but expressing yourself openly is usually very difficult.

You can overcome this situation.

Here are some of the causes of stage fright:

Fear of not remembering what you have learnt, crammed or revised.
Fear of not disappointing your crush, friends or get laughed at.
Fear of your lecturers/supervisors (maybe you think they are wicked, strict, and hot tempered).
Low self-esteem (maybe you think you’re a dullard, thin, fat, hated).
First time coming out in front of the class or in a room of people.

Stage fright can affect any student.

You may act tough, but once you’re in front of the class or supervisors (lecturers) answering questions during your presentation, you might find yourself shaking.

4. Appreciation

It is usually advisable for you to surprise and give gifts, awards to your supervisors, lecturers, and invigilators for their educational and moral support.

This can be done before or after your training.

This act usually gladdens their hearts and makes them feel special and honored.

It shows that their time and efforts are being appreciated.

This should be done collectively by the class (your level mates) instead of individually, so as not to appear like you are sorting, bribing for marks.