I use to frequent a grad student bar that regularly held an open-mic night for people to practice their defense. It was brutal. A room full of drunk grad and post-grads would try and pick apart your presentation. Targeted academic heckling. It was great. The goal was to get over your fear of the whole process -no matter what, your actual defense would be a better experience.
A comedian friend in LA said something like this is an institution there.
You spend months/years hitting these clubs to test and refine a bit, while developing all the skills. Some audience make a sport of the heckling, especially some of the other aspiring comedians.
(She said the worst hecklers were the drunk fratbros who imagined themselves comedians, and their own bits were the kind that only their friends would think were funny, but they sure would be demanding of others.)
It was good practice, but brutal, especially if you're weary from living poor, and hanging in there while trying to make it in LA.
Many years ago I worked for a professor who allowed me into weekly meetings which were mostly of touring faculty, presenters, or academics on the job market.
The audience was always a pretty stable group of multidisciplinary, world-class faculty. Most of them were cordial but there were a few aggressive ones too. I remember a statistician who drove real hard. I didn't know any of the words he said, but the room felt electrified every time he started.
It was like intellectual UFC, but hero vs mob. I felt for the speakers, but as a fly on the wall, it was amazing. I haven't experienced anything like it since.
This is so awesome! I want to take part in something like this. It's probably great for grad students to practice asking questions to a presenter as well. So many young PhD students avoid asking questions during talks, especially in subjects they don't know very well, because they are nervous about asking a "dumb" question.
Many departments have some kind of "informal lunch talks" for and by grad students, particularly in the summer. People often practice their defenses there. The advantage is everyone is in your field so the grilling can be pretty close to what professors will focus on.
