Steve Tippins tells doctoral candidates their committees want them to succeed. Committees have practical incentives to approve defenses: fewer meetings, less paperwork, less wasted time. The anxiety spiking before your defense is real but misleading. You earned your place in that room.
Committees do not serve on panels to watch people fail because a failed defense means more meetings, more paperwork, and more wasted time for everyone, including them. You might see a fraud that somehow slipped through the cracks, but what they see is a researcher who survived coursework, passed qualifying exams, and completed a dissertation. Anxiety will try to convince you that your committee is spending a week trying to plan your downfall. The truth is that they are just trying to grade their papers and survive their own meetings. Imposter syndrome always gets the loudest right before the finish line, and it can speak with a megaphone, but it is completely wrong. You earned your spot in that room. Comment "help" and we will send you the link to my free dissertation help community. You've got this!
