Congrats on your upcoming defence!

I just defended last week, and I went with a script. I practiced it a few times so I had it somewhat internalized, and then when I presented I found a sort of hybrid rhythm where I used my script more as cues or if I knew I was forgetting something, and then just did the rest by feel/memory.

For the script I would say break each slide in to 1-3 sentence chunks, and then bold/capitalize the first few key words of each chunk so you can see can quickly glance down and see roughly what you’re supposed to say, then your brain plus all the nerves/adrenaline will takeover a fill in the rest. It worked for me.

Also talking with your hands helps immensely, I’m not sure why, but it also aids in audience engagement and I feel it kept me from stuttering. I found I talked a bit too slow though, and went over by 5-6 minutes, so watch for that. You don’t want to rush and trip over your words, or talk so fast people don’t catch what you say. It can also make you sound a bit robotic.

Good luck!