Nathan

Find The Right Direction

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Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.

This phrase, attributed to Kenichi Ohmae, is something I try to keep in mind whenever I find myself stuck or working on something for a long time. It’s a reminder that working hard doesn’t matter if I’m not doing the right thing.

It’s a sentiment I wish I had known during my PhD!

Be sure that you’re working on the right things as you prepare for your viva. It’s good to work hard but you might not need to do as much work as you think.

Obsessing over every detail, finding every typo in your thesis, checking every reference – you could work really hard at these sorts of things, but will that help you to be ready?

Read, review, rehearse. Keep it simple. Work hard but find the right direction.

Nathan

Mindsets Can Change

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A mindset sounds fixed by definition. Your mind is set on something, in behaving a certain way or doing a certain thing.

I’ve talked to a lot of PhD candidates who get worried about their examiners. They think that they’re out to get them. They think examiners will solely focus on “the bad stuff” – even if they can’t quite define what parts of their thesis they think that will be. And sometimes they’re intimidated by examiners; their level of general knowledge and experience could make a candidate feel small by comparison.

Examiners are often cast as the bad guys (by the candidate) but really they’re just doing a job.

  • They prepare. They plan. They explore ahead of time what they might ask.
  • At the viva they facilitate. They make notes. They listen. They ask questions. They decide.
  • And more generally, they have PhDs so they can empathise. They know what it’s like to do what you’ve done and to be sat where you’re sat.

Have I changed your mindset with these little thoughts? Maybe not. But perhaps it’s chipped away a little worry. You now have to think about what else you can explore to change your mindset about your examiners.

Perhaps there are other mindsets about the viva (the tone, the expectations, the questions) that you can challenge. Perhaps by changing your mind about a few things you can find a better way to think about and prepare for your viva.

Nathan

Difficult ≠ Negative

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It’s reasonable to expect your viva to be difficult.

Consider the work that you’ve done and how long you’ve been doing the work. Consider the level that you work at. Consider the years of work that yours is built on, the expectations of your discipline, the amount you’ve written and the general demands of a viva.

Consider that you might be nervous, anxious, worried or stressed.

It’s reasonable to expect your viva to be difficult – but that doesn’t mean it will be bad.

You might not like aspects of your viva or viva prep. You might not want to respond to certain questions or topics at the viva. And there might be general expectations of the whole event that worry you.

Still: does that mean your viva has to necessarily be a negative experience?

If you’re anxious, ask why. If you’re worried, ask why. If you’re stressed, ask for help.

 

It’s natural to be nervous. It’s right to expect your viva to be difficult.

Accept the situation, work in and around the parts that you need to. Don’t expect a box-ticking exercise but do expect that you can do well in a situation you can know so much about and prepare for.

And do remember that you’ve not got this far without facing a certain amount of difficulty – and making it through.

Nathan

Challenges

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Formally the viva is an exam.

Practically it could be described as a discussion.

It’s accurate to call it a challenge.

It’s not wrong to be nervous about exams, worried about talking or concerned about a challenge. It’s human to feel any of those things.

 

Remember that the viva is an exam conducted as a discussion – and only a challenge because that’s what you’ve made for yourself. The viva is one particular challenge after many that you have overcome. You’ve worked hard to do the work, do the research and write your thesis. Along the way you built yourself up as well, in your knowledge, understanding and general capability.

Remember that the work that has got you this far is what will get through the challenge yet to come.

Nathan

Viva Help in 2025

Event, Update

“The session last week was so, so helpful. I really appreciated the practical guidance, which made so much sense and feels do-able and will help my confidence going into the viva. It helped that your manner in the training was calm, clear, concise, and full of empathy and understanding.”

I received these kind words in my inbox in mid-December, from a participant of my first independent Viva Survivor session. It was a really nice early Christmas present!

Viva Survivor is a 3-hour session I’ve now delivered to more than 7500 postgraduate researchers. Through it I help PhD candidates see that being ready for the viva is within their reach. They’ve done the work, they can learn what to expect and what to do and generally find confidence for the viva day.

I’m typically invited by universities and doctoral training programmes to share Viva Survivor with their researchers, but I decided to offer it up for open registration in December. One day, one time, any PhD candidate welcome to register. A 3-hour live session with follow-up supporting materials and a catch-up recording.

Would anyone be interested?

Thankfully yes! In fact, seven PhD candidates attended. There was a lovely atmosphere created by my cohort. It also felt good to write to people individually before and after the session. It might be impractical for university sessions, but I’d love to do more to recreate this in the future.

 

“Just a quick note to say I passed my viva with minor corrections! Your webinar was very useful and definitely helped to allay some anxiety regarding the whole process.”

My second early Christmas present was the above message: one of my attendees at the independent session had their viva within weeks of Viva Survivor and had succeeded! As you might imagine, it felt fantastic to have played a part in helping them get ready.

I want to help many more people in 2025. I’m happy to say that I have a lot of dates in my diary with universities over the coming months, including my 400th Viva Survivor – and I’m very happy to announce that registration is open now for independent Viva Survivor sessions on March 27th 2025 and June 25th 2025!

These are months away, but if your viva is this year do take a look at what I’ll be covering and what you get by registering and attending. If you have questions about the session or format then please email me. I’ll be happy to respond.

And if you know someone who might be interested in Viva Survivor please pass the details on!

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

Nathan

Keeping Track

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If you keep track of your PhD journey you can see where you grow and how your work develops.

If you keep track of your viva prep you can see that you are moving closer to being done.

If you keep track of your own capability you can find a sense of confidence for your viva.

 

Doing things matters. Do the work, do the prep and do what you can to become a good researcher.

Keeping track matters too. Recognise what you have done and what that means for you.

Nathan

Images Of Confidence

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What do you think of when you think of “confidence”?

Do you think of a friend or family member? A famous person like an actor or sportsperson? Your supervisor?

I think of this image:

A single frame from a 1940s Superman cartoon. Partially silhouetted by light from behind against a general blue background. Superman stands with his hand on his hips, legs braced, back straight, chest out.

I used to watch 1940s Superman cartoons repeatedly when I was a child. It was the only video cassette we had! Somewhere along the way this image got lodged in my mind as a shorthand for confidence.

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I think it’s because despite the superpowers and general superhero associations, it represents a choice: “I want to do this” or maybe “I want to follow a specific path”.

Confidence is the result of a choice: you can’t choose to have confidence but you can choose to pursue confidence. The image above reminds me that I can take steps to develop and maintain my confidence.

What image do you think of when you think of “confidence”? And what does that image mean to you? And what else are you doing to build up up your self-confidence before your viva?

Nathan

The Viva Roles

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Examiners: two academics who accept the opportunity to examine your thesis and you. They have training, they prepare, they plan and they’re ready to do what’s required. They want to do the job well. They only take the role on if it seems interesting and right for them. They’re at your viva for a good reason, even if some of their questions might seem difficult.

 

Observers: a category that covers two particular sub-classes, the Independent Chairperson and your Supervisor.

  • The Independent Chair’s specific role is to make sure that the viva goes well. They might seem like a passive role – if they’re present at all, as not all vivas have Independent Chairs. They’ll steer the discussion if they think they need to. They’ll support newer academics taking on an Examiner role if that’s necessary.
  • If your Supervisor is observing then they are only observing; like the Chair they can’t ask or respond to questions. They sit back and watch. You get to decide if they’re present or not.

 

The Candidate: that’s you! How would you describe what you can do and what you’re there to do?

Nathan

Mistakes Were Made

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Mistakes are a natural part of the PhD process.

They might happen by accident or through ignorance. You might make a mistake and learn from it. You might make a mistake and be confounded by it. You might have a mistake and not realise it. It could be inconsequential like a spelling miskate mistake or require a fundamental change to your thesis conclusions.

(thankfully, the latter is very rare!)

Mistakes are a regular part of the PhD and so talking about them in some form at the viva is almost guaranteed. There’s no set formula for responding to mistakes, but perhaps the closest thing might be to consider:

  • Why the mistake is a mistake;
  • How it might be resolved;
  • What you will do as a result.

Anyone can make a miskate mistake. It’s what you do as a result, depending on the situation, that matters.

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