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Year: 2017

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2017: Reflections

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I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Reflections is the catch-all category I have for posts which are when I’m pondering and musing over the viva. I spend a lot of time thinking about the viva and how to help people prepare for it, so it’s not all that surprising that this shows up.

There will be many, many more reflections from me on the blog in 2018. I hope that some of these have helped you think about what your viva will be like. See you here in 2018: tomorrow! 😀

Found another post that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2017: Short Posts

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I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Today I’m sharing some of my favourite short posts. Sometimes I’ll have a thought and realise it doesn’t take many words to explain it. Others, it’s the beginning of something else I’ll come back to another time. In any case, all of the posts below are brief but helpful. I’ve provided a tiny excerpt from each post to give a taste!

These aren’t the only short posts on the blog. In 2018 I’m hoping to make time to go through and tag shorter posts so they become more searchable. Good idea?

Found another post that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2017: Questions

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I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Today we’re exploring posts about questions. I love using questions to help people unpick all sorts of aspects of the viva, from prep through to feelings and questions that candidates can work through and answer to get as ready as possible.

Questions help because they lead to answers. I like series of questions for digging into a topic, and hope to write more posts like this next year.

Found another post that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2017: Acronyms & Tools

Daily Post

I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Today the focus is on acronyms and thinking tools that I think could be really useful for viva prep or thinking about your research. I love these sorts of concepts that try to help with clear thinking or providing structure. Take a look and see what you think.

Acronyms are like beautiful little bundles of help. Thinking tools can give frameworks to help direct your thinking. To my mind, both perfect places to look for viva help!

Found another post that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2017: Viva Prep

Daily Post

I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. I’m starting today with the topic of viva prep which is something I think about every day. How can we best approach it? How can I help people think about it and then do something effective? Here’s a list of some of the best posts from 2017 to help with preparing for the viva!

I hope these posts are really useful for you. There are hundreds of posts on the blog from 2017, so go looking and see what you find.

Found something else on viva prep that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!

Nathan

Happy Christmas

Daily Post

A quick note…

This is the last blog post until the 27th. For a few days after that I’ll be publishing round-up posts on some of my favourite posts from the last nine months, then things will get back to normal (for some value of normal) with new daily posts.

However you celebrate this time of year, I hope you have a good time.

If your viva is in the New Year, take a break, prep can wait.

All the best, and thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Future Resources

Daily Post

I have an ever-growing list of ideas, potential projects and things to make to help people be ready for their viva. If you look around this site you’ll see lots of resources already:

  • over sixty episodes of the podcast in the archive;
  • a curated list of useful links from all over the place;
  • original free resources like The tiny book of viva prep and my first Viva Minicast;
  • pages with my ebooks and print guides;
  • and, to date, almost 250 daily viva posts!

I get stuck thinking about which future projects and resources to prioritise. Which should I do first? Are there any I shouldn’t bother with at all? What kind of resources will help? What would make the biggest difference?

Rather than try to figure it all out for myself, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you have ideas for the kinds of resources that could help, then please, tell me! What you do you want? What do you think would help? Where are there gaps in terms of helpful resources about the viva?

Please email or tweet at me if you’ve any ideas!

Often the first step to finding a solution is really figuring out what you need. So… What do you need?

Nathan

Don’t Worry

Daily Post

This is one of the phrases that seems useful on the surface. An encouragement to steer someone away from nerves.

  • “Don’t worry, you’ve done the hard work…”
  • “Don’t worry, you’re the expert…”
  • “Don’t worry, they’re not there to interrogate you…”

Here’s the thing: “don’t worry” doesn’t stop people from worrying! I’ve been pondering this for a while, and I am trying to be really conscious about the words I use in the future. I know I’ve said it before but I’m trying to remove it from my “viva help vocabulary”.

All of the reasons above are true, as justifications for why someone doesn’t need to be worried. It’s difficult for an already worried or nervous person to hear those reasons when they hear “don’t worry” first.

Helping a friend prepare? Don’t say “don’t worry”. Simply try to help them focus on their achievements. Get them to talk to you about the work. Steer their perspective.

Get them to realise how talented they are to have submitted their thesis, and how well-placed they are to succeed in their viva.

Nathan

Best Laid Plans

Daily Post

The Three-Part PhD Plan!â„¢

  1. Do a good piece of research;
  2. Write a good thesis;
  3. Be ready to answer questions in the viva.

All of these are achievable for a PhD candidate. There’s a lot more detail to The Three-Part PhD Plan!â„¢, of course, but it can be done (and is, all the time).

But still most candidates get minor corrections, and obsess about getting them despite their best laid plans. They’d rather get none at all. Indeed, if you follow The Three-Part PhD Plan!â„¢ how can you get any corrections?

Well…

  • …the word is “good,” not “perfect” – with best intentions you can make mistakes;
  • …writing a good thesis is non-trivial and you’re learning as you go – you can miss typos or have a structure that could be improved on;
  • …you’re clever, and talented, and well-read but you’re not omniscient – you can’t know everything or have considered everything in your field.

None of these are disqualifying, and none of these have to be massive ordeals to correct post-viva.

Aiming for minor corrections isn’t the right goal. Aim to do your best.

How do you do that? Check out The Three-Part PhD Plan!â„¢

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