You Don’t Want The Viva
Regular readers of the blog might know I am a huge fan of Seth Godin. I’m re-reading his most recent book, This Is Marketing, and I wanted to share a passage I’ve been thinking about for a while now: Harvard...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Regular readers of the blog might know I am a huge fan of Seth Godin. I’m re-reading his most recent book, This Is Marketing, and I wanted to share a passage I’ve been thinking about for a while now: Harvard...
I’ve never read Anna Karenina. I get stuck about twenty pages in and change to something else on my Kindle. As I’ve read the start many times, the opening line remains with me, often translated as: Happy families are all...
I really like Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk: the highlight is that there is evidence that adopting a pose of confidence can improve your confidence. Something as simple as setting your posture can have an effect on how you feel. Standing...
Surprise questions might not be critical, they could simply be unexpected. By your viva you have plenty of talent for responding to questions, but a surprise question might still stun you. If you are worried about surprise questions: Decide on...
Viva preparation is not about speed, but sometimes a quick task is useful to break the inertia. I’ve shared a few “top fives” posts before, but here are ten quick tasks to get things moving. Top Five Places To Bookmark...
Look around you. There are lots of experts, able to share ideas, advice, experience. All you have to do is ask. Ask specific questions about viva experiences to learn what they’re like. Ask your supervisor and other academics how they...
I’m asked about short vivas in almost every Viva Survivor session: What can I do to have a short viva? How can I steer my examiners to ask fewer questions? How could I make my viva be less than an...
I’ve shared my VIVA tool a few times: an acronym for exploring your thesis chapter by chapter as a valuable viva preparation. My quick directions for someone to try this would be to divide a sheet into four sections, and...
There are plenty of people you can ask for advice and help about the viva – but there’s plenty of other ways you get help too. Even a Magic 8-Ball could help! Here’s a partial transcript from a recent conversation...
There’s a lot you can do to prepare for the viva – so much that at times it could feel overwhelming. Whatever you’re going to do, start with a limit of just three things to help you focus. Ask your...