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Year: 2025

Nathan

Why You Rehearse

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An incomplete list of reasons why a PhD candidate would benefit from rehearsal before the viva.

To know how it might feel to be in the viva, minute to minute.

To get a sense of what you might do when you’re asked a question.

To get a sense of how you might feel and what you might do when you’re asked an unexpected question.

To practise what you might do when asked a question.

To practise talking about your work with a good audience.

To review how you did afterwards.

To explore your work.

To explore how you describe your work.

To ask questions about your work and how others see it.

To revise your plans for your viva prep.

To build your confidence for the viva.

To hopefully feel better about your viva.

To experience what it feels like to say “I don’t know.”

To demonstrate to yourself that you can do it.

 

Rehearsal isn’t limited to a mock viva. There are many other opportunities like having a chat, coffee with friends, giving a seminar or having a mini-viva.

And the list of reasons above is incomplete. Why else might you rehearse for your viva?

Nathan

Look & Find

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Look for the good stuff in your thesis. You might find typos or mistakes. These are good to know about, but it’s far more important to look for the contribution.

Look for people to help you get ready for your viva. Look for the right people: ask early for help, be clear and make sure you ask people who can really help you to get ready.

(and when you can be someone who offers help to others getting ready)

Look for expectations about the viva. If you’re not sure what to expect take the time to find out more. Again, ask the right people the right questions and you’ll find what you need to get a good sense of the viva.

For so much of the viva and viva prep, you have to see things clearly. And to do that you have to take the first step and look.

Nathan

Being Hard On Yourself

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Any candidate could have done more or could have done things differently during their PhD.

There always other options. There are always missed opportunities. And there is always the benefit of knowing now what you didn’t know then.

Reflecting a little about possibilities could be useful, but will it help to be hard on yourself? Will it help you get ready for your viva by stressing about what you could or would or should have done? Will it help to put that extra pressure on yourself?

There is a big difference between reflecting on the journey and thinking about what you “should” have done. Mark the line and don’t cross it. Don’t be hard on the person you were when you did the work. Don’t be hard on yourself now as you get ready for your viva.

Nathan

I For Interesting

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Long time readers might remember my acronym VIVA that I find helpful for reflecting on thesis chapters. In brief:

  • What is valuable in the chapter?
  • What do you find interesting about the research?
  • Is there anything vague in what you’ve presented?
  • Are there any questions you think you’ll ask your examiners?

All of these can be useful to start a process of reflection and write a summary. The second word, interesting, provides encouragement as well.

When you think about what you find interesting you get a little lift. “This is what got me hooked,” or “This is why I wanted to know more.”

Perhaps even, “This is what helped me keep going.”

It’s worth reflecting on this as you prepare for your viva. What did you find interesting in your research? Why did it draw you in? What did you find? What would you love to share with others?

Nathan

What’s Missing?

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When you read through your thesis to get ready for your viva ask yourself, what’s missing?

When you make a plan for viva prep, take a short break, review it and ask yourself, what’s missing?

If you write a summary of your methodology, or of your examiners, or a cheatsheet of key points, take time at the end to reflect and ask, what’s missing?

As you pause and get your thoughts in order to respond to your examiners, take an extra beat and consider, what’s missing?

 

At any of these points you might reflect and conclude that nothing is missing! And that’s fine.

Still take that little moment, whenever it is, to ask what’s missing? – make that extra little effort to do your best.

 

PS: If you’re looking for more things to add to your viva prep plan or just more things to reflect on then do take a look at the Viva Help Bundle, still half price until Friday as a result of my little birthday sale!

Nathan

Consistent & Different

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Thesis annotation is a useful part of viva prep. Take time to review your thesis and add details to make a more useful version for your viva. Make things in your thesis easier to find and easier to see at a glance.

Thesis annotation is inherently personal as your thesis is unique. Follow your preferences for information and marking up work to make your thesis helpful for you.

Two words that might help you annotate well are consistent and different.

  • Be consistent in how you annotate things. If you underline your typos in red ink, for example, do that throughout your thesis and don’t switch it up.
  • Be different in how you annotate different things. So, for example, if you use pink highlighter to emphasise key references then use a green highlighter to add emphasis to quotes or statistics.

Keep consistent and different in mind to make the final, annotated version of your thesis as useful as possible for you at the viva. Make it so that when you see an addition it is clear and unambiguous.

Nathan

All The Choices

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When you reflect on your PhD journey, take a little time to think about the choices you made.

  • Some choices will have been about purpose. How you wanted to do things and how you did them. Were you able to follow your intentions? Did they lead where you expected?
  • Some choices will have been about options. Do you pick Plan A or Plan B? How did you make the choice? Did it work out as you thought it would and what did you learn along the way?
  • Some choices will have been hard. How did you arrive at that situation? Was there any other choice open to you?

Looking back, some choices might seem like they were obviously right. For some you might now think that you would choose differently. Hindsight is wonderful.

Looking back you can see that you have got to the end of your PhD with work, growth, adding to knowledge and by making choices. These choices alone don’t have to define you, but they do influence how you think about yourself, your work and your PhD.

If you’ve not arrived at your viva day yet, you still have time to make choices that can help you get ready.

Choose wisely.

Nathan

You Make It Good

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Remember that the contribution in your thesis is only there because you did the work.

Remember that your thesis, imperfect though it probably is, only exists because you took the time to write it.

Remember that you have got to your viva because you put in the effort over a very long period of time.

Whatever your research, your thesis and your viva have that make them good is because of you.

Nathan

Prep & Placebos

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Prep helps to you get ready for your viva. Placebos help you to feel ready for your viva.

Prep is the practical work that gets you closer: read your thesis, make notes, check papers, rehearse with a mock viva and so on.

Placebos are the necessary activities and artefacts that help you feel better: the routines and rituals, the music that is just right or the outfit that helps you feel confident.

Both have an element of personal preference. Prep involves specific kinds of work done in particular ways to meet your needs. Placebos can be cultural but are more typically unique to each person.

(my paperweight is just for me!)

Prep helps you get ready. Placebos help you feel ready. Together they help you to be ready.

Nathan

Hole In One

Daily Post

It’s really unlikely that any person playing a game of golf – even the most experienced professional – will get a hole in one during a game.

It is still possible though. Players do get them from time to time, but it’s not why most people play.

Similarly, at your viva it’s possible you’ll get no corrections but it’s not very likely. It’s possible your viva will be finished in less than an hour but there’s not much that you can do to bring it about. And it’s possible that you’ll be asked a question that brings you to shocked silence, but far, far more likely that you’d have something to say.

You didn’t do all of that the work for a quick viva, an easy time and a hope that you wrote your thesis perfectly. You did the work and in the process learned how to do it well. You learned how to be a good, capable researcher.

Now the viva is your time to show your examiners you can do it. It’s not a rush, it’s not a game and it’s not done with a hope that it will be done as quickly as possible.

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