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Nathan

A Moment’s Panic

Daily Post

Last month I was finishing my setup for a webinar when something unexpected happened.

I was using Zoom, as I have for four years, and when I shared my screen it looked very different: I was in my slides! I was overlaid on my introduction, confined to the bottom left like a TV news presenter.

I panicked.

For five seconds I looked at the options, the images, the words, the clock in the corner ticking to when I had to start talking. For five seconds I panicked and frozen whilst also doing 101 things.

And then I remembered a key idea from my session: pause, think, respond.

  • I closed my eyes and took a breath. For five more seconds I just stopped.
  • I opened my eyes and looked at the screen and thought. What mattered here?
  • I responded and stopped the screen share. I still had time. I was no longer looking at the wrong thing. With no active problem in front of me, could I find the right thing?

Five seconds later I did and everything was fine.

It was a simple update to Zoom’s interface. An extra option and a change to the default. Something unexpected, leading to a very stressful thirty seconds.

After years of doing things one way – whether it’s Zoom or your research – it could be surprising or even panicking to be faced with something different.

In your viva, you might encounter questions you’ve not considered. You might hear an opinion that is counter to your own. You might need to think about options you’ve not thought through before. Any of these might cause a moment’s panic, but if that happened it’s OK.

Pause. Think. Respond.

Take your time. Get past the panic. Work past the worry. Respond as best you can.

Nathan

A Few Random Posts

Daily Post

Every page on the Viva Survivors site has a little link in the sidebar that says

Click here for a random post of viva help!

If you use it then you’ll find yourself reading one of (currently) 2467 daily viva help posts.

If you have a specific topic or problem you’re looking to read about then the search bar or selecting a tag beneath a post will be a better way to find help. But if you just want to read a helpful thought related to the viva, the random post link is probably the way to go. Here are five posts that the link just gave me:

  • Not-To-Do – what would it be helpful to avoid in viva prep?
  • Scrawl – thinking about thesis annotation.
  • What If I Fail? – the big question in the minds of many worried candidates.
  • Breathe – an encouragement to relax a little.
  • Defending Your Work – what it means to really defend without being defensive.

A few random posts can offer a lot of help – and I’ve worked to make sure that there’s a lot more than a few random posts on Viva Survivors.

If you’re looking for help, you’ll find some here 🙂

Nathan

Taking Your Time

Daily Post

There’s a time frame for completing your PhD, for preparing for the viva and for engaging with it on the day. Each is measured differently of course! Years for a PhD, weeks for preparation, hours for the viva. You might feel busy or pressured, but with all of these stages of the journey you can take your time.

In the viva particularly you can take your time. It’s not a quick fire quiz. It’s not scoring points. The questions are not random and the questioners are not unknown. The process is clear, even if every question is not known ahead of time. Pause, think, respond. Engage with your examiners’ questions.

Take your time. Nobody really wants a four hour viva – I know from personal experience! – but however long your viva is will be right for you. It will be what was needed, driven by the number of questions your examiners have and how you approach them.

Take your time. You do not need to rush to finish, now that everything is nearly done.

Nathan

Breathe

Daily Post

Take a couple of breaths at the start as you sit down. Calm any nerves.

Take a breath whenever you get asked a question. Force a pause to compose your thoughts.

Mind starting to race? Take a few breaths. Need a second to make a note? Take one.

You will breathe throughout the viva of course. But remind yourself so you don’t get carried away with desperately answering questions. There’s time to breathe and time to think as you take a breath.