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Nathan

Three Part Success

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There are three parts to a successful viva:

  • Effective preparation before the viva;
  • Full engagement during the viva;
  • Relieved celebration after the viva.

Before the viva you need to take steps to get ready. Plan your prep in advance so you don’t feel pressured for time. There’s a lot of generally good advice about kinds of activities help (and a lot of that on this blog). Make sure you don’t leave it too late, but remember you have done a lot already that puts you in a good position.

During the viva take your time. Breathe. Pause. Your examiners want you to engage with and respond to the discussion. They are not simply looking for rapid-fire responses or testing your memory. They need to have a conversation so that you can demonstrate what you did, what you know and what you can do. Take your time. Engage – and enjoy!

When the viva is finished do something to celebrate. Smile. You’ll probably have corrections to complete, but all in due course. On the day you can celebrate your achievement. You’re very likely to succeed, so perhaps have an idea or two in mind before the viva to help motivate you.

There are three parts to a successful viva – after, of course, a successful research journey and thesis submission.

Notice that at every stage the key factor is you.

Nathan

Make Plans

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Make a plan for submission. Set milestones to help keep you on track. Check the details for the official things you need to do. Maybe ask a friend to go with you if you have to submit paper copies and make an event of the occasion.

Make a plan for your prep. It doesn’t take a lot to get ready; if you’re already busy it helps to map out what you will do and when you will do it. Ask for help in advance so you can arrange specific times. Start soon enough so you don’t have to rush to finish.

Make a plan for the viva. Think about how you would like it to go, how you would like to present yourself, what you will need for the day. Plan your outfit and supplies. Plan your space if your viva is over video. Decide on how you will try to engage with questions. Check the details but remember that you can’t control everything: you can plan to do your best.

Make a plan for the short break at the end of the viva. Find something to do in that brief period of waiting to occupy yourself.

Finally, make a plan to celebrate your success!

Nathan

Celebrate!

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What will you do when you pass your viva?

Who will you tell first?

On that day, maybe that evening, after the first thrill has passed, what will you do to mark the occasion?

(it may be that you have to get a little creative of course, depending on when you have your viva…)

Once you have these images of celebration and success in mind, use them to motivate you. Use them to persuade yourself that you’re on track. Use them to boost your confidence or commitment to getting ready.

And use them to make your imagined celebrations real, when the time comes.

Nathan

Make It Special

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With the move to video vivas in the UK, I’ve not heard of any terrible stories, but I can well imagine that for some candidates the viva doesn’t feel that important. Or if it does, there’s a shadow of it not being all that special when they succeed. Finishing a video chat and sending a few emails or text messages isn’t the same as being able to meet a group of friends for dinner and celebrate.

There are things we just can’t change, not yet, not now – but celebrating success, while it might have to be different for a while, still has to happen.

Consider how you can make your viva success feel awesome. What can you ask others to do to help you? What could help make that day feel amazing? Who will you need to tell? How will you tell them? And how will you celebrate that day or soon after you’ve finished?

If you department has a tradition, maybe there’s a way you can update it for now. Some traditions might be hard to replicate over Zoom though…

You might not be pulled through the streets in a balloon-covered wagon, but you can find some way to make your viva success matter!

Nathan

The Last Viva

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It’s hard to imagine the first viva. When I tried it made me wonder about the last one too. If there was to be a last one it could be special for all sorts of reasons…

  • “We’re changing the process…”
  • “It’s the end of an era…”
  • “The Vice Chancellor is going to be there too!”

I smile to myself as I think about this – but it also reminds me that none of that would matter. Not really.

What matters is the work and the talented person who did it. These are the special things about the viva.

These are the things that matter.

It’s unlikely that your viva, whenever it is, would be the last one ever. It will still be incredibly special.

Nathan

Three Cheers!

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As far as I know a round of applause isn’t that common immediately after a viva. Maybe if you have a group of friends and colleagues on hand, perhaps with a bottle of something sparkling, there’ll be a call to applaud you. Probably circumstances won’t make it happen for you, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it.

We clap our hands when we’re happy. We clap our hands at the end of something good. We clap our hands to show others that we agree. We do it to show respect.

There are lots of reasons for you to get a round of applause. I hope you do!

Nathan

Plan The Party

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I’ve written before about how nervousness is strongly correlated with important things. You have a choice: you get to pick which you give attention to: do you try to make yourself feel less nervous or try to do the important thing better?

There’s also a strong correlation between important things and wanting to pay special attention to those things. Pay attention to the celebration. Decide how you are going to mark it.

Plan the party, if you’re going to have one; figure out the reward, if that’s more your thing. Tell your friends, “Help me fix this in my mind as a big deal!”

Because it is a big deal. Passing the viva, finishing the PhD, is a very big deal.

Thinking again, perhaps it’s not that there is a correlation between the important thing and wanting to celebrate it. Perhaps the celebration is a sign it is an important thing?

Nathan

Party Time

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After my viva I felt like I was celebrating because that’s what I was supposed to do. My family was thrilled for me, but I just didn’t want to celebrate that evening. My viva wasn’t bad, but by the end I was tired, numb. I didn’t begin to feel like celebrating until days later.

How do you think you might feel after your viva?

Do you think you’ll be saying, “Phew! I’m glad that’s done!”?

Will you frame celebrations as “This is a treat for finishing!”?

Or will you be thinking, “Now what?” – which is pretty much what was going through my mind after the viva.

As with many things, if you can reflect a little on how you feel now, you might be able to steer your motivations. If you’re thinking, “I’ll be glad when this is over,” you’re not likely to have a positive spin on things. Maybe you’re not in charge of your emotional state completely, but you can steer things.

However you feel, remember to celebrate. Passing the viva is big.