Problems And Solutions
In the last four years I’ve tried various lighting options when I present webinars.
Natural light can work well but only when the sun is shining and typically only in the morning. I’ve tried ringlights and they make me look like a ghost. Mostly I have hoped that it will work out and people will be able to see me.
And none of this matters any more: after my summer break I noticed the new “portrait” option in Zoom. A clever filter darkens my background and lightens me. This tiny bit of contrast makes a great difference!
It’s an unexpected solution to the problem I had.
All of which is a roundabout way to my point: it can be very easy to focus on one type of solution to a problem. I tried many lighting options but needed something different. Perhaps the problems you face for your viva have different solutions than you expect – or perhaps they are different problems altogether.
- How will I remember everything for my viva?! Maybe you don’t need to remember everything, perhaps you need to annotate your thesis effectively.
- How can I get ready when I don’t have time?! Sketching a plan to break the work down will help, as will remembering all the work you’ve already done.
- How do I get rid of my nerves?! Why not focus instead on building confidence? Build confidence to offset nervousness, rather than try to eliminate nerves.
I spent a long time wondering about how to light myself for the camera – and realised when I landed on a solution that this was only one way to look at the problem.
If you have any viva-related problems and they seem intractable, perhaps a helpful next step is to consider whether or not there are any other ways to look at the situation.