Daily viva help for PhDs
Lots of questions have answers. Answers are things that are known: factually accurate, true or perhaps established as a logical argument with sufficient supporting reasons and information. If you were asked a question and needed to find an answer in...
The viva is a discussion. It’s not a Q&A. It’s not an interview. It’s not supposed to be combative or about proving who is right or wrong. Remember that your examiners are allowed to have different opinions to you. They...
Viva prep necessarily involves reading your thesis, making notes and checking things out. For all the help this work brings, it doesn’t match the mode of work you’ll be engaged in at the viva. In the viva you have to...
It’s not a quiz. You need to know a lot, of course, but you’re not expected to have rapid recall or a photographic memory of your research and your thesis. It’s not an interview. You might choose to dress smart,...
The viva is a conversation between you and your examiners. They use questions to facilitate a discussion about you, your research and your thesis. They’re looking for you to demonstrate your capability as a researcher and the contribution in your...
In my earliest academic days I was given the following advice for structuring a presentation: tell them what you’re going to tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them. “Them” in this case was the audience. Over the years...
One of the main principles of improvisational comedy is “yes, and…” There’s no script in improv. If you’re on stage and someone says something, you agree with them and build on what they have said. If someone remarks about the...
If you say too little in the viva then your examiners will ask for more. If you’re saying too much then they will steer the conversation with comments and questions. Don’t worry about whether you’re saying too little or too...
“Test” doesn’t seem big enough to think about the way you have to engage in the viva. A test feels like a little thing, a one-time intervention where you are measured, checked and analysed. That’s not the viva. Maybe we could...
Your examiners aren’t there to fire questions at you and expect an answer in ten seconds or less. They don’t have a big list of true or false statements for you to correctly identify. And they won’t be grilling you...