Hold On To Confidence
It’s not wrong to feel nervous before your viva. It’s really important! It comes at the end of years of work and you want to succeed. It’s almost certain that anyone would feel a bit nervous, but that doesn’t mean...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s not wrong to feel nervous before your viva. It’s really important! It comes at the end of years of work and you want to succeed. It’s almost certain that anyone would feel a bit nervous, but that doesn’t mean...
Anxious, worried and concerned can be distressing. Nervous is uncomfortable. Nervous is reacting to the importance of a situation. For the viva, nervous means you’re acknowledging that the exam is important. The conversation you’ll have with your examiners matters. And that...
It’s understandable that the nature of the viva could make a person worry. It’s understandable, given what any PhD candidate has to do to get to the viva, that the person being examined might be concerned or worry about how...
It’s not a bad thing if you feel nervous before the viva, or at the start. It’s probably not comfortable. Nervousness can sometimes grow into feeling overwhelmed or anxious because – but by itself it’s not a terrible state. Nervousness...
You might be nervous for your viva. Your examiners could be nervous about doing a good job. Your friends and family might be nervous for you. Your supervisors could feel some nerves about the outcome. Everyone nervous because it, your viva,...
Today is the longest day of the year in the UK. More hours of daylight. The shortest night. A special date in the calendar. And just one more day. Your viva could be the longest exam you’ve had. More concentration...
These are not opposite ends of a spectrum. Nervousness is a response to importance; we tend to feel nervous about an important event, good or bad. Confidence is a feeling of self-assurance, certainty or capability. Nervousness says, “I hope this...
Feeling nervous means you recognise that something is important. Humans feel nervous about all sorts of things, from weddings to wars, because they recognise that what is happening matters. They might be deeply involved or a bystander: if the outcome...
If you feel nervous about your viva there is a reason. Don’t try to put it to one side or squash it down, because that feeling is trying to draw your attention to something. If you feel nervous because you...
I hear a lot of people describe vivas in binary terms. The viva is long or short. Either you’ll love it or hate it. Expect examiners to be fair or critical. Questions are either easy or hard. Preparation is straight-forward...