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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

What Are Your Numbers?

Daily Post

I track the number of people I have worked with directly on their viva.

I keep a tally of the number of sessions I have delivered.

I record every daily post I’ve published here.

(and record a word count too!)

These are stats and they don’t mean much to anyone else but they help remind me. Knowing that I have published more than 2800 posts gives me confidence to write more. Remembering how many sessions I’ve done in the past helps me when I feel nervous about doing a webinar for someone new or trying something different.

 

My numbers are not the whole story. They’re a starting point or prompt for my confidence.

What are your numbers? What numbers could you track to help your confidence?

  • Could it be the number of papers you’ve read or cited?
  • The number of days or hours you must have spent on your PhD?
  • How many times have you spoken in a seminar or at a conference?
  • How often have you overcome challenges?

Find some numbers that matter and that help you. Record them and remember them: they’re a powerful confidence booster.

Nathan

Pick One

Daily Post

Imagine I had a new service, YourViva™, where I could offer you a viva with one of the following characteristics:

  • Your viva will be short, under an hour.
  • Your viva will be easy, no surprising questions.
  • Your viva will result in no corrections.
  • Your viva questions will only come from one of your examiners, your choice.

You can pick one but will have no guarantees on any of the other characteristics. You might get them, their opposites or anything else in-between.

What would you pick? Why does that matter to you?

 

YourViva™ doesn’t exist but if you picked a viva feature it would be for a reason. You may not have any influence over getting that for your viva but, given that it’s in your mind, what will you do as a result? If you have a worry or concern you can still do something.

For example:

  • Viva length is totally out of your control. You’d be better preparing yourself to be at your viva for as long as it takes.
  • You can’t control the questions you’re asked. Rather than hope for easy questions, prepare yourself by rehearsing with a mock viva.
  • Some people get no corrections but not many. Consult your regulations to get a sense of what to expect for minor corrections.
  • Your examiners will have a plan and work together. A little research can help you understand who you’re talking to, what they might ask and why.

Focus on what you can reasonably expect and what you can practically do for your viva. You can’t control all the details of your viva but you can ensure you show up ready to do well.

Nathan

The Spotlight

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What do you think your examiners will most want to talk about in your viva? What do you think needs to be in the spotlight? What topics would you most want to talk about and why?

And more importantly, how comfortable do you feel talking about your work?

Reflecting on how you say things might help – word choices, key points and so on – but the real help comes from rehearsal. You need to find situations where you can practise. A mock viva will probably help but you could also try giving a seminar, going for coffee with friends or even just asking someone to listen.

Whatever you do you need to be comfortable and confident enough to discuss your work and your experience. To be ready for your viva you need to put both your work and yourself in the spotlight.

Nathan

Just Yesterday

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My life has moved on a lot since my PhD – but there are aspects of the first week of being a PGR that I remember as clearly with a pin sharp image and in 3D Surround Sound audio.

I remember what it felt like to walk in to my office for the first time. How it felt to get going again after a year’s gap from my Masters. Looking at half-remembered notes of a topic and rebuilding those ideas. The early conversations and confusion, “So what do I do?”

 

I can remember all of that well. With years of hindsight I see the difference between Nathan-in-October-2004 and Nathan-in-June-2008. The latter knew a lot more than the former! He had done a lot, but he didn’t think about it that way. He had results but he didn’t value them as much as he could have.

Both of those Nathans were quite different, except that both still continued to not feel confident.

 

At times the first day of my PhD and the first minutes of my viva seem like they were just yesterday. And sometimes they feel like a million years ago or that they happened to someone else.

I would encourage you to look back a little as you come to the end of your PhD journey. Hopefully you’ll look kindly on the former-you; at the very least realise that you have come a long way, growing in knowledge, understanding and skill.

And hopefully you’ll realise that that growth and achievement is a good foundation for feeling confident at your viva.

Nathan

Viva Survivor, Thursday 27th March 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share at least one helpful thought through the Viva Survivors blog. There’s a lot in the archives but it could take a long time to put together a full picture of what to expect and what to do by reading the last 2800 posts.

If you want a good idea of what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025. For three hours I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation can look like and how someone can engage well with their examiners.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared and developed with thousands of PhD candidates over the last fifteen years. I have a full plan, plenty of time to take questions from attendees, great follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case anyone can’t stay for the whole time.

I love doing this session (I’ve delivered it almost 400 times!) and I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. If you have any questions please get in touch – and do please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Airbrush

Daily Post

There’s a lot you might need to focus on from your PhD journey as you prepare for your viva: your contribution, the work you put in, time invested in building your skills and knowledge.

As you take time to prepare consider that it could be time to let some other things go.

Let go of disappointments. Don’t dwell on your failures, except what you learned from them. Airbrush out things that drag on your confidence. Leave behind past frustrations that aren’t helping you get ready.

What do you need to forget from your PhD journey? What can you leave out of the story you tell yourself of how you got this far?

You don’t have to focus on your whole PhD journey to find confidence and feel capable for your viva.

Nathan

Knowing Your Stuff

Daily Post

At the viva you’re expected to know your stuff, whatever that might mean for someone in your field or discipline. Broadly speaking: you’re clever, you’ve done the work and you’re assumed to be capable.

It’s not hard to worry that you might be missing something, but keep in mind, to set the right perspective:

  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you need to know everything.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you are expected to have a fast recall of every detail.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean having read every paper.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean guessing every question your examiners might have.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean knowing all of your examiners’ stuff too.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean figuring things out quickly.

At the viva, knowing your stuff means being knowledgeable, capable and being willing to engage with your examiners’ questions and the discussion that follows from them.

To get as far as you have you must know your stuff: it’s the only way anyone could get to submission.

 

PS: want to know more about the viva process and expectations? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is live for my March 27th 2025 webinar and includes follow-up resources and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend on the day.

Nathan

Imperfect Metrics

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Viva success is not based on how many days you showed up to do your work.

Success isn’t determined by the number of chapters you have written, the number of papers you cited, how many conference talks you’ve delivered or whether you have several publications out there.

All these numbers can give a boost to your confidence though. The numbers mean you did something, repeatedly, and over a long period of time.

You need to look a little deeper for proof of your knowledge and capability as a PhD candidate, but a good starting point might be the imperfect metrics of a few numbers that show you did the work.

They count for something.

Nathan

Contributions Matter

Daily Post

“How would you define your significant, original contribution?”

That’s a hard question for a lot of reasons.

It asks for specifics, your opinion and makes an assumption that there is one big thing you’ve done through your research. Personally, I would struggle to respond because I didn’t have a single focus during my PhD: my thesis was a collection of results, not one overall idea that I explored.

It’s a hard question, but it could be rewarding to unpick nonetheless. Reflecting might reveal some helpful ways to share your research with your examiners (and others).

It’s also helpful to reflect on all of your contributions, big and small. Look back over your PhD and think about your results, achievements and victories. What do they all amount to? Whether or not there is a single headline conclusion to point to, what do your contributions mean?

Remember that contributions can be a stepping stone to confidence: recognising what you’ve achieved can be a helpful way to boost how you feel.

 

PS: exploring confidence is a big part of my Viva Survivor webinar – alongside expectations, viva prep and the whole viva process. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 session and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live!

Nathan

“Have A Great Time”

Daily Post

…is a sentiment that is a bit like “Good luck” or “Don’t worry” when related to the viva. It’s very well meant, but there might not be a lot that you can do directly.

While you can’t control whether or not you will have a great viva, you can influence things. You can:

  • Do the work
  • Plan and prepare.
  • Check the regulations.
  • Reflect on your PhD journey to build your confidence.
  • Check out your examiners.
  • Read, review and rehearse.

Having a great time at the viva does not rest on good luck. It won’t happen if you simply don’t worry. As with all of your PhD success, you have to do the work.

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