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Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Confidence

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Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts. Today we finish my annual round-up with my favourite posts from 2019 on the subject of confidence. After considering expectations, examiners, practical prep and all of the other topics that come to mind about the viva, confidence is the missing piece of the puzzle. It’s a very personal topic for me too, as I can see the difference it’s made to me since finishing my PhD.

Confidence helps put nerves and doubts into perspective, and helps candidates to see the talent that has lead them to the viva. Let me know what others posts have helped this year. Subscribe to the blog to get a new post by email every day in 2020!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Short Posts

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Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts over a few days. In today’s round-up I want to share some of my favourite short posts. Sometimes an idea doesn’t take much to explain!

  • Requirements – all you need for your PhD.
  • Everything! – what you can’t have done!
  • Questions & Answers – a couple of thoughts about where your viva comes from.
  • A Better List Than Typos – something to focus on rather than spelling mistakes.
  • Labels – reflecting on the words that you choose to use to describe yourself, your examiners and the viva.
  • Final – putting the importance of the viva in perspective.

Drop me a line if you have other favourite short posts from 2019! Tomorrow, in the final post for this year we come to one of the most important topics for the viva: confidence.

Nathan

2019 In Stats

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In 2019 I have…

  • …published 360 posts on this blog!
  • …delivered my Viva Survivor session a total of 51 times…
    • …which is the most I’ve ever done in a year!
  • …helped 888 PhD candidates at my session, which is more than I did in 2018!
  • …started work on three new ebook projects that will see completion by Easter 2020!

(in case you couldn’t tell by all the exclamation marks, I’m feeling pretty excited!)

My personal highlights of the year include delivering Viva Survivor at a wildlife park – where I fed a lion! Shortly after that I passed the 200 session mark for my Viva Survivor delivery – and then I passed 225 sessions several months later! I’ve now delivered Viva Survivor to over 4000 postgraduate researchers around the UK.

Statistics are numbers, more of this, less of that, totals and highlights and averages. Statistics help mark the journey though.

“I delivered 51 Viva Survivor sessions this year” – the number helps me remember how I got where I am. Confidence isn’t a statistic, but statistics help frame the story.

What are your statistics for 2019?

  • How many times have you had a success?
  • How many days did you show up to get your work done?
  • How many talks have you given – even if you felt nervous?
  • How many words/pages/chapters have you written?
  • How many times did you get something wrong – and what did you learn?
  • And what can you measure to show that you’re doing well?

Your stats help tell a story you can tell others – after first telling a good story to you. Your story can persuade others you’ve done something good, convince them you can do what you can do and that you know what you know.

Start with the stats of your story.

Nathan

Marley’s Post

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I love A Christmas Carol. I’ve read the book, seen stage plays, cartoons, films and other adaptations. The story, in every form I’ve met it, always resonates. It’s only by visits from the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future that Ebeneezer Scrooge is able to see the value of Christmas and see what he needs to change in himself. He needs to see Christmas Past and Present to see what he is missing (and what others are missing) and to see a Future which shows what might happen if he does not change.

You won’t be visited by three spirits or ghosts before your viva! Still, however you feel about the viva – Scrooge-like or not! – it’s worth considering the Past, Present and Future to be ready for it.

  • The Past. What have you done that has got you this far? And what have your friends told you about their vivas to set your mind at rest?
  • The Present. What do the regulations tell you about what to expect? What might you need to do in the coming weeks and months leading up to your viva?
  • The Future. What are the potential likely outcomes for your viva and what do they mean? And what will you do to get ready for it?

Consider, and learn the lessons of the Past, the Present and the Future for your viva!

Nathan

Just Leave Everything To Me

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I’ve mentioned before on the blog that I arrive early for my Viva Survivor sessions to get everything set up. I put my brain on the right frequency for Viva Survivor by listening to a few tracks from the soundtrack to Hello, Dolly! Today happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Hello, Dolly! – which seems as good a reason as any to muse a little on one of the songs!

“Just Leave Everything To Me” introduces the character of Dolly Levi. She tells the audience she is capable at nearly everything. She shows in the song and through the movie a willingness to think on her feet, an aptitude for fast problem solving and a real drive to get things done.

Dolly would be a great PhD candidate. Just leave everything to me is a useful thought for viva candidates: for the most part, the viva really is down to a candidate’s wits, their knowledge and their ability. A candidate can choose to go to the viva ready and able to engage with the discussion. In the few hours they’ll be with their examiners it really is just up to them.

Just leave everything to me is a useful mindset for the viva, but it’s worth remembering everyone around you who can help. From your supervisor to your friends and family, there are many people who have helped your success so far, and most of them can continue to help you up until the moment you enter the viva.

It’s not wrong to ask for help before the viva. It’s right to feel that you are capable, and that your success in the viva is up to you.

And maybe it’s right to look for that one tune that helps you get ready, one song that primes you for feeling amazing. What would yours be?

Nathan

Find Encouragement

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There’s a place for honest feedback and difficult questions in viva preparation. Criticism can help too, but all of this has to be in proportion with encouragement. Look for people who can help you see that it is all going to be fine.

  • What friends could let you know about their good viva experiences?
  • What questions could you ask your supervisor to get them to talk about you contribution and your talent?
  • How could friends and family members outside of the university support you?

Look back over the last few years. Reflect on your story. What events and achievements can you find that encourage you for your viva?

Nathan

We Need To Talk About The Viva

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We don’t talk about it enough.

One day in every UK PhD’s life that is shoved aside, joked about, under-analysed, glossed over and swept under the rug. Don’t think about it too much because you’ll worry or stress. Don’t ask about it because you might hear a story you don’t like the sound of. Don’t explore what happens in case you feel you’re not up to the task. Don’t tell anyone afterwards because it’s over and done with now.

We need to talk about the viva – and I mean “we” because I can’t do it by myself!

We need graduates to talk about how they were feeling: what their expectations were, what happened and what they think that means.

We need academics to talk about their role in the process: what do supervisors do to help and what do examiners do to examine?

We need candidates to talk about how they’re feeling about their viva: what they know, what they don’t and what kind of support they need.

In general we need to talk about the viva more than we’re doing so that we can do a better job of helping candidates realise that it is a manageable challenge in their future. Difficult but do-able, especially given what they’ve already accomplished.

Nathan

The Final Checklist

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If you can mark off most of the following then you’re good to go for the viva:

  • I did everything I needed to for submission.
  • I’ve read my thesis at least once since submission.
  • I’ve checked out my examiners’ recent publications.
  • I’ve annotated my thesis in a useful way.
  • I’ve found opportunities to practise talking and answering questions.
  • I have a useful set of expectations about the viva.
  • I’ve written some helpful summaries of my thesis to make my thoughts clear.
  • I know when and where I’m going on viva day.
  • I’ve decided what I’ll wear.
  • I know how I’m going to get to my viva.
  • I know what I’m taking with me.
  • I am confident in my abilities as a researcher.

Gut feeling helps. Perfection is impossible. If you can get to submission, you’re most of the way to viva success. It takes only a little more.

Keep going!

Nathan

Expertise

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Noun. Expert skill or knowledge in a particular field.

You are the best in the world on the subject of your thesis.

You did the research. You wrote the thesis. Thousand and thousands of hours of work.

It will take people with expertise to read your thesis and get something from it.

No-one else will have the expertise that you do. That might not be enough to help you feel completely confident for your viva, but it’s a good starting point.

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