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Tag: viva nerves

Nathan

What Will You Do?

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Hypothetical situations can be inherently stressful. We don’t like to think about them because we know that they’re not real right now – but know that they could be.

For example:

  • What will you do if you don’t get all of the results you are hoping for?
  • What will you do if you find a problem in your thesis after submission?
  • What will you do if you feel short on time and your viva is very soon?
  • What will you do if you’re in the viva and your examiner asks a question that feels instantly tough?

Whenever you’re faced with a situation like one of these you might feel overwhelmed or worried or confused. That’s a typical human response to a potentially stressful situation.

Whatever you feel you then have to decide: what will you do?

In some ways, the real point is that you can decide. You feel whatever you feel and then you can do something. You can choose in a moment of stress and uncertainty just as you have through all of the other moments of your PhD journey.

You can do something. There is always something you can do.

Nathan

Everything But That

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“I don’t want to talk about my methods chapter.”

“I’m ready for any questions except something about my bibliography!”

“Please, please don’t let them ask about my interpretation of that paper…”

“I will be OK so long as……”

 

Sound familiar? If any resonate with how you feel about your viva and talking with your examiners then you are most definitely not alone.

You’re perfectly rational: the process and pressures of the viva could easily make anyone nervous about needing to talk about a particular something. It might even make them stressed.

What do you do? If a possible question makes you feel nervous or stressed before the viva, what are you going to do?

You could review part of your thesis, talk with a friend, make some notes, read a paper or ask your supervisor to bring it up in a mock viva.

If there’s something that troubles you then there’s something you could do.

Consider your options and make a choice. Don’t stop at feeling nervous or stressed.

Nathan

Concerned?

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What should I be concerned about when it comes to my viva?

There are two strong words in that question. “Should” you be concerned at all? If you’re putting your focus on potential negative impacts is “concern” a good way to frame things?

At face value the best response a stranger could give to that question would have to begin with “It depends…” If you’re worried then that is concerning. If you feel that there’s a gap in your knowledge, understanding or confidence then that needs addressing.

But it depends: do you feel anything like that?

 

Maybe instead of the opening question we need different ways to frame this:

  • What could I do to make sure I’m ready?
  • What do I need to explore to be ready for my viva?
  • What do I need to check I understand for my viva?

There’s no need to feel concerned for your viva generally. If something is distracting you then unpick why, possibly in conversation with your supervisors. Beyond that, reframe your focus for getting ready.

Nathan

Storms & Teacups

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It’s not that you shouldn’t be nervous about your viva: it’s likely that you can’t do a lot to remove nerves if you feel them.

The viva is one of the final stages of a long process of exploration, knowledge generation and personal development. Those three letters – PhD – will make a difference to you, your ambitions and your future destinations.

It’s not that all of this is so big and important that you should be nervous: you just probably will be because it’s all important.

 

Being nervous is uncomfortable, but is to be expected probably.

Being anxious or being worried is different.

Nervousness is a general feeling but anxiety and worry are more commonly centred around something specific. If that’s more of what you’re feeling then you have to get specific too.

The problem will not be impossible to resolve. It might feel bigger than it is because the viva feels big. The viva is important and so any problem with it feels big and important too. It might not be the case.

If you face any anxiety or problem ahead of your viva then pause. Breathe. Reflect on it. Is this a storm in a teacup? Does it just seem big but won’t make a difference really? Can you do something about it? Is there someone you can ask for help?

In my experience, there’s always something you can do and someone who can help. If you face a problem with your viva that makes you worried, then your next step is to do something.

 

PS: if you have any big worries, concerns or questions then take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 webinar and you can ask questions in advance through the booking process.

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2024: Confidence

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Day three of my best of posts for 2024. I love to think about how to encourage confidence, both in general and for the viva in particular. It’s a topic I keep thinking about because of how powerful it can be in changing someone’s way of doing things.

How confident do you feel for your viva? What steps do you take to pursue confidence?

Nathan

Acutely Nervous

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In the weeks before my viva I didn’t feel nervous.

I was too busy.

I kept myself occupied with reading my thesis a lot, making notes, reading papers, talking to my supervisor and wondering what to do after my PhD was finished. I didn’t have time to be nervous.

Until ten minutes before the start of my viva. I hadn’t slept well the night before and at 9:50am I was tired.

And suddenly I was acutely nervous. One thought occupied my mind: “What if I am just too tired for this? What then?”

Then my examiners arrived, slightly awkward pleasantries ensued and I didn’t have time to think about whether I was tired or not; I was nervous and I had to simply get on with my viva.

 

Viva prep helps someone get ready. It can also be a helpful distraction from feelings one might not want to face.

“I don’t want to think about that.”

Nervousness is commonly a symptom of anticipating something important; it doesn’t mean that the something is negative and it doesn’t mean that nervousness itself is negative. It’s not usually a comfortable feeling, but it doesn’t have to be bad.

Distraction will only help so much though. Viva prep helps, but in parallel you have to build up your confidence for the viva. You have to build up certainty in yourself, your capability and the work you’ve done. Nervousness won’t disappear, but confidence can take the sting out of it.

Don’t distract from nervousness. Pursue confidence.

 

PS: to find out a lot more about viva confidence and getting ready, do come to Viva Survivor, this Thursday 5th December 2024. It’s my live webinar about everything to do with the viva, viva prep, expectations, examiners and more. I’ve shared this session over 375 times and I can’t wait to do it this Thursday as well. If you’re thinking about coming registration closes tomorrow at 5pm. Check out the details now – and maybe I’ll see you there 🙂

Nathan

Oops!

Daily Post

Anyone can make a mistake.

If you find one before your viva, in your research or your thesis then – after taking a deep breath and not panicking – reflect on the following three questions:

  • Why is this a mistake?
  • How did it happen?
  • What can you do about it now?

Reflect on these questions and make some notes. If you think you need to then discuss the situation with your supervisor. That will probably be enough to help you feel ready for talking about it in your viva if you need to.

And if a mistake is brought to your attention in the viva (or if you make one in the viva) then the three questions above will still be helpful.

Deep breath, don’t panic, think and respond.

Nathan

Hyped

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It’s sometimes said that excitement and nervousness are two sides of the same coin.

That might suggest there’s no control over which side is shown, like a coin toss, but really it’s just focus. If you try to focus on excitement that’s what you’ll find more and more.

You could focus on the opportunity to talk about your work with experienced academics. You could think about the contribution you’ve made to your discipline. You could think about how close you are to finishing your PhD!

It won’t eliminate nerves, but getting excited can help a lot to reduce the discomfort of nervousness – and maybe it will give you one more reason to feel confident for your viva.

Nathan

Scary Times

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If you’re worried or scared by your upcoming viva you have to ask yourself why.

Knowing why doesn’t take the worry away but it can help you to start wondering “what if…?” and “how…?”

  • If you’re concerned about some part of the viva process, how could you find out more?
  • If you’re worried by your examiners, what if you knew more about them?
  • If you’re scared that you’ll forget something, how could you address that in your prep?
  • If you’re not sure what to do to get ready, what if there was someone who could offer some suggestions?
    • I’m not the only person who could do this, but there are a lot of ideas on this blog!
  • If you just don’t know why you feel scared, how could you start to unpick what’s wrong?

The last question might be the first step to resolving feeling scared.

You can’t suddenly stop feeling scared but you can begin to take steps to help yourself.

Nathan

Doing, Done and Nerves

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The key difference between transfer or upgrade vivas and the final viva:

At a transfer viva you need to talk about what you’re potentially going to be doing – and at your final viva you’re talking about you’ve done.

Postgraduate researchers can feel very nervous at both though!

For some PhD candidates, I think that final viva nerves might be the still reverberating echoes of the transfer viva. If that was a nerve-wracking event you might think this final viva will be a stressful event too.

Remember you’re not the same person you were then. Your final viva is not the same situation. At the end of your first year there was still so much you were doing and so much to do. At the final viva you are done.

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