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Nathan

Personalise Your Prep

Daily Post

Make a plan that suits you.

Make a plan in a format that meets your needs.

Ask for specific help from the people best placed to help you.

Read your thesis in a time, place and way that helps you.

Annotate your thesis to make it useful for you.

Have a mock viva – or don’t!

Reflect on your journey.

Take steps to build your confidence.

 

Given that your research, your thesis and your circumstances are unique to you, it shouldn’t be any surprise that your viva prep has to be personal too.

There are a lot of generally good ideas about how to get ready. You have to decide what you will do with them.

 

PS: looking for more good ideas to adapt to your own viva prep needs? Check out Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. If you need more ideas or just some general advice on what to expect then this might be for you 🙂

Nathan

Set Your Intention

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You intend to pass your viva! So what will you do?

You intend to submit the best thesis you can! So what will you do?

You intend to respond as well as you can in the viva! So what will you do?

 

Intention helps. Actions follow intentions. You can set a goal and hope or you can decide what steps you will take. The latter is probably more effective!

If you intend to prepare well then perhaps make a plan for your viva prep. Leave room for the unexpected. Make good time for you to do it when you won’t be stressed or tired.

If you intend to engage well in the viva then rehearse. Have a mock viva. Talk with friends. Read your thesis. Do a lot of thinking.

 

If you intend to pass your viva then don’t just hope that it all goes well. Make it certain.

Nathan

Not The Reason

Daily Post

I’ve lost count of the number of PhD candidates who’ve told me that they’re worried about receiving critical questions.

Some are worried about particular criticisms. Some are worried about hypothetical questions. Some are worried about the questions that they haven’t anticipated.

All are being rational.

It’s not that they should worry, more that it’s not irrational to worry about critical viva questions. Given the amount of work involved in getting to the viva – and given the outcome that a candidate would be hoping for – it’s understandable to worry.

As ever, in situations where someone worries it helps to ask why.

  • If you’re worried about a particular criticism, why? What’s the reason?
  • If you’re worried about a particular hypothetical question, why? If you’ve thought about it, can’t you do something to think about how you might respond?
  • If you’re worried about the undefined mass of questions you’ve never considered, why? Is there nothing you can do to change how you feel?

I have a three-word aphorism that I always try to keep in mind (both for myself and others): work past worry. Worry is human, but action will always take you closer to resolving the situation than worrying alone.

If you worry, do something.

If you worry there’s a reason for that worry. If you do something you can work towards the concern being satisfied in some way.

Remember as well that whatever question your examiners ask, there is always a reason motivating them. If you’re not sure how to respond then try to consider the reason for their question in the first place.

Nathan

Suggestions, Not Solutions

Daily Post

If someone says do X to help with your viva problem Y…

  • …you shouldn’t do X if you’re not confident it’s a good idea.
  • …you shouldn’t do X if you don’t think it will meet your needs.
  • …you shouldn’t do X if your problem was Z rather than Y!
  • …you shouldn’t do nothing either if X seems like it won’t meet your needs.

Advice isn’t an order. Advice is an option. Assuming that anyone you look to for help is offering it with good intentions, ideas are still suggestions: they are not definite solutions to a problem.

Getting ready for the viva can be a stressful time for many reasons. Don’t let suggestions that aren’t suitable add to that.

If you can, be precise when making requests for help; if you receive suggestions that aren’t solutions to your situation then you have to decide on the next step.

Do you adapt the advice? Do you continue exploring options with the person who made the suggestion? Or do you look elsewhere?

 

PS: I’ll be offering a lot of helpful suggestions at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. I’ve delivered it for university groups for over a decade – to more than 7000 PhD candidates – and this is my first independent webinar. Do take a look and see if it might be a help – just a suggestion of course! 🙂

Nathan

January Viva Blues

Daily Post

This post is for all those people who have recently submitted their thesis or are just about to – and who won’t be having their viva now until some time early next year.

Your uni will close in about a month and everyone will go home for a few weeks. The building lights will go out, the doors will be locked and out of office emails will fire at every little electronic message that comes their way.

Perhaps you, your family and friends will celebrate Christmas or another festival. Certainly there will be festive occasions all around you.

 

And you’ll continue to think about your viva. You might have a date. You might not. But either way you’ll be thinking:

“It’s coming.”

Hopefully it won’t distract too much from all of the other things you might rather be doing. If it threatens to do that, then consider some of the following:

  • Keep a small notebook where you can record thoughts or worries about the viva.
  • Once every few days take ten minutes to think about any issues that have been noted.
  • Sketch a plan for January when you are able to return to your typical working patterns.
  • If you feel like there isn’t enough time for everything you will need to do then consider some small, finite tasks to do over the winter break (like making lists or writing short summaries).

January Viva Blues don’t have to dominate your thinking over the Christmas break.

Nathan

Reset

Daily Post

Viva prep can be an opportunity to reset after the stress needed to get your thesis submitted.

Rather than focus on the work you’ve done you can focus on the work you will do. Rather than focus on how you feel about getting your thesis done you can focus on how you want to feel for your viva. And instead of focussing on worries or stresses about whether you’ve done enough you can focus on the contribution you have necessarily made to get this far.

Viva prep can be a reset. It doesn’t change what you’ve done or what you need to do.

It simply allows you to keep going.

Nathan

Overconfident For Your Viva?

Daily Post

It’s unlikely!

Even the most self-assured individual will probably feel some nerves and disquiet on their viva day. It’s unlikely that anything will go seriously wrong, but fairly probable that you might be asked a question you’ve never considered, face a criticism you don’t like or simply feel awkward at being in there.

So I don’t think you’ll be overconfident for your viva.

 

The one dangerous area that a PhD candidate can stray into is feeling that they need to have the last word. That they’re the only one who can be right. That they’ve considered everything.

Your viva is a discussion. Your examiners are exploring your thesis, your research and your capability. You might be the best-placed person to respond to their questions but you are not the only smart person in the room.

Listen carefully, take your time in responding and don’t forget to pause and think!

Nathan

Swotting Up

Daily Post

Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats – or SWOT, a neat acronym for prompting thoughts about plans, innovation and getting things done.

It’s not enough to simply look at the good points or strengths of an idea: what are the weaknesses? Are there other opportunities to explore? What potential threats can be foreseen?

 

I find that a good acronym is often useful when applied to radically different areas as well. Consider your examiners:

  • What strengths do you have when it comes to discussing your work with them?
  • How can you address any perceived weaknesses in your knowledge or understanding?
  • What opportunities can you find in going through the viva experience with them?
  • Do they pose any real threats to your viva success?

If you worry about your examiners, who they are, what they do and how they might be at your viva, then consider reflecting on the questions above to give yourself a little peace.

Remember your own strengths too because there must be a lot! Remember any weaknesses that you’ve worked past. Remember the opportunities that you’ve managed to fulfil. Remember that whatever threats you’ve faced, you are now close to finishing your PhD journey.

 

PS: I’ll be talking about examiners a lot at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. Check out full details at the link on what else you can expect there!

Nathan

The Best Prep

Daily Post

If we focus on effective viva prep it might be tempting to steer towards questions like:

  • When do you schedule things?
  • What do you start with?
  • How do you focus?
  • How much time do you spend on tasks?

These questions aren’t wrong, but they could lead someone down a difficult path to getting the work done.

When thinking about how to organise your prep, perhaps consider the following questions:

  • What’s the least stressful way for you to get ready?
  • What’s the most enjoyable task you could start with?
  • How can you prepare without rushing?
  • How can you best motivate yourself to do the work?

Effective viva prep flows from creating a good process and a good environment to do the work. It’s less effective to just focus on tasks and timetables.

Nathan

Whatever You Need

Daily Post

Your university will say, rightly, that you need to take a copy of your thesis with you to your viva.

The regulations will say that you need to have two examiners.

Good advice says that you need to invest a little time in viva prep and getting ready.

These are all general needs though. What do you need in order to succeed at your viva?

Make a list. Then consider how you could meet those needs. If you need to ask for help then ask. If you need to do something then do it. When your needs are all met you can feel better for your viva.

Figure out what you need to succeed at your viva – then figure out how to get as much of that as possible.

 

PS: if what you need is a little more help or a little more knowledge then take a look at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. Registration is open now and the fee includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend the whole session.

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