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Year: 2021

Nathan

When You Speak In The Viva

Daily Post

Pause.

Breathe.

Think.

Every question is an opportunity, a prompt for you to share something. No tricks or traps, just invitations to add something to the discussion.

Pause.

Breathe.

Think.

There’s time in the viva. Enough for you to use it well. No rush, no hurry. Engage with your examiners’ questions.

Pause.

Breathe.

Think.

Be as certain as you can – not because you have to be right about everything, but because to do otherwise wouldn’t help you to present yourself and your work as best you can.

Pause.

Breathe.

Think.

Nathan

One Bite At A Time

Daily Post

“How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time…

It’s an old joke or proverb, depending on how you look at it, but there’s certainly wisdom as well as eye-rolling.

You could never have done your PhD in a week. It takes years of slow, patient work. Learning, discovering, growing. You eat away at the problems of your research one bite at a time.

Getting ready for your viva is similar, but on a shorter timescale. A day of cramming is inferior compared to a few weeks of small tasks, getting ready by nibbling away at a finite to-do list, bit-by-bit. Confidence builds in the same way.

Slow, careful ways that lead to success.

Nathan

Nervous & Confident

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Nervous and confident aren’t polar opposites.

If you feel nervous about something – like, say, your viva – then you’re recognising it’s important. Nervous isn’t the same as being anxious or being worried, although it might not be comfortable. Nervous is a recognition of something in your future, not something inherently bad or to be feared. “This thing matters to me.”

Being confident about something – like, say, your viva – is believing with good reason that you have talent or knowledge to be able to deal with a future situation. “I can do this.”

Being confident about your success in the viva helps to put nervous feelings in perspective. Confidence helps to balance the discomfort of nervousness.

You could go around and around trying to figure out what triggers your nervousness, wondering what you could do to stop feeling nervous – or you could take steps to build your confidence for the viva. Reflect on your talent. Summarise your progress over years of work. Really think about all that you’ve done and know.

Feeling nervous before your viva isn’t bad, but being confident is very good!

Nathan

Little Things, Big Differences

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I’m still not going to reveal my secret bread recipe, but I’ll share some of the little things I’ve learned that help me bake a good loaf:

  • Blending different bread flours gives a better flavour than just having one type.
  • Ratios really matter! It took time, but I found that a strict connection between quantities of flour, yeast and oil really help. For every 100g of flour, use 2g of instant yeast and 5ml of olive oil
  • Knead less, prove more.
  • Longer proving in general seems to lead to better flavour. Dough that rests in the fridge overnight nearly always tastes better.

Whatever the recipe, for whatever the situation, tinker with the little things. Tinker, repeat and see what happens. The big ingredients or steps can take you so far, then the little things help you find big differences after that.

 

Back to your PhD and your viva.

What little things did you try in your PhD? How did they help? Where did you see great gains for trying small changes? And how could those small changes help you now in your viva?

What small things could you do now that might make a big difference for your viva?

Nathan

The Middle

Daily Post

A lot of space is given to the origins of a research project in how we think about the viva and what you might need to talk about. How did you get started? What ideas influenced your first steps? What literature did you read?

Lots of space is also given to the outcomes of a PhD. What are your conclusions? What results helped you reach those conclusions? What’s the overall result of your thesis?

These two themes are important, but we mustn’t forget the middle of your PhD. The middle where you kept going. The middle where you most likely found your way past dead ends and small failures.

How did you get through the middle? What did you learn? How did you keep going – and how could you use that to keep going now?

Nathan

Saving For A Rainy Day

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That’s one way you could look at your PhD and the viva: throughout all of the reading, research and writing you’re storing up exactly what you need for when you sit down with your examiners. Whatever they bring your way, whatever “rain” comes from them, you’ve saved up enough to get through.

On the one hand, there’s some truth to this. Over the course of your PhD you will have saved up enough to be able to pass through the challenge of your viva.

On the other hand…

Whoever said that a rainy day had to be hard, or that a challenge couldn’t be enjoyable?

Why can’t it be true that you spend three or more years building yourself to be who you need to be for the viva – and then arrive to find it a good experience in it’s own right?

Nathan

You Did It

Daily Post

Yes, you had help, you had supervision, you had supporters – but you did the work.

Remind yourself as you get closer to your viva day.

You showed up to do the work.

You invested the time to learn more.

You invested the effort to develop your skillset.

You took the time to keep notes.

You wrote your thesis.

You did it.

Nathan

Must-Have Annotations!

Daily Post

Everyone is talking about them for Summer 2021! Your thesis is the must-have accessory for your viva wardrobe, and can be accessorised itself, in so many wonderful ways:

  • Strategic Post-it Notes to show the brilliant beginnings of chapters or index the important points you have to show-off!
  • Highlights are in this season: references, typos, key passages. Whatever matters most to you needs to stand out!
  • Marginalia matters too, and whatever you add to the borders of your thesis pages really helps to emphasise your own style – and your research!

Yes, this post is aiming to be both playful and serious. Memorable I hope, and an encouragement to think about how you can make your thesis more helpful for the viva too.

And, maybe, more fabulous!

Nathan

Lazy Viva Prep

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My favourite teacher in high school, Mr S., used to have a set of “laws” on his wall. First among them was a lazy mathematician is a good one. He would repeat and explain it a lot, because he didn’t mean we shouldn’t do any work!

His point was that a good mathematician knew lots of methods so they would know how to solve a problem with the least effort. A lazy mathematician would find only the answer they were looking for, and not waste time on other details. A lazy mathematician would think first and recognise what they needed to do before starting to solve an equation or draw a graph. Consequently, a lazy mathematician might seem to start slow, but would probably finish quickly.

For similar reasons I think that viva prep needs to be “lazy” too.

When getting ready for your viva, don’t do what you don’t need to do. Stop and consider the outcome you’re working towards before you get going. Reflect on your skillset and knowledge before committing to a hectic schedule of reading, writing and thinking. What tasks and practices do you really need to do?

You need to be ready for your viva, not ready for anything.

Nathan

Rest Days

Daily Post

Today could be a rest day for you, even if your viva is soon.

Ready for the viva means you have to refresh your memory, rehearse for the situation of talking with your examiners and remind yourself that you did the work that’s got you this far.

Ready also means you need to be rested. Today could be a time to rest. And if not today, take two minutes to find a time when you will rest soon.

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