You Are Enough
You don’t have to work every hour of every day to prepare for your viva.
You don’t have to be word perfect in your viva to succeed.
You don’t have to be perfect.
You can be you and that’s enough.
Year: 2022
Who’s There?
There are three types of people at your viva: those who will be there, those who might be there and those who may be there only if you agree.
Your examiners WILL be there. Every candidate in the UK has at least two examiners, typically one internal and one external. There are exceptions, but the majority of candidates will have two experienced academics examine them. Yours will have read your thesis, prepared and be ready to discuss whatever is needed at your viva.
You MIGHT have an independent chair at your viva. This person would typically be a senior academic from your university. They would act as an observer: no questions asked, no opinions given, except to confirm that the viva has been appropriate and fair. Not all vivas have an independent chair. It’s a good idea to check and find out if you might have one, so that you can prepare yourself accordingly.
Your supervisor may be present at your viva ONLY IF YOU AGREE. If they come they can only observe. No questions asked, no responses given. They could make notes on your behalf, but their presence might be stressful for you. You get to decide if they’re there: if you say no, they can’t go.
Oh! And you WILL be there. It’s your viva!
Warming Up
How will you warm up on the day of your viva? You might not need to perform vocal exercises or physically stretch, but you could:
- Read through a summary of your thesis one more time.
- Check that you have everything packed in your bag.
- Select a special outfit to wear.
- Rehearse using your computer and software if you have a video viva.
- Chat with your supervisor if there’s one more point to be sure of.
- Write something to get any thoughts or feelings out of your head.
Or you could simply sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and wait for the right time to arrive.
Have A Break
Have a break when you submit your thesis. Give yourself space to rest.
Have a break now and then when you prepare for your viva. You don’t need to cram everything into one hectic period of activity.
Have a break during your viva if you need one or if you’re offered. Take your time to make sure you keep performing at your best.
No-one else is going to make sure that you look after yourself or check you’re working at your best. There’s more you can do, but at a minimum have a break!
Daily Confidence
I worry about my viva every day…
These were the first words I saw in the chat window during a viva help webinar when I asked for questions. In a few short sentences the person described how they couldn’t help it: they felt nervous and worried every day when they thought about their upcoming viva.
There are useful big picture things that could help – learning about what to expect, preparing for the viva, talking to friends – but nervousness for the viva can persist regardless.
Feeling nervous is not always an easy thing to switch off, but building confidence can help; confidence doesn’t eliminate nervousness, but it does help to put it into perspective.
The person in my webinar worried every day. I wonder what might happen if they did something for their confidence every day?
What would happen if you did something every day for your confidence? For example, you could:
- Reflect on the contribution in your thesis.
- Bookmark a page in your thesis that you’re proud of.
- Create a playlist of music that helps you to feel confident.
- Tell someone about your research.
- Make a list of successes from your PhD.
Worrying and feeling nervous are perfectly human responses to big, important events. They can become habitual though, a recurring issue to be dealt with. Rather than wait for them to arrive, invest in a daily practice to build your confidence.
Not There
A viva over video is still a viva. It’s alright that there are pauses caused by technology.
A viva over video is still a viva. Practise with the software you’ll use and think about the space you’ll be in.
A viva over video is still a viva. Expectations are different but that doesn’t make them bad.
A viva over video is still a viva. It doesn’t matter if you’re not there in the same room as your examiners.
Want And Won’t
To organise your viva prep think about what you want to do and what you won’t do.
You want to read your thesis but you won’t obsessively re-read it.
You want to make a note of typos but you won’t go looking for them.
You want to know about your examiners but you won’t read every paper they’ve ever published.
You want to feel ready for your viva but you won’t over-invest your time.
You want to respond well to questions in the viva but you won’t do that by scripting lots of responses in advance.
You want to feel confident but you probably won’t be able to eliminate nerves completely.
You want to do well in your viva. You won’t have to do much in preparation for that outcome.
Asking Your Community
Who do you know who could help you get ready for your viva?
Your supervisors can help with a lot: setting expectations, hosting mock vivas, sharing ideas of what examiners do – there’s a wealth of support from them potentially.
Departmental friends and colleagues around you understand: they may have first-hand experience of the viva, they could listen to what’s bothering you or even be a part of discussions to help you practise.
Family and friends might not understand: they can still help you by providing a space that you can prepare in, or by giving you time to do the relatively small work involved in preparation.
No person is an island. You don’t have to do everything alone. You might be doing the most work, but others can help lighten the load, in lots of different ways. Ask your community. Perhaps ask early to help set their expectations and schedule support, but know that there are lots of people in your life who can make a difference as you prepare for your viva.
A Key Expectation
It occurred to me recently that a key expectation for the viva, very rarely expressed, is that the candidate will not know what questions they will be asked until they get there.
There are helpful lists of potential questions on the internet. You might suspect or guess some topics. You have your thesis and know that everything you’ve done will be a possible area for discussion. And you can get some ideas of what to expect from your supervisors, your colleagues and the stories that people generally tell about the viva.
But you won’t know.
That’s not a cause for panic or concern, and it doesn’t mean that you can’t be prepared to respond to a question. Rehearse for the viva, place yourself in situations where you have to engage to build your comfort and competence for doing it again in the future.
You don’t need to be prepared to respond to particular questions; you can be ready to engage with whatever question is asked in the viva.
You won’t know what you will be asked at your viva until you get there, but you can still know that you will succeed.
Three Mugs Of Tea
On any week day, before work really begins, I need to have had three mugs of tea. There’s nothing super fancy about the tea I drink. It’s not a special blend, made in an ornate pot or served with a wedge of lemon. I just need three mugs to give me enough caffeine and comfort to get to work.
Three will mean I can get to work writing or presenting, thinking or editing. Three mugs will probably get me through the morning. I drink water too, but the tea is the fuel that nudges me to get going.
Could I do the work I need without it? Probably, at least to some extent. It might take longer or I might feel more tired by the end, but I could probably get things done. But it’s a relatively simple need to meet, in order to work well.
With that in mind, what do you need on the day of your viva? What will help you to work at your best?
By the day of your viva you will have finished your research, submitted your thesis and prepared for the day itself. So what simple things could help you feel either more confident or more comfortable for your viva?
Figure out what you need. Make sure you meet those needs. Feel better for your viva.