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Year: 2024

Nathan

The Wrong Thing

Daily Post

There’s a chance that you could do something wrong in relation to your viva.

  • You could say the wrong thing in response to a question.
  • You could believe the wrong thing about what to expect.
  • You could remember the wrong thing about an examiner.
  • You could do the wrong thing to prepare.
  • You could think the wrong thing about yourself and your ability.

Any of these are possible. So what can you do?

You could rehearse to get more practice at responding to questions and more generally prepare. You could learn about what to expect of the viva process and have a conversation with your supervisors about your examiners. You could take your time to prepare and be ready. You could reflect on your journey to be sure of who you are and what you can do.

All of these steps could help guard against doing the wrong thing.

Realistically though, if you did something wrong, how negative could that be for you?

For all the little things that could go wrong you’re much more likely to be doing the right thing at your viva.

Nathan

Serious And…

Daily Post

The viva is an exam. It’s a relatively short exam to explore years of work and the specific outputs of that work. The examiners are accomplished academics in relevant fields.

While every viva is different there are regulations and enough known experiences to inform a reasonable set of expectations for a candidate. Vivas are challenging discussions.

Three or more years of work plus many hours of deliberate preparation. Candidates might be expected to succeed but that doesn’t mean the viva is not difficult.

So the viva is serious.

And it can also be fun. It could be short. It could be rewarding. It could be exhausting! It could be an anticlimax. It could be fine. It could be disappointing. It could be fairly informal.

What do you expect from your viva? What do you hope for?

Nathan

How You Find Confidence

Daily Post

You have to look for it.

If you want to feel confident for your viva it’s not enough to hope that you will feel good on the day. You have to do something before then to feel confident.

Reflecting on your PhD journey is a good start. Remembering and reminding yourself of the successes you’ve made and the growth in your knowledge and capability.

Highlight your particular achievements. Make a list and write about why these things matter and help you to feel good.

Explore viva expectations to get a sense of what happens in vivas. Consider how suitable you are to thrive in that situation: talking about yourself and the work you have done.

Decide on specific actions to take in the days leading up to your viva to feel better. What can you do to prompt confident feelings? What can you do to remind yourself of the many successes you’ve had?

It’s not enough to hope you feel confident. You have to search for and find confidence.

Nathan

Multipliers for Viva Readiness

Daily Post

There are many tasks and activities that help someone get ready for their viva. Reading the thesis, rehearsing with a mock viva and so on – the practical stuff that helps.

Alongside what you might need to do, consider how you get it done. How you do something has an impact on your effectiveness, and consequently on your readiness for the viva. All of the following help, for example:

  • Rest helps you to relax and helps you to think.
  • Time to do the work well.
  • A plan to help you feel organised.
  • A quiet, calm space to do the work.
  • Understanding the process of the viva.
  • Time to reflect and think.

It’s unlikely that every aspect of the viva prep work you do and the way you do it will be within your control. Consider how you can start with good intentions and work towards being ready for your viva.

Nathan

The The

Daily Post

The most common typo I had to correct after my viva were the places I had not noticed “the the”.

This was also the most annoying correction I had to make! I didn’t spot the ten or twelve instances I had missed while I was proofreading my thesis. I also didn’t spot the places where I had typed “a the” as well, which was more than once but thankfully fewer than “the the”.

“the the” was enough.

Some typos are hard to spot. They’re annoying because they get in the way.

Thankfully they don’t get in the way too much. And thankfully they can be altered before a thesis goes into the archives forever.

Whatever your corrections, whether it’s many cases of the “the the”s or 101 typos and small edits, look on them as a helpful opportunity to make your thesis a little bit better, forever.

Nathan

Where Will You Go?

Daily Post

Find half an hour in the days after your viva to sit and reflect on what you’ve done.

You stayed determined. You learned and developed. You created something that no-one else has ever done and that many people can’t do. You built memories. You added to human knowledge and understanding. You succeeded.

Then you passed your viva.

And think, with all of that behind you, where could you go now?

You might have very certain plans, but they are only one possibility. You have risen to an incredible challenge. I choose to believe that you have many more opportunities ahead of you where you can show that you can do something truly special.

Find half an hour in the days after your viva to sit and reflect and remember: I did this – and I can do a lot more.

Nathan

Not Ideal

Daily Post

There’s no such thing as a perfect viva. You can be very happy on the day of course, but at the time or afterwards you might feel like you want something else:

  • A different examiner;
  • An opening question that hits differently;
  • A shorter viva;
  • More time to talk about more stuff!
  • Another break;
  • A different date so you can prepare more.

However much time you think you need and whatever circumstances you want, at some point your viva happens. There will be some examiners, it will start and then it will go on until it’s done. You can steer some of these things but you can’t control them. Some of the details of the viva will be totally beyond your control or influence and they might even be not to your preference.

 

So what can you do? Work on and for the things you can control or influence.

  • You might want different examiners, but you can be ready for the ones you have;
  • You can prepare to respond to whatever question they start with;
  • You can find out what to reasonably expect from your viva;
  • You can rehearse to engage with the discussion however long it becomes!
  • You can always ask for whatever breaks you need;
  • And you can, if you really need to, make an honest request to change your viva date if there are extenuating circumstances.

But you probably don’t need more time to prepare – you just need to recognise what you can do to respond well to the situation, however it presents itself.

There is no perfect viva – but then you don’t need idealised circumstances in order to succeed.

Nathan

Think Again

Daily Post

Two words that make up a little tip for responding to questions at the viva.

You hear a question and you think and you have something to say. Think again and check: is it correct? Is it clear? Is there anything else you want to remember?

You hear a question and you think and go blank. You’re not sure what to say. Think again and check: why has this question made you freeze? What can you do? Can you ask your examiners something to get a clearer picture?

You hear a comment and stop to think. You have an idea of how to engage with it. Think again and reflect: is that the best you can do? Is there something better you can say?

Don’t rush to say the first thing that comes to mind. Your viva is not assessed on how quickly you respond to questions but on how well you engage with the discussion.

Nathan

Between Questions

Daily Post

Your examiners make a note. They check their prompts. They quickly confer.

Breathe. Take a sip of your drink. Breathe. Think about what you’ve done so far. Think about what you might still want to talk about.

Just wait for the next question or comment. It won’t be a long time coming. Then you’ll have to think and say something.

For now, wait. Breathe. Relax if you can.

The next opportunity to show your talent is coming.

Nathan

What Do You Do?

Daily Post

What do you do if something goes wrong in your viva?

  • What do you do if you’re feeling nervous?
  • What do you do if you’re feeling unsure of what to say?
  • What do you do if you’re feeling forgetful and the right thoughts seem out of reach?
  • What do you do if you panic in your viva?

The most simple response to any of these is that you keep going. In a very real sense there isn’t anything else you can do. You’re in your viva and you’re trying to succeed. You have to keep going to do that.

 

The simple response is to keep going, but to be more specific:

  • If you’re feeling nervous you could try to pause and breathe. You could remind yourself of something helpful. You could ask for a break to compose yourself.
  • If you’re unsure then you could acknowledge that. Tell your examiners you’re not sure and why. Or start by asking yourself why you’re unsure and take a moment to think.
  • If you’re feeling forgetful then you can take a break to check something. Explain that the information has slipped your mind but you really want to talk about this.
  • If you panic then ask for a break. Find a way to calm. If you can, check what has caused that panic and see what steps you can take to address it.

You have to keep going. You have to do something. Perhaps the simplest thing to suggest is that you pause, read your thesis, drink some water, make a note and talk with your examiners.

Keep going.

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