Daily viva help for PhDs
Reading your thesis, making notes, writing summaries, checking papers… It’s quiet time. It’s you time, alone, getting the work done.
The exception is rehearsal. Rehearsal needs talking, questions and people. You need more than you, your thesis and your thoughts.
Are you ready for the quiet time? Are you happy in the quiet? And if not, what can you do for yourself?
In an effort to speak clearly at webinars and cover what I need to say without too many words I have a small background pop-up on my desktop when I’m presenting that simply says “DON’T WAFFLE!”
It works quite well.
I don’t have a script for any session but I do have talking points. I can dig into most of them to much greater depth than I might typically. In the moment I might go on and on because I’m excited and then I notice the time and realise I have to now say less about the next topic and wonder, flustered in the moment what I could cut and so-
DON’T WAFFLE! has served me quite well as a little reminder.
A less direct and less exclamatory way that I might interpret this is say less, communicate more.
It’s a reminder to pause. To breathe. To think about the next words: I might know the point I want to make but the particular words matter. When I’m asked a question I can take my time to think if I pause.
All of these are reminders for me, but they largely apply to any kind of presenting or responding to questions – even the viva.
What reminders do you need to help you engage well in the viva?
I often thank people in webinars for “generous questions” that they ask.
Typically these are questions that cover a sensitive topic or difficult area for them. It might be something they would struggle to talk about in another context or if it was outside the private space of the webinar chat.
I often call these generous questions because they allow me to talk about difficult things. Without exception and despite the specifics for that person, the questions are always related to broader topics that concern others.
Another thing that’s quite common in webinars but which happens in real life as well is people apologising for “silly questions” or “questions that might not matter much” or “questions that are difficult”.
Of course, these apologies aren’t necessary – in fact the questions themselves are necessary because they can help the person asking to find some peace or next actions to take, assuming that they’re asking the right person.
If you have a question, ask it. And if the response can be applied more broadly than your particular circumstances then please pass it on.