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Nathan

Previously

Daily Post

There are lots of questions you could be asked at your viva, including questions you’ve never been asked before! But by the time you get there you will have had lots of practise responding to questions, certainly enough to do well with your examiners.

There’s a lot of pressure on the whole situation, but you have experience with that sort of thing.

You can’t be sure what your examiners will ask, but before the day of the viva you can find out more about your examiners and rehearse for being in the viva. You can’t arrive perfect but you can take the time to get ready.

Yes, there’s a lot you won’t know about before the moments of your viva, but prior to arriving there you can do as much as possible to be ready for the situation.

Nathan

Finding Reasons

Daily Post

If before your viva you feel an abundance of nervousness, then you have to look a little and find reasons to feel confident. Confidence doesn’t eliminate nerves, but it does help to put those sorts of feelings into perspective. Nervousness recognises that something is important – confidence gives you the self-belief to know that things will be alright.

Look and find reasons. They could be reminding yourself of all the work you’ve done. They could be bound up in realising just how talented you are. Or you could focus on the process of the viva, what you need to do – what you can do – and what that means for you engaging with that process.

There are plenty of reasons to feel nervous about your viva. There are even more reasons to feel confident of success at your viva. Find them.

Nathan

INTRO To Prep

Daily Post

I’ve written before about INTRO, a neat acronym for structuring the start of a presentation:

  • Interest: start by sharing something that will grab the audience’s attention.
  • Need: say why what you’re going to talk about is important.
  • Title: share the title of the talk.
  • Range: talk about how long you’ll speak for, what you might cover and how you will take questions.
  • Objective: close your introduction by sharing the goal of your presentation.

There’s a nice flow to this process, both for planning and delivering a talk. As with so many tools like this, I think there are wider applications that spring forth with a little reflection.

What about planning for viva prep? Take a blank sheet of paper and consider the following points:

  • Interest: start by writing a few lines about the value of your research.
  • Need: write five key points that you need to address in your viva prep.
  • Title: clearly print “All of this will help me become Dr Somebody!” on the sheet of paper!
  • Range: think carefully, then write one or two possibilities for how you could structure your time to get the work done.
  • Objective: for each key point expressed so far, write a clear goal that leads to progress.

From one sheet of paper we have the beginnings of good viva prep. And with INTRO we have a useful way of starting a presentation.

Nathan

Yikes!

Daily Post

Outside of ghost stories and horror movies, there’s not a lot to be scared of on Halloween. The frights are all make believe, costume and shadows serving to send shivers down our spines. For a moment, perhaps, we feel a little anxious before we realise there was nothing to worry about.

And outside of apocryphal tales and half-rumours, there’s not a lot to be scared of by the viva. Worries spring forth from not-knowing, easily dismissed when you find out more about the process. Fears are largely unfounded, nerves building on feeling just how important the occasion is – evaporating in the daylight of the actual experience or by building confidence.

It’s not wrong to feel concerned about the viva. It matters, and it’s understandable to feel anxious. Eventually though, you will realise there was nothing to worry about.

Nathan

Candidate & Thesis

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You need both candidate and thesis to be good for a PhD. Your examiners need to ask you – the candidate – about both in the viva.

What’s your thesis’ contribution? How did you do it? And what can you do well?

They’re looking for clear confirmation that your thesis has a significant, original contribution, that you did the work and that you’re a good researcher.

 

If that sounds like a lot, remember:

No candidate, no thesis.

No thesis, no candidate.

 

Nathan

No Early Updates

Daily Post

Between submission and the viva you might spot some changes you want to make in your thesis.

Perhaps you see a typo that has to be amended, a sentence that could be simpler or a diagram that’s just not right. It could be you’ve thought more and now have a slightly different opinion. Maybe a paper has been published recently and that gives a different perspective to part of your work.

We can’t say that none of this matters – but it doesn’t change anything in your thesis at this stage. You can’t make corrections yet. You can’t change your opinion as it stands. You can’t write more into the pages you’ve submitted.

You can make a note for later. You can stick a Post-it Note in with a suggestion. You can read a paper and write a summary if you think it’s really relevant.

But no updates. No changes. No alterations. Whatever you call them, all the changes wait until after the viva.

Nathan

Clearing

Daily Post

Clear your mind as you consider viva prep. Get a pen and paper and unload all the bits and pieces that you’re carrying around in your brain.

  • What do you need to do?
  • Who do you need to ask for help?
  • When will you do things?
  • When do you need to get started?
  • And as well as prep, what else do you have to do during that period?

Don’t try to hold everything in your head. Large scale plans might not be your preference, but at least help yourself by gently drawing your attention to what you need to do.

Nathan

The Magic Numbers

Daily Post

Some numbers are magical for the viva, and some can only cause you to worry.

Don’t think about how long your viva might be. It’s not worth obsessing over how many pages of references you have in your bibliography. And don’t check your word count to try to boost your confidence.

Instead of counting little details or wondering about things you have no control over, focus on how long you’ve been doing the work.

Several years – which can be properly understood as thousands of hours. Consider the time and effort you will have spent in getting ready for the viva itself. Remember the time invested in becoming a better researcher – and your many achievements along the way.

What other magic numbers could help you feel good for your viva?

Nathan

Discuss Your Research

Daily Post

Viva prep necessarily involves reading your thesis, making notes and checking things out. For all the help this work brings, it doesn’t match the mode of work you’ll be engaged in at the viva.

In the viva you have to talk. More than that, you have to listen, think and respond to questions. You have to discuss what you’ve done for the last few years, what that means, what you know and what you can do.

So practise. Before the viva, discuss your research in any forum or format that you can find to help you. A mock viva can help. Coffee with friends can help. Giving a seminar and taking questions can help. Use all the opportunities you have or make some more to help you rehearse and help you be ready.

Then go to your viva and have one more discussion about the good work you’ve done.

Nathan

The End, And Onwards

Daily Post

If you’re post-submission and trying to prepare for your viva but finding it hard then remember: you could not have got this far unless you were good.

Could you keep going for this long and this far if you were not talented?

Make a plan, ask for help, do a little each day, but remember: you did this. You got this far.

And if you got this far then you can get to the end of your PhD journey, and onto the next adventure.

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