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Nathan

The Good Viva

Daily Post

How do you have a good viva?

That’s a hard question to answer. What counts as good is going to vary depending on what you think, feel and know about vivas. It also depends on what you really want from your viva. If you are trying to get through your PhD and want the viva to be an exam and done then you’ll have a different set of criteria than if you are looking for a rewarding conversation with your examiners.

So on one level it’s hard to say how someone has a good viva when they can have different expectations or desires.

On another level it’s quite straightforward:

  • Do the work;
  • Write the best thesis you can;
  • Read the regulations;
  • Find out what to expect;
  • Do the necessary prep;
  • Show up to do the work on the day.

And that’s how you have a good viva. You do the work and keep doing the work. If you have other criteria that are bound up in your viva being good then you can probably work out steps that will help you get closer to that too.

 

PS: Want to explore having a good viva in more depth? Then check out the details of my Viva Survivor webinar which is running on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared this session more than 400 times and it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva. Check the link for full details of what to expect!

Nathan

A Special Day

Daily Post

Vivas are special days.

Like most special days it’s not the setting or the build-up that makes it really special. There are lots of expectations about what special days need – cost, preparation, traditions and so on – but like any other day what makes your viva special are the people involved.

While your examiners are special and particular to your viva you could also have your viva without them; they could have been busy and someone else would have said yes. Your examiners are like the DJ at a party or a celebrant at a wedding: they’re good but there are other people who could fill that special role.

So let’s be clear: you’re the reason why your viva is a special day. You and your work are what make it matter. Prepare and get ready but remember who the viva is for and how you got there.

Nathan

Two Months Left

Daily Post

Use the next two months as an opportunity to finish the year in a good place for your viva.

Every day for the rest of the year take two minutes to do one of the following:

  • Write down a work-related achievement from that day;
  • Write down one thing in your thesis you are proud of;
  • Write down one thing from your research that didn’t exist before your PhD;
  • Write down one thing that moves you closer to being ready for your viva.

If you do this for the next sixty days – let’s say you take Christmas Day off! – then you’ll have sixty small pieces of confidence for your viva. Sixty small thoughts that will help you start 2026 in a good place for whatever challenges await you.

Two minutes per day, one thought written down per day. What will you do?

Nathan

Zombies & Examiners

Daily Post

Allow me a slightly silly post for Halloween…!

I’ve been thinking about zombies and examiners.

One group can feel quite scary. They just keep coming. They don’t stop until they’re satisfied. If you’re careful, when you encounter them, you can pause to think about how you’ll respond to their approach.

Thankfully they don’t move so fast that you can’t stay ahead of them and they’re very manageable in small numbers. They’re not really something to worry about if you keep your wits about you.

Anyway, that’s how I think about examiners – zombies are pretty scary too!

Nathan

Unpacking & Reframing

Daily Post

Summaries are a helpful viva prep tool.

A good summary could help you to unpack ideas. You can take out, examine and remind yourself of what something is, why it helps and what it’s for.

A good summary could allow you to reframe your work. You can find a new perspective by taking a particular focus or by examining a specific aspect of what you’ve done.

Summaries allow you to think ahead. The information can be the foundations of responses in the viva. You wouldn’t be expected to read from summaries in the viva but they can help you to rehearse what points really matter.

Unpack your ideas. Reframe your thinking. Use summary creation as a useful part of your viva prep toolkit.

Nathan

Making Sense Of Expectations

Daily Post

Viva expectations are the patterns and trends that we find in university regulations, personal experiences and departmental practices. Viva expectations are estimates and ideas of what someone could reasonably experience for themselves.

  • What are they? You can find out. Check regulations and ask others about what it was like for them.
  • How do they apply? Broadly. It’s reasonable to assume if most people get minor corrections you probably will too. If vivas tend to being more than ninety minutes yours is unlikely to be less than an hour.
  • What do expectations mean for you? They mean you have something to prepare for. They mean that vivas aren’t random. They’re unique but not chaotic.
  • What might not apply? You’ll have to explore that for yourself. Your research or needs might lead to a viva that is different from a typical experience. If that’s the case though, it won’t be a surprise and there will be time and support to help you understand.

There’s a wide web of information that underpins vivas. It’s not hard to make sense of it though, either in generally or for a particular situation. Take a little time to ask some questions and make sense of it all for yourself.

 

PS: if you want to explore viva expectations more you could check out September’s edition of Viva Survivors Select. The Expectations Issue is a curated collection from the Viva Survivors archive with twenty helpful posts all about viva expectations plus some original writing to help you get ready.

Nathan

Building A Bridge

Daily Post

Public domain image of a small wooden bridge that crosses a stream between two close banks.

Viva prep is like building a bridge between where you are when you submit your thesis and where you need to be for your viva.

But the gap is not that wide. The bridge does not have to be that complicated.

Why take the chance that you might stumble when preparation is not much work compared to all the work you’ve done before?

 

PS: Viva prep is one of the big topics of my Viva Survivor webinar which is running on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared this session more than 400 times and it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva. Check the link for full details of what to expect from the webinar!

Nathan

Not For Them

Daily Post

Who is your thesis for?

It’s unlikely that you have written your thesis with only your examiners in mind. Whatever your topic, structure or conclusions, your thesis isn’t for your examiners. You’ll have another general audience in mind but your examiners have to read it, digest it and plan to ask you about it at your viva.

It’s not for them – but you have to think a lot once it is written and ready about how you will talk to them about it at your viva.

To do that it helps to know who your examiners are. Do a little research into them and their publications if you need to. It also helps to know what they might be interested in. Remind yourself of the regulations and purpose of the viva.

Prepare to talk to your examiners about your thesis but remember who it is really for.

Nathan

Solving Viva Prep

Daily Post

If 20 to 30 hours of viva prep is about right for most candidates then depending on someone’s plans that might mean:

  • 1 or 2 hours of viva prep every day over the course of two weeks;
  • 30 mins to 1 hour of viva prep most days over the course of a month;
  • At least 3 hours of viva prep every day if there is just one week left.

The last option is probably not desirable or helpful!

The other two could work and more generally you can find a solution for viva prep simply by thinking about your circumstances, needs and preferences.

How much time do you have? What pressures constrain you? How do you like to work?

Reflect on those questions and compare the timings above. Then you can start to think about how you might plan your viva prep in a kind and sustainable way for yourself.

Nathan

Making Mistakes

Daily Post

It’s important if you find a mistake after submission that you take a little time to think about the correction. Other people – including your examiners – might think you are unprepared.

It’s important to correct any mistakes after your viva because otherwise you won’t pass!

 

It’s not important generally whether you have things to correct or not. Writing is hard. Doing research is hard. Bringing those difficulties together makes making mistakes almost inevitable.

It’s important to know what’s important at your viva. You can work hard, proofread and do your best. Did you make mistakes or not spot some typos? That’s OK, so long as you’re prepared.

You did something that matters in your research – and that’s far more important than a few mistakes that can be corrected.

 

PS: The Confidence Issue, the most recent issue of Viva Survivors Select, has a lot about focussing on what matters. Do you want to know how to build confidence for your viva? Do you want ideas on how to respond well to questions from your examiners? Then take a look at this curated collection of twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive plus two new helpful resources!

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