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Nathan

A New Viva Alphabet!

Daily Post

I try every day to share something useful about the viva, but there are a lot of topics to be covered!

Back in June 2017 I shared A Viva Alphabet as a way to start thinking about many of the different themes and ideas that surround the viva. Today, I share a new series of thoughts. Again, I can’t cover every issue connected with the viva, but it’s a wide range of topics:

  • A is for Allies: there are lots of people around you who can help. Who do you need to ask first?
  • B is for Book: that’s what you have made! What could you do to help get a good working model of it in your mind?
  • C is for Contribution: the outputs of your research make a difference. How do you define yours?
  • D is for Doctorate: what you have been working towards. What will yours allow you to do?
  • E is for External: one of your examiners. Why were they a good choice?
  • F is for Finished: almost! What does this mean for you?
  • G is for Grumbles: you probably have some about your PhD, or about the viva. What can you do about them, or how can you live with them?
  • H is for Hard Work: you must do a lot of this to get to submission. What has been hardest?
  • I is for Internal: your other examiner! What do you know about them?
  • J is for Jot: the margins of your thesis are a great space for annotations. What could you add during your prep to help you in the viva?
  • K is for Knowledge: like Hard Work, you must have a lot of this. What do you know now that you didn’t know at the start of your PhD?
  • L is for Location: your viva has to take place somewhere. Where is the room and what is it like?
  • M is for Mock: a very common viva preparation activity. What would you hope to get from yours?
  • N is for Notes: you can make them throughout the viva. What would help you to do this well?
  • O is for Outcomes: there are many possibilities. What are the details of the outcomes at your institution?
  • P is for Post-it Note: one of the most valuable resources for viva prep! What could you use them for?
  • Q is for Quick: your viva is unlikely to be this, but it might feel that way. Either way, how could you prepare for the open-ended length of your viva?
  • R is for Response: what you can offer to a question in the viva. What would help you give good responses?
  • S is for Supervisor: the person who probably knows your work second-best to you. What help could they offer in preparation for the viva?
  • T is for Talented: what you necessarily are by submission-time. What are your skills, attributes and capabilities as a good researcher?
  • U is for Unique: you, your thesis, your viva! What makes you different? What makes everything you’ve done special?
  • V is for Viva: what else could it be??! Talk to your friends about theirs, see what general expectations you can discern for yours.
  • W is for Wondering: it’s not wrong to doubt or worry, but it is right to be fairly confident about your examiners’ assessment of your thesis. What do you hope they see in your research?
  • X is the Unknown: it’s reasonable to say “I don’t know” in the viva; some questions might not have answers. What could help you to give the best response you could?
  • Y is for You: it’s all up to You, your Hard Work, your Knowledge and the fact that you are Talented. If you have doubts still, what could help you to see that you are good at what you do?
  • Z is for Zero: the probability of your failure. Given everything you’ve done to get this far, what – realistically – could lead to you not passing?

Which of these have you considered before? What has passed you by so far? Any ideas for substitutions?

And what might you do now, having considered this new viva alphabet?

Nathan

Phrases That Don’t Help

Daily Post

You’ll hear them all the time around the viva.

  1. Don’t worry! – Stop it! All better now.
  2. Good luck – because the viva is all about luck, apparently…
  3. You’ll be fine! – see point 1!
  4. Just read your thesis – all you need to do before the viva, apparently…
  5. They always go well… – so don’t worry! And we’re back to point 1. Again.

I’m being very harsh. Anyone who says these to you is well-intentioned. They want their friend to succeed. They really do want you to be fine, they want your viva to go well and they want to reassure you that you’re talented.

The five phrases above are kind, but superficial. Far better to give a little more time, a little more detail. When it’s your turn, be a good friend with what you offer others:

  1. How are you feeling? How can I help?
  2. You’ve worked hard for this! Remember when…
  3. If you’re feeling nervous, why not…?
  4. Is there anything you need help with for your viva prep?
  5. Here’s what I’ve heard… Here’s why that sounds alright to me…

Check in with your friend. Don’t give shallow stock phrases but deep encouragements. They don’t need you to solve all their problems. They might need a few friendly nudges to help their confidence.

Nathan

The Best of 2020

Daily Post

It’s way too early to pick your highlights, but you’re right on time to set your intentions for the year ahead. If this is the final year of your PhD, submission coming up and viva not far away, ask yourself:

  • What could I do to have the best experience writing up?
  • How can I make my thesis the best it could be?
  • What can I do to make my viva one of the best days of my PhD?

Set your goals, then explore the actions that could take you to them. You can’t reach perfect, but you can set a high standard for completing your PhD.

All the very best for 2020!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Confidence

Daily Post

Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts. Today we finish my annual round-up with my favourite posts from 2019 on the subject of confidence. After considering expectations, examiners, practical prep and all of the other topics that come to mind about the viva, confidence is the missing piece of the puzzle. It’s a very personal topic for me too, as I can see the difference it’s made to me since finishing my PhD.

Confidence helps put nerves and doubts into perspective, and helps candidates to see the talent that has lead them to the viva. Let me know what others posts have helped this year. Subscribe to the blog to get a new post by email every day in 2020!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Short Posts

Daily Post

Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts over a few days. In today’s round-up I want to share some of my favourite short posts. Sometimes an idea doesn’t take much to explain!

  • Requirements – all you need for your PhD.
  • Everything! – what you can’t have done!
  • Questions & Answers – a couple of thoughts about where your viva comes from.
  • A Better List Than Typos – something to focus on rather than spelling mistakes.
  • Labels – reflecting on the words that you choose to use to describe yourself, your examiners and the viva.
  • Final – putting the importance of the viva in perspective.

Drop me a line if you have other favourite short posts from 2019! Tomorrow, in the final post for this year we come to one of the most important topics for the viva: confidence.

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Long Posts

Daily Post

Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts over a few days. I try to keep my daily posts as brief as possible, but sometimes it takes more than a hundred words to get to where I’m going. Today, I’m sharing some of my favourite long posts from the last year, covering a range of topics!

These are a few of my favourite longer posts. Read any more that you like? Let me know, and check out tomorrow’s post where I go in the opposite direction and share some of my favourite short posts from this year!

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2019: Viva Prep

Daily Post

Each year I finish my blogging by sharing some of my favourite posts over a few days. We’ll start my annual round-up with my favourite posts from 2019 on the subject of viva prep. Every PhD candidate will need to do something after submission to help themselves get ready. The posts below offer a range of different activities and encouragements to help with busy weeks waiting for the viva.

Spotted any other posts this year that you thought really helped with viva preparation? Let me know, and check back over the coming days for most Best of 2019 blog posts!

Nathan

Merry Christmas!

Daily Post

Merry Christmas from Viva Survivors!

However you’ll celebrate over the next few weeks, or if you won’t be, I wish you all the very best. Take a break, spend time with friends and family, if your viva is in January then maybe you need to do something over the next few weeks – but there is time. Take time for yourself.

The blog won’t be updating for the next five days, but starting on Saturday 28th December there will be a series of four daily “best of” posts from this year. It’s become a little tradition of mine to round out each year with some of the posts I’m most proud of.

Very best wishes from me to you, and thanks to everyone who’s read the blog, shared a post, bought an ebook or tweeted about one of my resources in 2019.

All the best,

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors on Twitter!)

Nathan

It’s a Wonderful Viva

Daily Post

A few days ago I was inspired by A Christmas Carol. Today my mind turns to It’s a Wonderful Life, which is my favourite Christmas movie. I could write a lot about how this movie makes me feel, what I adore about it, why it makes me cry every time I watch it, but let me pull out a key moment and why it’s worth remembering for your viva.

Towards the end, the protagonist, George, who thinks his life has gotten so terrible that it would be better if he had never been born, is given the chance to see what that world would be like. He is shown a town which is cruel, where people are mean, where no-one knows him and where some of the people he knows are fundamentally different – all because he wasn’t there as part of their lives.

As his angel (second-class!) guide Clarence tells him, “You see, George, you’ve really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”

Now, I don’t imagine many PhD candidates consider stopping just before their viva, or truly wish they had never started. However stressed or worried, whatever fears are conjured, whatever doubts they may have about their ability, they probably don’t wish for it not to be taking place, or for them not to be PhD candidates.

Still, remember: by doing your PhD you have made a difference. You have made something that wasn’t there before. You have become better than you were. You know more and can do more. And along the way you will have helped others, directly and indirectly.

By doing your PhD you have made a difference. Remember that and it might make a difference for how you feel about your viva.

Nathan

2019 In Stats

Daily Post

In 2019 I have…

  • …published 360 posts on this blog!
  • …delivered my Viva Survivor session a total of 51 times…
    • …which is the most I’ve ever done in a year!
  • …helped 888 PhD candidates at my session, which is more than I did in 2018!
  • …started work on three new ebook projects that will see completion by Easter 2020!

(in case you couldn’t tell by all the exclamation marks, I’m feeling pretty excited!)

My personal highlights of the year include delivering Viva Survivor at a wildlife park – where I fed a lion! Shortly after that I passed the 200 session mark for my Viva Survivor delivery – and then I passed 225 sessions several months later! I’ve now delivered Viva Survivor to over 4000 postgraduate researchers around the UK.

Statistics are numbers, more of this, less of that, totals and highlights and averages. Statistics help mark the journey though.

“I delivered 51 Viva Survivor sessions this year” – the number helps me remember how I got where I am. Confidence isn’t a statistic, but statistics help frame the story.

What are your statistics for 2019?

  • How many times have you had a success?
  • How many days did you show up to get your work done?
  • How many talks have you given – even if you felt nervous?
  • How many words/pages/chapters have you written?
  • How many times did you get something wrong – and what did you learn?
  • And what can you measure to show that you’re doing well?

Your stats help tell a story you can tell others – after first telling a good story to you. Your story can persuade others you’ve done something good, convince them you can do what you can do and that you know what you know.

Start with the stats of your story.

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