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Nathan

A Basic Formula

Daily Post

C = f(c) + P

Or: confidence is a function of your capability plus your preparation.

Or: the confidence you have for something like, say, your viva is related to your capability for your research plus the specific preparation you do for your viva.

 

I’m a pure mathematician by training, so blame that for how my brain has turned this over! A little “formula” like this isn’t very scientific but as a model there are two important things that stand out:

  1. The element that makes the most difference here is your capability as this has grown over a long time. As you get closer to your viva reflect on what has made you good in so many ways.
  2. You have a relatively short amount of time to do viva preparation – so plan your time well and focus on the important tasks first.

If you want your confidence for your viva to grow you have to increase your capability or do more preparation. What makes sense for where you are now?

 

PS: Viva confidence is a big topic at my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. I’ll be talk about a lot more too! You’ll also get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Perspectives Matter

Daily Post

If there is more than one way to explain what you’ve done or what it means then make sure you practise talking about all of them.

If there was more than one way to accomplish your research goals then it helps to be able to explain what you did AND why you didn’t take the other approaches.

If you and your examiners look at things differently then that’s not a cause for concern – but it makes sense to understand their perspective to respond to it.

 

Writing notes to unpack your thinking or rehearsing aloud how you explain things can be helpful for grappling with also sorts of different perspectives.

What you have ultimately done through your work matters a lot – it’s one of the key things you’re there to talk about at your viva – but being aware of the variety of perspectives, processes, beliefs and understandings matters a lot too.

Nathan

The Ideals

Daily Post

What’s the ideal time for you to do viva prep?

Who are your ideal examiners?

What’s the ideal date and time for your viva?

What would be your ideal opening question?

These questions and others can be interesting to reflect on but take care. Thinking about ideal situations, questions and people bring together needs and preferences under one grouping and they are quite different.

  • You could prefer Dr A over Professor B for your external examiner but you won’t need one or the other.
  • You might need a specific date or location for your viva due to your circumstances.
  • You might prefer your examiners to ask about a specific topic to start the viva but you need to understand that they’ll follow their experience and plans.
  • You could need certain requirements to help you have a fair and accessible viva – it’s not what you prefer but what you must have.

When you recognise a need or preference you might have work to do. If the ideal examiner will help you feel better then you can communicate that to your supervisors and see who they ultimately select. If they’re not available then you have to work to feel better about whoever is appointed.

If the ideal viva situation means you can have a fair viva then you need to make sure that the right people know about your needs. Who do you contact? What do you do?

 

PS: I’ll be talking about all of these topics and more at my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. You’ll also get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

That Next Step

Daily Post

Whether you prepare for your viva in a series of twenty minute tasks or use three-hour blocks of activity, do yourself a favour: finish your prep time by making a note of the thing you’ll do next.

PhD candidates often find themselves getting ready by working around all of the other things in their life. This can mean prep time is work when they’re already tired and not in the mood to do more work. A note made ahead of time can remove friction, take away one more decision and give direction when someone needs it.

  • Read Chapter 3.
  • Make a list of key references.
  • Suggest mock viva dates.

When you plan ahead even a little you free up space to work well. Do yourself a favour and decide in advance what your next step will be when you finish a piece of viva prep.

Nathan

Talking In A Furnace

Daily Post

I read my thesis. Made notes. Talked with my supervisor. Read papers. Got ready.

And never once thought about the actual space I would have my viva in.

My viva was in early June 2008, first thing in the morning in a top floor seminar room that got full sun from dawn through to the early afternoon.

During the first heatwave of the year.

It was hot when we began. It got hotter as we went on. And my viva, with a short break, ended up being four hours. It was an exhausting situation by the end. The room was incredibly stifling and uncomfortable. We made it through, I passed – and thankfully didn’t pass out due to the heat!

 

All of which is presented as a dramatic encouragement to check your viva space out in advance and think about your comfort for the day.

Most in-person vivas take place in fairly anonymous seminar rooms at your university but you’ll always know the date, time and location in advance. You can check out the space, think about your needs and the situation for your viva.

Then act accordingly – because if it’s going to be a hot day you’re going to need to take that into account!

Nathan

Maybe

Daily Post

It always helps to pause when you’re asked a question at your viva; take some time to think, consider, get your thoughts in order (and make notes, check your thesis and so on) before you respond.

You could do all of that and still, in that moment, think, “Well, maybe…” Taking everything into account, you might not know something or might not be sure.

That’s OK. The viva is not about demonstrating perfection or total knowledge: it’s about showing what you did, why you did it and how you can do things well. If you listen carefully, think carefully and your careful response to one particular questions begins with “Maybe…” then you’re doing fine.

You don’t need to know everything. You don’t need to have thought of everything beforehand.

 

PS: Looking for help with the viva discussion and expectations? Then check out my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026 where I’ll talk about these topics and a lot more. You’ll get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

What Will You Wear?

Daily Post

Enclothed cognition is the idea, simply, that what you wear has an impact on how you feel and behave. So you could feel more confident, more capable and more right for a situation depending on what you wear.

Instinctively it feels like a sound idea to me. Leaving aside safety clothing that would be necessary for some situations, it seems clear that people can influence their feelings of capability by dressing “smarter” or “cooler”. Someone might feel more like they fit in with a group or feel like they belong.

Assuming the theory is true what would you wear for your viva? How do you want to feel? What might help you to feel that way? You don’t need to be smart for your examiners’ expectations but dressing more smartly might help steer your own confidence and capability. Or you might decide on something a little different to help you feel good for those few hours.

How do you want to feel? What might you then need?

 

(big thanks to my friend Piero Vitelli who I’m pretty certain is the person who shared the term enclothed cognition with me!)

Nathan

Share Your Experiences

Daily Post

Tell other people about your PhD journey.

Tell people working towards a similar submission date to you to share stories, advice and ideas. Tell those with further to go so that they get a sense of what the journey is like and what they can think ahead and plan for.

Share what it’s like to write up your thesis, what worked for you and what didn’t.

Share your prep plans and how they worked (or didn’t!).

Afterwards, tell others about your viva experience to help them have good expectations for their viva.

And let them know what it was like to complete corrections and the end of the PhD process.

Share your experiences with others so that they can know they’re not alone. Their research and thesis might be unique but they are not the first to do a PhD or have a viva.

Nathan

People Like Us

Daily Post

Seth Godin defines culture as “people like us do things like this.”

This relates to the viva in lots of ways.

Some academic culture comes from rules. The regulations describe how things must be done in a formal way. General viva experiences follow stories: past experiences are shared, become embedded and then show up as general expectations. Examiners and candidates do things in a certain way because past examiners and candidates have done it before.

More particular viva experiences can become an expectation too. The culture in a department could lead to presentations as viva starters, a particular opening question, a way of communicating results or even celebrating success.

“People like us do things like this.” It’s important to figure out the things that people do – and remind yourself that you’re included in that definition. People like YOU do things like this – including succeed at your viva.

Nathan

A Reason To Clockwatch

Daily Post

Standard Viva Advice Number 62: don’t check the time during the viva because doing so will only be a distraction.

A clear exception is to do this because you need to: maybe you need to take breaks for specific medical reasons or to help you have a fair viva process.

That would be a good reason to keep an eye on the time. If you’re concerned about losing focus by clockwatching then perhaps make sure your examiners know about your need and ask them to be responsible for encouraging those breaks.

More broadly: there’s a lot of really good, well-meaning and often-helpful viva advice that might not apply to you. Listen to advice, take what you need and find your own way to get ready and pass your viva.

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