Nathan

A Clear Desk

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Start your viva prep with a clear desk, then think about what you might need to add back.

Just imagine…

  • You need your thesis.
  • You need some small bits of stationery, either to add things to your thesis or to make notes.
  • You need a few papers you want to check, or perhaps a device to read them on.
  • You need your diary for making arrangements with your supervisor or friends for some practise.
  • You probably need some refreshments too!

Now with all of that in your mind’s eye realise that viva prep doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take lots of resources and it won’t take long to complete.

Nathan

Always Check The Rules

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A simple plea for a Saturday: always, always read the regulations for thesis examination at your institution. Read the rules for the viva at your university.

They might be a little dull in places, but you will get confirmation about who does what, when you find things out and see estimates on how long things like the submission period will take.

There may even be things you don’t expect: a candidate told me recently that they had to take proof of their identity to their viva!

Always check the rules. It won’t take much to find them and won’t take long to read them.

Nathan

Your Role

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At the viva you have to engage with the questions and comments of your examiners. You have to be a good participant in the discussion that rises from your thesis, the questions and what unfolds naturally.

That’s it.

You don’t have to be extra-smart or super-relaxed. They’re not looking for you to take on a persona. You don’t have to have an answer for everything or speak in a certain way.

Your examiners want to hear what you think and see what you know. Your role in the viva is to respond. You don’t have to be anything you’re not.

Nathan

Unnecessary Prep

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You don’t need to work from dawn until dusk every day between submission and the viva in order to get ready.

You don’t need to read and re-read your thesis multiple times. You don’t need to check every paper you’ve cited or considered.

You don’t need to find every typo or amend every clunky sentence. You don’t need to fill the margins of each page with notes and reminders.

You don’t need to scan through lists of questions and worry about what you might be asked.

And you don’t need to be perfect or obsess about now becoming better.

 

Viva prep helps you get ready for the particular challenge of the viva. It’s a short period of time to reflect, remember and rehearse. The goals are quite small. The need is not so great. You have to prepare, but the work you’ve done so far already carries you a long way.

Nathan

The Breaks

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It’s always worth saying: yes, you can have a break in your viva.

A bathroom break.

A medically necessary break.

A break to breathe and relax or compose yourself.

An hour in, two hours in, three hours in, it doesn’t matter when.

Your examiners might offer, but you can always ask.

Then at the end of your viva, most likely, one more short break while your examiners discuss the outcome. They exchange notes and reach their final consensus.

For that final break decide in advance what you might do, so that you aren’t sitting and wondering about what just happened and what is about to happen.

 

And hopefully when your viva is finished you can take a longer break that is solely about relaxing and resting.

Nathan

Personally Developed

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Personal development is sometimes seen as a box-ticking exercise during a PhD: perhaps a form or report that has to be filled in every now and then. That’s a shame, because I think personal development is what the PhD is all about. A PhD is not just a piece of paper or a couple of extra letters around your name. It stands for something. It represents the change you’ve made in yourself.

Reflecting on that before the viva helps you. You don’t want to stand on a chair and boast of your talent and knowledge, but you do want to sit there and be confident. Reflect on your journey. Reflect on the change in yourself. Consider how you have grown and developed and use that to build your confidence for the viva – where you can calmly explain and explore what it all means.

Nathan

A Series Of Steps

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You take a PhD one day at a time. Read, write, test, think and do it all again. Day by day you work through the journey.

You take viva prep one task at a time. Read, write, think, talk: each task brings you closer to the viva.

You take the viva one question at a time. Pause, think, respond, then on to the next point. Each question is an opportunity for you to demonstrate something about your research and yourself.

Step by step, each one bringing you closer to success.

Nathan

Not Noticed

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Twenty minutes before my first webinar of the autumn I realised that I couldn’t close my office door.

The panel from the side of the bath was in the way, leaning just beside the door. I had taken it off two months earlier to fix a leak and never quite got around to putting it back. I’d become so used to it being there that I no longer noticed it when I was passing through the doorway.

I spent two hurried minutes jiggling and fiddling with it to get it back into place on the side of the bath where it belonged. Then I washed my hands, took a deep breath and it was time for the webinar.

My bath panel is pretty big but it was only a little problem to resolve. It was stressful in that moment because of the urgency. It would have been far better to look around in the previous days (or weeks!) and sort it out sooner.

 

Little problems can be overcome once we notice them. Little problems in your thesis or your research are less stressful to resolve before the viva than in your viva. While you can’t just prime yourself to notice what you’ve not noticed previously, you can work carefully during your viva prep to look for little problems.

  • Read your thesis without skimming. What do you see? Typos aren’t a problem because they don’t require you to come up with a solution. A clunky sentence might be a problem. How do you make it clearer? A forgotten topic is a problem. What can you do to refresh your memory?
  • Ask for considered feedback when you rehearse. Your friend not understanding you is a problem. How can you explain your point better? Your supervisor disagreeing with you is a problem. How can you explore the issue?

A clunky passage in your thesis or a misunderstanding in the viva will not lead to your failure. Little problems are little, but remember: little problems are less stressful to resolve before the viva than in your viva. By working to spot what you’ve not noticed before you can pre-emptively fix things – or give yourself more practice solving little problems for the viva.

Nathan

Small Beginnings

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Do you remember the first day of your PhD? Do you remember what that was like?

I do! I can vividly remember showing up at my office, being told which of two desks I could commandeer for the next few years and then waiting and wondering what I should do next. I knew my supervisor already, but knew that I wasn’t due to see him for several days. I knew, kind-of, what area I was going to be working in.

So I started reading my Master’s dissertation. I had carried that into university with me that day, in my bag, proof for myself that I was meant to be there. As I worked through the pages of a short book I hadn’t read in over a year I found typo after typo. Clunky line after clunky line. I picked up a red pen and started amending my previous work in the margins.

And I felt bad.

Foolish. Naive even. What was I doing here? What was I going to be doing…

…for the next three and a half years?!

I had no idea.

 

And then Shaine asked me if I wanted to go for a cup of tea as it was eleven o’clock and that’s what happened at eleven in the maths department. For the rest of that day, and the rest of that week – and the rest of the month – I was slowly introduced to the rhythms of life in the maths department.

Meeting by meeting, I figured out what I needed to do to get started. Chat by chat, I started to understand what being a PhD maths researcher meant.

One thing stood out to me: research takes time. It takes work over a long period of time. You might have breakthroughs or periods of intense activity, but it all takes time.

 

From small beginnings you must have come a long way over the course of your PhD. Do you remember your first day? Your first week or month? Can you compare and contrast that to where you are now?

I imagine if you’re reading this that your viva is some time in the near future. At the very least you can have a good idea of when it might be. Look back to the beginning of your PhD journey and realise: you have come a long way.

You’ve invested the time and the work to become better, to build your research and develop yourself. Remember and realise that you must be good by this stage of your journey; you might not be at the end, not yet, but you have made a lot of progress and found a lot of success since your beginning.

Nathan

Good Question!

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I listen to podcasts while I wash the dishes. It’s my little bit of “me time” in a busy day!

Recently, while scrubbing away at a pan I was struck by how often someone being interviewed began their response by saying, “That’s a good question…” They said it a lot, and every time they sounded very sincere and genuine – almost delighted to have been asked.

Many years ago in a short presentation skills seminar I was told that saying “that’s a good question” was a good way to stall and play for time to think. It could help to create a good impression and – as a presenter – engage with the person asking the question.

All those things can be true but stood in my kitchen with my hands covered in bubbles it hit me that it was also a really positive attitude to take into the viva.

 

Now, I don’t mean that every time your examiners ask something, you have to smile and say, “That’s a good question!”

But rather than worry in advance about what might come up, or ponder in the moment what your examiners could mean, just think that all of the questions you will be asked will be good questions.

Every single one.

Good because the topic is good.

Good because they get you to talk about something great.

Good because they challenge you.

Good because they highlight something that needs to be talked about.

Good because they help you get one step closer to the end of your viva and passing.

Your role in the viva is to engage with the discussion and respond to questions. Will some of them be tough? Probably – but start with the idea that they will all be good to give yourself a helpful way to engage throughout your viva.

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