Nathan

Routes To Confidence

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Confidence comes from lots of places. The confidence you want for your viva could be found in many things.

You can feel confident if you feel capable. Your talents can help you to see you can manage this challenge.

You can feel confident if you’re calm. Putting problems and stress to one side can help you find self-confidence for the viva.

You can feel confident if you reflect over your PhD journey. You have got as far as you have by doing well, by making something that matters.

You might not be able to do all of these to the full extent you would like. Doubt, time and other pressures might get in the way. Make an effort with any of the steps above and however far you get will prompt greater confidence for your viva day.

There isn’t one way to viva confidence. Find a route that works for you. Don’t hope you’ll feel good – work your way to feeling good.

Nathan

Nasty

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Do you think your examiners would ask a harsh question at the viva? If you think yes, why?

If you think yes, what do you think it would be about?

And if you think yes, how likely do you really think it is?

 

I don’t think it’s common for candidates to worry about particularly nasty questions, but for candidates who do the worry is particularly nasty. If it’s on your mind, don’t wait to find out if your fears will come true at the viva.

Talk to someone. Talk to your supervisor. Review anything and everything related to the topic of the question.

Questions at the viva shouldn’t be nasty but if you’re worried, don’t wait: do something to help yourself.

Nathan

The Time

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If your viva begins at 2pm there might be a limit on how long your viva could be.

If your viva starts at 10am that doesn’t make you more likely to be discussing your work still when the sun sets.

Wondering about viva length is a distraction. It doesn’t correlate to anything useful about the outcome. It is helpful to get a sense of viva length to manage your expectations. If you have concerns about being present for a long time because of health reasons then you can figure out what you need to make the viva fair for you.

Long viva, short viva or somewhere-in-between-viva, the time you’re in the viva is very, very short compared to the rest of your PhD: all the time you’ve invested in becoming good and doing something good.

Nathan

Similar, Not The Same

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If you hear five viva stories from different people you will spot common threads and notice differences.

If you hear five viva stories from people in your department you will notice examination practices and understand why they are different.

Every viva is different.

Every viva is influenced by regulations, expectations and departmental practices.

You viva will be similar to others, but can’t be the same.

Nathan

Point By Point

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Your examiners will have a lot of questions for you at your viva, along with various comments they will make.

You won’t know them in advance. You can get a sense of what to expect by consulting resources, talking with your supervisors and reflecting on your research. Anything you are asked is purely to help drive the discussion forward and create a space where your examiners can explore you and your work.

 

All of this could make someone feel intimidated but here’s the important thing to remember: you only have to respond to one question or comment at a time. Your examiners don’t serve you twenty questions to start the viva and expect you to keep track of them all. You aren’t given a sheet of comments to work through.

One at a time, point by point, you respond to what your examiners need so that they can confidently say you are good enough.

Nathan

Your Thesis

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There are lots of ways you could look at your thesis at your viva.

  • Your thesis is a resource to help you respond to questions. You can annotate it beforehand to be even more useful.
  • Your thesis is a lifeline in case of emergency. If you need it you can take a moment to remind yourself of something that escapes your memory.
  • Your thesis is a contribution. It’s one focus for your examiners’ questions.
  • Your thesis is proof that you did the work. It’s one focus for you and your confidence.

Which of these matters most to you at the viva? And what will your thesis mean to you after the viva?

Nathan

Silver Bullets

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In stories werewolves are powerful, almost unstoppable. Perhaps you can guard against them or run away for a time, but there’s no great defence you can mount. You have to hope that you can find or make silver bullets.

We sometimes use the idea of silver bullets as a shorthand for a solution to a particularly tricky problem. They are the one thing that will allow us to understand a situation, help us to plan better or get things done. It would cut through everything and solve the problem – if only we can find a silver bullet.

PhD candidates sometimes look for silver bullets for the viva. They hope for one thing that will help them to be confident. Or one thing that will help them feel prepared. Or even the one question they will definitely be asked that they can be ready for.

It might be nice to think about, but all of this forgets a couple of things:

  • Silver bullets, if they were needed, are rare, expensive and hard to make. Do you have time for that when you’re getting ready for the viva?
  • Werewolves, if they existed, are unique and difficult encounters. Your viva might be unique and difficult to some extent but vivas happen almost every day: there is a lot to learn about them and about how others have faced their challenges.

Don’t look for a single silver bullet to solve all your problems. Silver bullets are a distraction. You don’t have the time for them and you don’t need them.

Take simple steps to learn what you need to do to be ready for your viva – and then do the work.

Nathan

Looking Forward

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I didn’t think my viva would be terrible but I also wasn’t thinking, “I can’t wait!”

Looking back 17 years, I could best describe my feelings in the days leading up as resigned.

I guess I have to do this.

I slept only a few hours the night before. At the time I couldn’t understand that sleeplessness. I had never experienced insomnia in that way. Afterwards I came to believe it was connected with not really knowing what to expect from the viva experience and not feeling like I was a good candidate.

 

It’s only recently that I’ve realised just how connected those two thoughts might be.

How can you feel like you’re a good candidate if you don’t know what to expect?

If you’ve no idea then you can’t know if you’re good enough.

 

If any of this resonates with you I think your next steps are clear.

  • Find out what to expect. There are regulations to check and people who you can ask to learn more about viva experiences.
  • Remind yourself of what you’ve done and what that means. You’ll see that your capability is more than enough to meet the requirements of the viva.

If you know what the viva is and are sure of who you are then the experience can definitely be something to look forward to.

Nathan

Important Things

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I have a piece of paper on the wall next to my desk that says, “What’s the most important thing I can do today that would make tomorrow better?”

I like the sentiment of this but I’m also the kind of person who gets stuck sometimes thinking about what the most important thing could be.

I’m part of a family, a writer, a researcher-developer, a business owner… How do I decide what the most important thing is? Which area do I give my attention to so I can make tomorrow better?

I have to remind myself that not knowing the most important thing can’t get in the way of me doing something to make tomorrow better, even if that’s in a small way.

 

If you like the question too but also fear getting stuck on figuring out the most important thing then for you and your viva a better framing might be, “What can I do to make my viva better?”

Then you have options. There are so many things that you can do for viva prep. There are so many ways you can reflect on your PhD to boost your confidence. There is so much you can do.

Doing something towards prep is enough. You don’t have to be overwhelmed by the important things.

Nathan

Sudden Problems

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A week before submission you find that a section in your thesis is missing something important. What do you do?

Two weeks before your viva you learn that one of your examiners is cancelling. What do you do?

The day before your viva you find a big mistake in your thesis – you know what the correction is but you can’t change it now. What do you do?

Thirty minutes into your viva you are shaken by a question you’ve never considered before. What do you do?

 

These situations aren’t equivalent to each other. Impact and context matters. In some cases you can ask for help directly: for example, if your examiner cancelled that could be very stressful but it wouldn’t be your situation to resolve alone.

More than anything for any sudden problems the best advice I could offer is to stop: pause and breathe and get past any panic.

What can you do? Before you decide what you will do, think about what your options might be. Can you ask for help from someone? Have you faced a situation like this before? As stressful as it might immediately feel what is the real impact?

What can you do – then what will you do?

You have to do something but you don’t have to do the first thing that comes to mind when you’re experiencing the stress of a sudden problem. Pause and breathe then consider your options.

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