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Nathan

Too Busy

Daily Post

If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need a plan. Sketch one out at submission. Just a sketch. Can you spread the work over a month? What could you do in thirty minutes per day over three weeks and maybe an hour or so each day in the week before your viva?

If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need help. So ask for help! Talk to your supervisor, your friends, your family and make sure they know what you need with plenty of notice. Ask early so that anyone you live with can give you space and time to get ready.

If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need to make your working situation as good as you can. Get your materials together. Always know in advance what you will do with a chunk of prep time. Make yourself comfortable and perhaps find rewards for getting things done.

If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need to change how you feel. Reflect on and explore your progress to help you realise just how much you’ve done and just how proud you can be. Build up your confidence for the viva.

 

If you’re busy you still have to prepare. You can make a plan and make it nice but it’s still work. There are no shortcuts but equally it doesn’t have to be stressful.

If you’re busy: make a plan, ask for help, remove friction and build your confidence.

Nathan

Satisfaction

Daily Post

What do you need or want from your viva for it to be a satisfying experience?

  • You might want to talk about certain topics. You might want to hear your examiners’ opinions. You might want those opinions to be good!
  • You might want your viva to be a certain length or to proceed in a certain way. You might want certain questions or the absence of specific questions.
  • What do you need to know? What might you need to do? Who might you talk to in order to feel happy about your viva before you have it?

And what, of all of these wants and needs that you perceive, is within your control?

If you pin the satisfaction of your viva on things that are out of your control then you can only hope that it will be a good experience.

Think carefully about what you need and want from your viva and don’t rely on hoping that it will all go well.

 

PS: for more than hope of viva success take a look at next week’s 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar on Wednesday 24th September. An hour of viva confidence plus a catch-up recording and pdf guide to getting ready. Full details at the link!

Nathan

Conversations

Daily Post

You have to talk at your viva.

Your examiners prepare with your thesis, assemble a plan for what they think needs to be talked about and arrive ready to facilitate a series of conversations.

The viva isn’t an interview or a question and answer session. Your examiners’ plan is to help guide them and prompt you. They steer the conversations to explore everything that needs to be talked about.

 

So: if you can expect your viva to be a series of conversations then you can prepare for it by having a series of conversations before then. You need to read your thesis and you need to make notes but that won’t be enough to be ready to talk.

You could organise a mock viva with your supervisor. You could give a seminar and take questions. You could go for coffee with friends and get them to prompt you with interesting and relevant questions. None of these will be exactly like your viva but they could be exactly what you need to help you be ready to talk.

The viva is a series of conversations. It’s clear what you need to do to get ready for it.

Nathan

Extras/Essentials

Daily Post

For your viva you need:

  1. Your thesis;
  2. A notebook and pen;
  3. Something to drink.

These are the absolute essentials that every PhD candidate needs to have with them.

After the essentials there are lots of other things that might be a good idea:

  • Something to eat, in a break or at the end;
  • A list of corrections you’ve spotted;
  • A prototype of something you made;
  • A screen to show a video or software;
  • The means to show, display or demonstrate a creative work;
  • A digital copy of your thesis;
  • Notes in some form;
  • Other materials or resources, as agreed.

These are extras: useful for some people and not appropriate or needed for others. You’ll need to check the regulations, check with your supervisors and decide for yourself perhaps if you really need them.

An item on the list above might not be what you expect – or one item could be exactly what you need.

For some people these really might be considered extras after a thesis, notebook and a water bottle, just something else helpful to have with you.

For some candidates one of the “extras” could be essential to a good viva.

What do you need? What’s an extra and what is absolutely essential for you?

 

PS: you might need a little more support to help you get ready and feel ready. If that thought resonates then please check out my upcoming 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinars. They’re running on Wednesday 24th September and Thursday 30th October and you can find more details of what you’ll find via the link. If you use code DAILYBLOGFAN before midnight tonight then you get a special discount too.

Nathan

The Questions I Can’t Answer

Daily Post

I love to respond to questions from PhD candidates. When it comes to general advice there’s a lot I can help with and I’m willing to listen to situations to offer a few thoughts about particular things that might help.

There’s also a lot that I don’t know or can’t help with.

 

There are so many questions where the most responsible answer is “it depends” – and it will depend largely on the person asking the question.

There are many, many questions where the best person to offer a really valuable response might be the candidate’s supervisor. There are often questions where the best place to look for help is the university regulations.

I’ll always help if I can. If I can’t, remember that you have a lot of help around you.

When you’ve finished your PhD you can be a lot of help too.

Nathan

The Buddy System

Daily Post

I’ve wondered about whether a viva prep club is feasible. Whether it’s centred around a university or in some kind of distributed community, would a group of PhD candidates be able to work alongside each other in some way – practically and being supportive – in order to get ready?

I don’t know. Given the different paths and timescales of PGRs, perhaps a club is too grand a scale to work on. It did get me thinking though. Here is a little idea:

  • Could you find a partner or a buddy to prepare alongside?
  • Someone to check in with you?
  • Someone to ask you questions?
  • Someone to help you reflect back on your journey and someone you could help in the same way?

A viva prep buddy could help you, nudge you, share ideas and help by understanding what you’re going through.

When one of you has their viva the other can report back. You can congratulate them and then look for a new buddy, who will start the process with you again. Over time, stories, experiences, expectations and help would pass from one person to another.

Can you find a buddy so you can help each other get ready for the viva?

Nathan

Unclear Expectations

Daily Post

Academic culture likes to make the viva seem big, mysterious and important.

The viva is definitely big and important but it’s not mysterious. Every institution has regulations. There are thousands of people every year in the UK who have a viva. There is a wealth of information about it if you look.

If anything about the viva seems unclear then ask questions, read the regulations and generally look to find out more. Send me an email if you like!

Finding out realistic expectations for the viva means you can prepare for it well, feel good about it and know that you are on track to succeed.

So what’s unclear for you? As a result, what will you do to find out more?

Nathan

Ask The Right Person

Daily Post

Do you have any of these questions rattling around your mind?

  • What happens at vivas?
  • How much time is given for minor corrections?
  • What does “major corrections” mean?
  • If I don’t want a mock viva what could I do?
  • When do I know when my viva will be?

I’ve been asked these lots of times at webinars, over email and in-person when I used to travel for work. I am always happy to help but it’s also worth pointing out that some questions I’m asked can be dug into far better by the candidate asking.

I can give a general perspective on regulations and expectations – but if you ask someone at your institution or read your regulations you’ll know exactly what you need. I can suggest the kinds of good support you could get from someone else if a mock viva doesn’t feel right – but you could know exactly who around you would be best placed to offer help.

Always ask. If you see me in a webinar or want to send me an email please do! I will always respond. But consider that someone much closer to you could help with some problems much more effectively.

 

PS: the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select contains a lot of helpful thoughts for your viva. It might not answer all your questions, but it will give you a lot of help. It’s available at my Payhip store along with the previous issues of curated collections and other resources too. Take a look if you can and tell anyone else who needs viva help 🙂 Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Dealing With A Difficult Topic

Daily Post

It’s reasonable to be concerned about unexpected questions, but those aren’t the most difficult topics or questions. You probably already know the most difficult topics that would come up at your viva.

What don’t you want to talk about? What do you struggle to remember? What might be controversial in your research?

Difficult topics are the kinds of things to take your time with in preparation and in the viva. There’s time. There’s no need to rush but if a difficult topic comes up at the viva there is a need to talk about it.

If you know a difficult topic ahead of your viva then prepare. Ask for help, ask your supervisor, rehearse by discussing the area and taking questions. Don’t try to ignore it. Don’t simply hope that it won’t come up.

Nathan

Not As Expected

Daily Post

If things don’t go as planned you have to act.

  • If your research doesn’t go as planned, what do you do instead?
  • If the first choice for your external examiner isn’t available who do you ask?
  • If your mock viva has to be cancelled what do you do now?
  • And if your viva doesn’t follow expectations in some way, what do you do?

You always have to do something. It’s important to remember that you always have agency. The unexpected shows up and you have to do something and you do and then you move on to the next thing.

You might need to ask for help or information. You might even need to check the regulations but, regardless, if something doesn’t follow your plan or expectations you’ll need to do something.

You can do your best, take action and move forward – and remember that while some things don’t go as expected a lot does work out.

Remind yourself of your effort and your impact and be thankful if you can for all the things in your PhD journey that worked out as planned.

 

PS: If you’re looking for more viva help and advice in the coming months then follow my Eventbrite page to get notified of future independent webinars like Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva. Dates coming soon!

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