You Are Here

Tag: focus

Nathan

The Tops

Daily Post

What’s the top paper you’d recommend someone read to start learning about your research?

What’s the top result of your PhD research?

What’s the top point you struggle to remember when you think about your research?

What’s the top question you hope to be asked by your examiners?

What’s the top question you really hope not to be asked by your examiners?

What’s the top thing you can think of doing to help yourself get ready for your viva?

It’s helpful, when getting ready for your viva, to start with the first of something: the best this, the top that, the number one thing – it gives a signpost to help you see what will be a helpful focus.

What do you do next? And, beyond the list above, what other top things do you need to consider, do or find out more about ahead of your viva?

 

PS: if you’re looking for more general viva help then please check out the details for my upcoming live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars. The first of these is next Wednesday 17th June 2026 and I have four more dates. Registration includes a catch-up recording, follow-up email and my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Five 1-Page Summaries

Daily Post

A summary is a helpful tool to use as part of viva prep. Think of one as a little project for gathering your thoughts ahead of the viva.

Summaries come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; they can bend to meet your needs and preferences. I’ve described a lot of summary ideas on the blog before – and shared a whole zine of ideas last year about how they help someone focus ahead of their viva!

Here are five 1-page summary ideas you could use to help yourself get ready for your viva.

  1. Give yourself an hour to write a list of the ten most helpful references in your bibliography. Write a sentence for each about how they helped your research.
  2. Take ten minutes to list as many keywords as you can think of that are related to your research. After a day take another ten minutes to draw lines between connected keywords and ideas.
  3. Invest thirty minutes in sketching out prep ideas. Capture any tasks or requirements for your preparation.
  4. Divide the page into three equal parts and write the following questions, one in each space: Why did I do this research? How did I do it? What is the result? Spend ten or twenty minutes writing notes and thoughts down for each question.
  5. Split the page in two. Take five minutes and on the lefthand side note down any questions, problems or concerns you have about your viva. On the righthand side, working down your list, write at least one practical step you could do to help with the item on the lefthand list.

What else could you do with a single page to help your prep?

Nathan

Concentrated

Daily Post

What do you need to help you focus well as you prepare for your viva? What can you do to help you focus on what you need to in your viva? Every candidate is different in terms of their situation, their research, their preferences, so the “right answer” for you might be very different to someone else.

To help you focus well as you prepare for your viva, you might…

  • …need to clear specific times to get ready.
  • …follow a particular plan as you approach the work.
  • …need practical support.
  • …want to use specific stationery or approaches that work for you.
  • …keep a notebook of ideas and prompts to reflect on.

To help you focus well at the viva, you could…

  • …add navigation prompts in advance to your thesis with sticky notes or bookmarks.
  • …prepare by adding highlighting and underlining to your thesis pages.
  • …ask your examiners to repeat questions.
  • …make a note of questions as they’re asked.
  • …rehearse well beforehand so that you’re prepared for the particular work of the viva.

These are all suggestions that might or might not work for you, depending on your preferences, situation and needs.

Start cultivating your concentration and focus for your viva by considering what you need.

Nathan

Inspecting Chapters

Daily Post

Pick a chapter in the middle of your thesis. Have a quick read and then consider the following questions for a few minutes each:

  1. What does this chapter add to your thesis?
  2. What did you learn from doing the work?
  3. How did you feel writing this chapter?
  4. How did you feel reading it now?
  5. How many typos or other mistakes have you found?
  6. How many times did you think “I wish I could change that!”?
  7. What else from your research did you think about when reading it?
  8. What do you think your examiners might make of it?

Some of those questions might seem odd or unfair – but probably not as unfair as some of the questions you might ask when you doubt your progress or capability!

 

Doubts and worries are a part of being human but you can decide what you’d like to give your attention to. Not every question is worth your time. You can decide where to put your focus.

Find ways to ignore questions which only hinder your prep and confidence. One approach would be to focus on more helpful questions. In my opinion, questions 1, 2, 7 and 8 are probably the most helpful questions in the example above!

Nathan

VIVA Time

Daily Post

Two days before your viva is a good time to think VIVA:

  • What is Valuable in your research? Write two sentences explaining something that matters.
  • What was Interesting when you started? Write two sentences that summarise what captured your interest.
  • Is there anything Vague or unclear in your thesis? Write two sentences to note anything that you might need to explain more at your viva.
  • What questions would you like to Ask your examiners? Write two questions you would ask given the opportunity.

A little time and a little focus can be a powerful way to help your viva prep.

Nathan

Choose Your Highlights

Daily Post

There’s a lot you could highlight in the text of your thesis as part of viva preparation. You could highlight:

  • Key questions you have found answers to;
  • Essential references you want to make stand out;
  • Quotes that help you to explain something;
  • Key numbers that make sense of data;
  • Important pages or sections you want to be able to find.

There’s a lot you could highlight. It’s your choice to decide what matters most and where to direct your attention.

 

The same is true when it comes to the things you highlight from your PhD journey. What are the highlights of the years you have spent working on your research and thesis? What do you want to remember? Where will you choose to put your attention?

What you choose to highlight makes a difference to your preparation and your confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Know Your Whys

Daily Post

Why did you want to do a PhD?

Why was your research worth pursuing?

Why do you believe your methods are sound?

Why did you keep going when you faced obstacles and setbacks?

Why does your thesis have a significant and original contribution to knowledge?

Why do you feel capable as a researcher in your field?

 

When you know your whys you have a foundation to respond to most questions at your viva.

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 04

Update

Viva Survivors Select 04, The Focus Issue is ready and I’m very excited to release it into the world!

As with the first three issues, The Focus Issue is made up of twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces of viva help.

In this issue I wanted to explore the power of creating summaries as part of viva prep. I’ve loved sharing this topic in webinars and workshops for years. There’s a real value to thinking ahead for the viva, drawing useful information together and building confidence from really appreciating what you’ve done, how you did it and why it matters.

The Focus Issue is twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces: the first digs into the power of key questions for creating summaries and the second is an original prompt-based reflection game for reflecting on the PhD journey.

Viva Survivors Select 04 is out now for £3 and joins the first three issues in this ongoing project of monthly viva help. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Focus Issue.

Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Getting The Platinum

Daily Post

A little over a month back I got my 40th platinum trophy on my PlayStation account.

(please keep reading, I promise this is really related to the viva and getting ready!)

PlayStation games typically have trophies of various kinds: bronze, silver and gold. These might be awarded in parallel to progress through games for simple things like finishing a level or reaching a certain stage. Some, typically gold or silver, are awarded for doing difficult or time-consuming things in games.

A platinum trophy is then awarded for successfully obtaining all of the other trophies possible for the game. It’s common for a trophy list to include a variety of achievements: some linked to simple progress and others to more difficult or time-consuming aspects. Some involve incredible demonstrations of skill and dedication.

Typically you don’t need to collect the platinum to complete the game.

You don’t need the platinum to have enjoyed the game. The platinum is just another layer of self-imposed challenge. You don’t need to have done everything to succeed.

 

Which is how we get to vivas, viva prep and PhDs.

The thought of getting everything right, collecting all the results, reading all the papers, answering every question, getting no corrections and being finished in under 90 minutes can be really attractive to some candidates! This is the platinum trophy equivalent: I’ve got it all!

But you don’t need that. You don’t need that to succeed. You don’t need to focus that way to be ready.

You can do that if you want to but it’s most likely a distraction from being able to prepare well and engage well.

Nathan

Airbrush

Daily Post

There’s a lot you might need to focus on from your PhD journey as you prepare for your viva: your contribution, the work you put in, time invested in building your skills and knowledge.

As you take time to prepare consider that it could be time to let some other things go.

Let go of disappointments. Don’t dwell on your failures, except what you learned from them. Airbrush out things that drag on your confidence. Leave behind past frustrations that aren’t helping you get ready.

What do you need to forget from your PhD journey? What can you leave out of the story you tell yourself of how you got this far?

You don’t have to focus on your whole PhD journey to find confidence and feel capable for your viva.

1 2 3