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Tag: getting ready

Nathan

Responses At The Viva

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You don’t need perfect answers at your viva. You don’t need perfect responses.

You need to be prepared to respond well to your examiners but that doesn’t mean that you need to have “prepared responses”. Your examiners want to have a good conversation with you about your work, the process that lead to it and your capability as a researcher.

They don’t want you to read from a script and they don’t expect that you will have practised every possible permutation of question that they might ask.

Read your thesis. Write some summaries. Rehearse a bit.

You don’t need to be perfect. You need to be prepared.

Nathan

The Regulation Checklist

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As you approach submission it’s helpful to make sure you have consulted the thesis examination regulations for your university. Don’t simply rely on word of mouth as regulations are updated from time to time. Make sure you check:

  • What forms need to be completed and when do they need to be done?
  • What is the process for submitting forms and your thesis?
  • When do you have to advise the university of any special circumstances for your viva?
  • If you want to have a video viva how do you make that happen?
  • Will you have an independent chairperson?
  • What are the key dates and milestones you should expect?
  • How far in advance of your viva are you likely to know the date and logistics?
  • What do the regulations say about the on-the-day process of the viva?
  • What are the different outcomes for vivas at your institution?
  • How much time is given for the completion of minor corrections?

If you can find an answer to every one of these questions then you’ll know what you need to know from the regulations to help you have a good viva.

Nathan

Your Reasons

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There’s a reason you did your PhD.

There’s a reason you used the methods you used.

There are reasons why you think what you think.

There is a reason for the typo at the bottom of page 72.

There are reasons for the work you did and didn’t do.

There are many reasons why you’ll succeed at your viva.

When you can reflect and understand enough of the whys and reasons of your PhD journey then you’re probably ready to share them with your examiners – and ready to succeed.

Nathan

Up Or Down?

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I’ve always thought it funny that advent calendars are counting down the days to Christmas but the numbers on the doors increase. Counting down or counting up?

It makes me think of the viva (as lots of things do!) and the different ways that people approach getting ready:

  • Some people count down the days to their viva and wonder if they’ve done enough to be ready.
  • Some people with a plan mark the days as they get closer and think, rightly, that their prep is adding to being ready.
  • And perhaps another useful approach would be to treat these days as adding to the overall experience of being a good researcher.

Every day between now and your viva, however long you have, means one more day of doing the work.

It doesn’t matter how you record it. It’s one more day with more opportunities to get better and become more prepared.

 

PS: One opportunity for getting ready for your viva is my Viva Survivor webinar this Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared this session more than 400 times and it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva. Registration closes tomorrow afternoon so check the link now for full details of what to expect from the webinar!

Nathan

If Your Viva Is Tomorrow…

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…then you still have time to help yourself feel more ready for your viva.

You could do something small like read a favourite section, check a reference one last time or write a few notes to clear your head.

You could select your clothes or listen to some good music or message a friend to confirm that you’re OK.

You could write down what you’ll do in the morning or plan what you’ll do after the viva is finished.

 

If your viva is tomorrow then there are lots of things you could do and probably no need to do any of them. If your viva is tomorrow it’s because there are over one thousand yesterdays when you showed up and did the work.

If your viva is tomorrow then you’re ready. And if your viva isn’t tomorrow then you have time to get ready!

 

PS: If your viva is some time after this week then you might have time to get help at my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025! I’ve shared Viva Survivor more than 420 times and it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva. Attendees also receive access to a catch-up recording and other follow-up materials. Check the link for full details of what to expect from the webinar.

Nathan

Talent & Work & Time

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Talent, work and time are three related things that help a PhD candidate get to their viva – and help them get through their viva.

You need all three and each of them needs the others.

  • Your talent, by which we mean your capability as a researcher, rests on being developed through your work over a long period of time.
  • The work you do requires ability and a good amount of time for it to be done and to mean something.
  • The time for your PhD journey is necessitated by the work you do and the effort and talent you bring to it.

All three of these are wrapped up in you, your research and your PhD journey. All three of these are behind you, supporting you as you work towards being ready for your viva and then help your success at your viva.

You took the time. You did the work. You have the talent.

That’s how you got this far and it’s how you will succeed at your viva.

 

PS: I’ll be exploring viva confidence, which is what today’s post is all about, at my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared Viva Survivor more than 400 times. It is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva covering expectations, viva prep, examiners and more. Check the link for full details of what to expect from the webinar!

Nathan

Socks For Success!

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If I ever enter the clothing business or have Viva Survivors-branded apparel I think I would start with socks that helped confidence.

All of the marketing would be very clear: this is a placebo.

The socks are only a reminder that you do good work. You have done well in the past and can do so again in the future.

I wore a pair of my “good day” socks to my viva and among the tiredness and uncertainty they gave me just a little more support. Over the years since I made a decision to only have socks that I could attach that specialness to – and consequently, every day could be a “good day”!

Every day I have a little reminder: my own little confidence boost.

 

Placebos can be very helpful. As Seth Godin says, “A placebo is a story we tell ourselves that changes the way our brain and our body work.” They don’t have side-effects and they work!

Please don’t mis-understand me: of course you need to do the work.

You need to work towards your PhD. You need to do the prep work for your viva. Then find useful things to help remind you of all of that.

Socks or songs, charms or chocolate – what do you need to give you that little extra push to being your best?

Nathan

Know Your Goal

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As you prepare for your viva have you thought about the goal you’re aiming for?

How do you define what you want from your viva?

  • No corrections?
  • Easy questions – or at least not too hard whatever that might be?
  • A short viva?
  • Not to feel nervous?

If any of these resonate you have to consider what you can do to work towards them.

Is any of your work at this stage going to help you to receive no corrections? How can you work towards having easy questions or a short viva? Perhaps your prep efforts will help you feel less nervous – although it’s better to work towards feeling more confident through your prep than less nervous.

What’s your goal with viva prep and your viva? What are you hoping for or working towards? And are your efforts actually getting you closer to that goal?

 

PS: I’ll be exploring the viva from more perspectives at my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared this session more than 400 times and it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva. Check the link for full details of what to expect from the webinar!

Nathan

A Check-up

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Submission is a good time for a check-up ahead of your viva.

  • Have you read the thesis examination regulations for your institution?
  • Have you talked to your supervisor about who your examiners will be?
  • Have you sketched out a plan for your viva prep and have a sense of what you need to do?
  • Have you got a basic idea of the on-the-day process for your viva?

And importantly: do you feel confident for meeting your examiners?

If you do, that’s great! What can you do in the coming weeks to keep hold of that feeling?

If you don’t, there’s time. What steps can you take in the coming weeks to build your confidence?

 

PS: one thing that might help is getting more viva help regularly! Follow this link to subscribe and get each new Viva Survivors post sent to you by email 🙂

Nathan

A Chorus

Daily Post

Since KPop Demon Hunters exploded into our family life earlier back in June my daughter has been exploring more Korean music – which means that my wife and I have been as well!

Some K-pop is in a mix of English and Korean. Consequently we don’t always know the full meaning of the lyrics when we hear them but still the words get stuck in our heads. A repeated chorus means we remember the words even if we don’t always know them.

 

Repetition helps you remember. It’s a simple thing to keep in mind but could be very helpful ahead of the viva.

Rote learning to memorise key research points will help a little but what matters far more is repeating and reminding yourself of what you did and how you got this far.

Repeating and reminding yourself lifts your confidence: you did all of that so now you can do whatever you need to do at your viva.

Remind yourself of what you did, the challenges you faced and the outcomes you made, to really remind yourself of what you can do.

Keep saying it and keeping reminding yourself until you really believe it.

 

PS: for more encouragement take a look at The Survival Issue, the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select. In twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive plus new writing I explore what it takes to make it through the viva and what you can do to remind yourself of how far you’ve come – and how you did it. Take a look!

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