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Nathan

Crunch

Daily Post

I don’t like work crunch. I avoid it if I can help it. Planning helps me:

  • I have a work diary.
  • I have a handwritten page in my notebook that shows me three months ahead.
  • And I make weekly task sheets that show me what I’m doing when.
  • And I have a spreadsheet on my computer.

And we have a big flipchart-sized calendar on our living room wall to help me keep track!

I’m not forgetful per se – this all helps me to remember. It helps me to see ahead and avoid periods when I have to do more than I’m comfortable with.

I don’t like work stress. I don’t like crunch periods.

But sometimes it comes anyway. It could be the forgotten task. The advanced deadline. The family thing I need to do that dominoes into a time I thought I could write.

Then crunch crunch crunch…

 

It’s possible that my general viva advice about sketching out a plan (or two) for viva prep comes from some of my biases about avoiding crunch and stress!

I don’t think that makes it bad advice though.

When you’re planning your viva prep it is a good idea to do what you can to avoid stress while you work. There will be enough viva feelings floating about that it’s good to keep stress out of the mix. It’s good to make a plan so that when other things come along – and they will! – you can do what you can to minimise feeling that you have to crunch through your viva prep.

How can you organise yourself to make sure you are on top of all of your viva prep tasks?

How will you make a plan that keeps you on track but is flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances?

And, maybe the first question to think about, how do you deal with crunch periods when they come?

Nathan

One Task Per Day

Daily Post

Working at this scale could be enough to get ready for your viva.

I don’t mean “one small thing per day”! A task could be reading your thesis for an hour. A task could be making notes on three or four important papers. A mock viva is a task!

But if you did one thing every day after submission then you would be in good shape for your viva. If you show up as you’ve done for the rest of your PhD, on good days and bad, still determined to get things done then you’d be working well.

You need to rest too. I’m not advocating working for hours on end every day. But if you made a choice to show up and do a little work each day think about how ready you could be by your viva date.

Nathan

Number Problems

Daily Post

Your PhD success is not directly measured by big numbers.

It’s not in the thousands of words in your thesis. It doesn’t correlate with the number of papers you’ve read or the number you’ve cited. You don’t need a heroic number of hours invested into mastering a skill. You don’t need to do more than the last person.

The numbers that really help may sound similar but they help in different ways.

  • The number of papers you’ve read helps you know what you need to know.
  • Take confidence from knowing you have written 200 good pages not for simply having 200 pages.
  • You’ve invested thousands of hours to show your determination and express your ability – you’ve not simply done a lot.

Bigger alone isn’t better. Recognise the value of the numbers that matter to your PhD.

Nathan

Intro & Outro

Daily Post

Whenever I deliver a viva help session I spend a lot of time thinking about the beginning and the end.

For the Intro I think about what expectations need to be set. What is critical for me to get across? What’s the logical sequence of information that people need to hear? And what’s my backup plan in case something isn’t right?

I think ahead about the Outro too: what points will I need to close off before I’m done? What parts of the session do I want to call back to? And how do I handle the sudden influx of final questions that participants might have?

To be clear, I think about everything in the middle too! But the Intro and Outro need some special attention of their own.

 

The same is true for your viva. In preparation you need the general flow of review and rehearsal to help for most of the viva – but I’d make sure you give a little extra thought to be ready for the beginning and end.

  • What do you need to know about the viva to feel ready for when it starts?
  • Do your examiners need to know anything about you and your situation to make reasonable adjustments?
  • What can you do to feel alright with any nervousness at the start?
  • How can you prepare for the end of the viva and final questions there?

Intro and Outro. Beginning and End. They’re small parts of your viva but important to think about and prepare for.

 

PS: I’m thinking a lot about the intro and outro for this Wednesday’s 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar! I love sharing this session and have delivered it over 100 times now. Registration for this Wednesday includes attendance, one of my pdf publications and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. I’m sharing two more sessions in November and December if this is too short notice but do take a look if you or someone you know is looking for viva help. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Final Checks For The Viva

Daily Post

Check that you’ve read the regulations.

Check you have done all the prep you meant to.

Check you know the logistics for your viva day.

Check you’ve got your thesis and anything else you need ready.

And check in with yourself: remember you did all of that over the course of years so you can do this too.

 

PS: If you’re still checking what the viva is all about then also check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Registration includes attendance, one of my pdf publications and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. There are also two more sessions before Christmas if November or December might be better!

Nathan

Negative About The Viva

Daily Post

An old friend of mine would often remind me of a saying that he attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

The internet says that there’s no direct evidence that Lincoln ever said or wrote this but it’s still a nice sentiment. I think it helps with the viva too.

I meet a lot of postgraduate researchers who are negative about their viva before they’ve had it. They’re stressed. They’re unsure. In some cases they’re really annoyed! And in every situation I think, “You need to get to know the situation better.”

Stress and uncertainty can both be reduced by knowing more. Read the regulations. Talk to your supervisors and friends. Look for stories about experiences to get a sense of what to expect.

When you know more you can do more to help yourself. If you don’t like the viva then start to get to know it better. Find out more and take steps to help yourself feel better.

 

PS: If you want to feel better about the viva by finding out more about it then my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026 will be a big help. I’ll be exploring what the viva is all about and why that helps you to succeed. Registration includes one of my pdf publications and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Hope to see you there!

Nathan

The Small Help Of Prep

Daily Post

I have a pocket multitool that fits in my wallet. It’s a solid rectangle of metal with a sharp edge, a ruler, various marks and divots, several holes and a screwdriver point.

I probably use it once a week to help with small tasks. I can probably use it to do a lot more than I’ve realised. I’m glad I have this small help.

My multitool makes me think of viva prep.

Viva prep is a small thing but the general process helps a lot. Viva prep is a solid approach but can be adapted to meet the needs of particular situations. And the steps that help someone get ready are also more widely applicable.

The overall help of viva prep is a small, limited thing. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in feeling ready for the viva.

 

PS: If you want to know more about viva prep – what to do, when to start and how much to do – then check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Viva prep is a big component of the session and the follow-up materials – and there’s a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Hope to see you there!

Nathan

A Prompted Conversation

Daily Post

It’s only a few weeks since I shared a post inspired by my old VIVA acronym tool, based on the following prompts:

  • Valuable (to others): what might someone else find useful in your work?
  • Interesting (to you): what do you find fascinating about your work?
  • Vague (or unclear): what do you find difficult to talk about or explain?
  • Ask (your examiners): given the chance, what would you ask your examiners at the viva?

I most commonly suggest that someone uses theses prompts and questions to write a summary of a chapter or their thesis – but it occurred to me recently that these could be useful words to trigger a conversation with your supervisor.

Your supervisor has seen your work develop over a long period of time so you can trust that their perspective will be meaningful. In particular:

  • Start by asking them what they think is valuable about your work. How has that developed over time?
  • Ask them what they think others would find interesting about your research. This could be a helpful way to get a fresh perspective on the impact of what you’ve done.
  • Find a way to engage them on what could be vague or unclear about your work. They’ve seen you explain what you do and can provide insight into what could be tricky to get across to other people.
  • Finally, get them to tell you what they would want to ask at your viva if they had the chance.

It’s important to remember on that last point (and all of these points) that your supervisors are not your examiners. Their perspectives don’t automatically carry over to other people, even other academics.

However, a different perspective is generally helpful to consider – and an experienced academic perspective will definitely be valuable for you as you get ready.

Nathan

7 Reasons, 7th October 2026

Event, Update

In Brief: I’m sharing my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar live next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Booking is open, there’s one of my pdf resources and a catch-up recording included. I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone who comes – and maybe that’s you?!

(I also have two more dates before Christmas if you’re busy on 7th October!)

 

A Few More Details: When I announced my autumn 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions earlier this month I shared a lovely email from a PhD candidate who attended one this summer. Since then I’ve had another lovely email!

“I wanted to say a huge thank you to you for your viva materials and the session I attended. I passed my viva today with minor corrections. Your magazines, daily newsletter and the session were all brilliant resources. I read the magazines last night and they were what I needed to keep me calm and to believe in myself. “ – University of Huddersfield PhD graduate

The magazines mentioned are the Viva Survivor Select pdf zines I’ve been creating (more on those here!). I’m really glad the summer sessions were so helpful. I really love sharing 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva and it’s now starting to edge out my Viva Survivor session in terms of how often it’s requested.

I think of 7 Reasons as a 1-hour confidence boost for the viva. In the space of an hour I cover key reasons why people succeed at the viva. There’s space for everyone to ask questions, a copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva pdf and a catch-up recording of the session too. I have a total of three dates coming up before Christmas:

These are the only independent sign-up sessions I’m running between now and Christmas.

I am also invited by universities to work directly with PGRs – so check your researcher-development programme first – but if I’ve not been invited to help your PGR community then please take a look at the details for these upcoming events. Registration is open now for all three and if you’re looking for viva help then please take a look.

Thanks for reading – if you think it will help a friend then please pass on the news.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Review The Recent

Daily Post

As you prepare for your viva make sure you review your most recent work. Refresh your memory on how it adds to the contribution of your postgraduate research. You’ll need to talk about this at your viva.

As you get ready take a little time to review recent publications. As you’ve been writing up there’s a chance there are interesting or relevant papers you’ve missed. Taking a few hours to check will help your feeling of capability as a researcher.

You have to read your finished thesis to be well prepared. Reviewing the details and the most recent expression of them will help your confidence for the viva.

There’s a lot of history you have to review for your viva: old notes, past papers and so on. Take a look at the most recent material as well to be ready for your viva.

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