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Tag: getting ready

Nathan

Contribution To Confidence

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Contribution and confidence would seem to go hand-in-hand. If you make a contribution to your field of research it would seem natural that you would feel some confidence in yourself and for your viva.

The problem is everything else that gets in the way: long hours, setbacks, the years-long time period for a PhD, redrafting writing, redoing research… Over time, the nature of the PhD can get in the way of appreciating just how far you’ve come.

One way to help yourself might be to consider where you put your focus when you think about your PhD journey.

If you focus on the struggle, the hours and the problem you’ll probably not feel so confident. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the volume of hard stuff that can be part of a PhD.

If you focus on your contribution, your outputs and how much you’ve grown then you’ll probably find the confidence you need for your viva. Your efforts have produced results – that’s the only way they could exist.

Your research contribution can lead to confidence, provided that you focus on the right things when you get ready for your viva.

 

PS: confidence is a big theme of my upcoming Viva Survivor session! Join me on Thursday 5th December live on Zoom to explore finding confidence, viva expectations, viva prep and more. Full details are over on Eventbrite and I’d love to see you at the webinar.

Nathan

Wind At My Back

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I live by the coast. On certain days with a fair breeze it feels like I don’t have to do anything to walk in the direction I’m going. With the wind at my back I feel lighter, freer and able to go further and faster.

When I think about viva prep and viva confidence I wonder what someone could do to find the same feeling. Everyone is different, but the questions that naturally come to my mind include:

  • When will you do the work?
  • What do you need to do the work well?
  • How can you remind yourself of all you’ve done?
  • How can you make the process fun?
  • How can you remind yourself that you’re enough?

Create a good environment to get ready for your viva. I can’t promise the work will be easier – but I do think it will be more valuable, more beneficial and ultimately more rewarding for your viva.

Nathan

The Exceptions

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Viva expectations have exceptions. Aspects tend towards certain patterns, like viva lengths and opening questions. A thesis topic, the candidate, the day or the examiners could all have an impact on what actually happens.

Good ideas of viva preparation have exceptions. A mock viva is almost-universally seen as a great piece of preparation work but you might know for you, your supervisor or your situation it won’t be a help.

Advice about the viva follows certain well-intentioned tracks but there can be exceptions. Do this, unless… This is great, but…

Exceptions can be frustrating but you have to grapple with them. If there is a common idea for a typical situation (expectation, prep, advice and so on) then when you meet an exception you have to consider:

  • Is the common idea a specific detail of a broader idea?
  • Is it completely unhelpful to the exception or can it be adapted?
  • And whatever the case, what can we do?

That last question is key. Whatever the general situation, whatever the exception, what can we do?

Because, whatever the exception, we – the candidate, the helper, the person on the internet writing a blog post – have to do something. That’s the only way forward.

Maybe there are no unique solutions but there are also no impossible situations – no exceptions!

Nathan

Substance, Not Surface

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At the viva you are invited into a discussion.

Of course you’ll respond to little questions for clarification and confirmation, but the overall drive of the viva is towards conversation.

It’s not a quiz or game show where the fastest answer wins. Your examiners want your considered thoughts and ideas. They want substance, not surface.

Do the work. Prepare well. Listen to the question. Take your time and think. Be as clear as you can be.

Which is all to say: do your best. That’s all your examiners are looking for and all anyone could expect.

Deep questions require more than surface-level responses.

Nathan

Making Prep Better

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The time between when you submit your thesis and have your viva is your viva prep period.

Is it possible to wing it? To go with the flow and do things as and when you feel like it? Probably! It might not be very comfortable though.

Everyone is different – in themselves, their research and their situation – so I’m sure some people could do what comes to them as they go through the weeks leading up to their viva.

If that doesn’t feel like a comfortable situation for you though, or even if it does and you want to make sure your prep is as good as it could be, consider doing some of the following:

  • Sketch a plan. Think about the time you have available and how you might do the work to help you get ready.
  • Prioritise. Make sure you make time to do the things that matter most.
  • Ask for help. Ask early and as you need it. You’re alone at your viva but before then there are many people who can support you.
  • Recognise when you have done something. Mark a checklist or record it on your calendar. Make it obvious to yourself that you have done the work.

Finally, take time to remind yourself of the work you’re doing now and all the work you’ve done before. Viva prep is for the particular challenge of your viva. In the years before you have done a lot of work that helps you.

Nathan

At First Glance

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Rescued baby hedgehog turns out to be hat bobble (BBC News)

This news story has been stuck in my head for over six months: a well-meaning member of the public took a hair bobble to a wildlife rescue centre because they mistakenly thought it was an abandoned baby hedgehog.

Awwwww!

 

And because of the way my brain works it made me think of the viva and all the things that are mistaken about that.

  • Candidates mistake corrections for failure, when really they are just part of the process.
  • People mistake examiners for the enemy, when in fact they’re there to do their job and do it well.
  • Questions are mistaken for criticisms, opinions are mistaken for facts and experiences are mistaken for the whole story.

At first glance there’s a lot about the viva that can seem negative – but that doesn’t come from the viva itself. Perception plays a big part and perception can be distorted by stress, nerves, the situation and skewed expectations.

Before you worry and before you act, make sure that you’re considering something real – and not just a metaphorical hair bobble!

Nathan

Write Two Lists

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On the first list capture the following sorts of things:

  • Your disappointments from your research.
  • The things that didn’t work.
  • The questions you don’t know how to answer.
  • Your concerns for finishing your PhD.
  • Your worries about the viva process.

On the second list write the following sorts of things:

  • The conclusions of your thesis.
  • The results you got through your research.
  • The ways you became a better researcher.
  • The topics you’re looking forward to talking about at your viva.
  • Your great plans for the future.

Now decide: which of these lists are you going to look at every day, and which are you going to skim over once a week?

Put the everyday list in a prominent space and the once a week list in a drawer.

 

You get to decide where you put your focus; it might be helpful, for example, to think a little about viva worries and do something about them – but maybe it’s better to think more often about the good things in your thesis than the what ifs of your viva?

 

(writing two lists is a viva-centric riff on a Seth Godin idea – his blog is always worth reading!)

Nathan

When To Get Ready

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Get ready for the specific challenge of your viva after taking a short break from your research and thesis submission.

Get ready by making sure you sketch out a plan for your viva prep. Give yourself enough time to read and review your thesis. Take time to reflect on what it all means and rehearse for meeting your examiners.

Get ready during this period by building up your confidence. Recognise that you are a capable researcher. You must be: that’s the only way you could have developed as much as you have.

And recognise that while you are preparing for the specific challenge of your viva, in reality you’ve been getting ready for your viva for a very long time.

 

PS: you don’t need to get ready for the viva until after submission. For help with all of the work and days leading up to submitting your thesis, check out Final Year Focus – my 1-hour live webinar running TOMORROW! Figuring out priorities, getting clear on plans, writing up, thinking about life after the PhD and more. Full registration details are on Eventbrite and there will be a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Signs Of PhD Success

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You don’t pass your viva until you actually pass your viva – but there are lots of signs that can indicate PhD success before then.

  • You have a thesis.
  • You have submitted (or had accepted) one or more papers.
  • You have presented a talk or paper at a conference.
  • You have been working towards a PhD for at least several years.
  • You have submitted your thesis.
  • You have a viva date.
  • You have positive feedback from your supervisor and/or others about your research.
  • You can see future applications for your research, even if you’re not going to be the one to do that work.
  • You have future plans.
  • You have prepared for your viva and feel fairly confident.

You don’t pass your viva until you pass your viva. Before then, pay attention to the many signs showing PhD success in your future.

It’s not simply luck that you’ve got this far.

 

PS: if you’re working towards submission now and any of the above seem out of reach, take a look at Final Year Focus, my 1-hour live webinar running this Thursday, 24th October, at 11am. If it seems good but you can’t make it then you can still sign up to watch the catch-up recording! Full details and registration on Eventbrite. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Easy-To-Remember

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Here’s a short, easy-to-remember, viva prep exercise for when you read a chapter of your thesis.

Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four equal parts. Reflect on each of the following four points and make notes on the paper:

  • When you think about the chapter what is valuable to others?
  • What was interesting to you? What sparked your fascination when you were doing it?
  • Were any points in the chapter vague or unclear as you read them now? Reflect on what could help you to explain them to others.
  • Finally, is there anything you would like to ask your examiners? The viva is a conversation so what would you ask?

I first thought of this idea over ten years ago and have been developing the concept ever since. I’ve written about it a few times before on the Viva Survivors blog (here are some other times). I like it because it’s an easy-to-remember exercise with an easy-to-remember acronym.

  • Valuable to others;
  • Interesting to you;
  • Vague or unclear;
  • Ask your examiners.

See, easy-to-remember! 🙂

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