Daily viva help for PhDs
If you feel ready for your viva then you probably are!
So ask yourself two questions, just to be sure:
If you can honestly answer no to both of these then the third question is simple: what will you now do to hold on to this feeling of being ready?
What if it gets silent in my viva?
A small question I’m asked from time to time. A candidate hears that the viva is a discussion; discussions involve talking and so if the talking stops then it’s not going well, right? What happens as a consequence if that happens?!
The viva is important. Important things make people nervous. Sometimes nervous people worry about things more than is needed.
Silence in the viva isn’t good or bad. It just is. Silence is a pause. Silence is a sip of water. Silence is thinking or checking. Silence is a part of a discussion or conversation!
Silence might not be comfortable. If you are nervous – and you might be – then the best thing to do is work instead of worry. Have a mock viva. Have conversations with friends where they ask you about your work. Practice and rehearse so that silence isn’t something you avoid but something you respond to.
Silence might be a part of your viva, naturally and in some ways necessarily. Rehearse so that you can manage to keep going in those quiet moments.
If viva prep feels like a grind and a bore then you need to change how you’re approaching it.
It’s not that it should be FUN or that you should perform a series of fist pumps every time you read your thesis, but it will help you to feel ready and confident for your viva if you have a positive association with your prep, your research and your thesis.
If prep feels like a grind and a bore then perhaps you could try some of the following:
Any positive connections you can find will help. What can you do to help you get your viva prep done in a positive way?
…but actions help more.
It’s good to hope you pass your viva and it goes well. It’s not wrong to hope that your examiners have nice questions for you. It’s pretty understandable to hope you get no or few corrections.
After that you have to do the work though, just as you have for the rest of your PhD.
Prepare well. Read up on expectations and who your examiners are. Be prepared for the real possibility of making corrections to your thesis after the viva.
Hope that your viva is a good one – then work towards being at your best for the viva.
For viva rehearsal activities you might need to meet others in offices, seminar rooms or cafés. However, for most viva prep you’ll likely be working by yourself. What kind of space will help your viva preparation?
Think about your preferences. Think about the practicalities of the situation. When will you do the work? How quiet do you need it to be? What resources do you need? Consider your options and choose the one that will work best for you. Can you do something to meet your needs even more?
Where you prepare can make a difference to how you prepare. Make a good space for where you’ll do your viva prep.
The viva is not the only time in your life when you will have a big, important conversation about your PhD. It might be the final time though and it will be your only viva. As you prepare, take some time to think about how you can get as much as you need to from the experience.
You might not be able to direct your viva but there are aspects you might be able to influence. If you have questions, make a list and take them with you so you remember to ask them.
Creating summaries as part of viva prep helps you to gather useful thoughts. A summary is a chance to focus and gives you space to think in advance of the viva.
Write an overview of your thesis and you bring together a lot of helpful information.
Make a list of what you’re most proud of and you highlight ideas to share with your examiners.
Prepare a summary of your research methodology and you bring together valuable points.
Do any or all of these, or create any kind of summary, and you’re not creating a script to read from in your viva. You’re doing some of your thinking in advance though: you’re helping yourself to pre-consider topics you might need to engage with when you meet your examiners.
There are two steps to removing fear or worry about unknown aspects of the viva.
The first step is to try to accept that your viva will be an unknown in some ways until you experience it. You won’t know how long it is, you won’t know what questions will be asked and you don’t know how you’ll feel until you’re there.
The second step is to build up a reasonable sense of the general expectations before you get to the viva. Read your university’s regulations, learn about other viva experiences and ask your colleagues about their recent experiences. These different aspects can fill in many of the blanks you might have.
You can have a good sense of what happens at vivas. This is a massive help both practically and emotionally, even if you can’t know the exact details of your viva until it’s your time.
These words sum up part of my general philosophy for PhD candidates at and before their viva.
There is always something you can do.
Before the viva if you feel nervous, anxious or worried, there is always something you can do to improve how you feel. If you are concerned about a particular aspect of your research and how to communicate it then will be something you can do to help yourself.
If you don’t know something about the viva process then there is something you can do, someone to ask or regulations to read. You can always do something to help your preparation, even a little more, right up to the moment you go to your viva.
In your viva, whatever happens, there is always something you can do to engage with the discussion. There is always something you can do to help how you’re feeling in that moment. There is always something you can do to respond well.
You can pause. You can think. You can take a sip of water. You can ask for a break. You can ask for clarification. You can write a note. You can work something out. You can check your thesis.
And you can be brilliant. That’s what you have to be to get to your viva.
There’s always something you can do – and actually there is a lot you can do to help yourself, whatever the situation.
What do you need to know about the circumstances of your viva for you to feel happy?
Who do you need to turn to for support with your viva prep?
How do you describe your significant original contribution?
How much help do you need from your supervisor in the weeks leading up to your viva?
What are you most proud of in your research?
What are some of the most important references that support your thesis?
How do you explain why you wanted to do a PhD?
Reflecting on each of these questions can help as you get ready for your viva.