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Tag: getting ready

Nathan

What If It Was All OK?

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If you knew that your viva was going to be fine, what would you do differently now?

I imagine that you would still prepare. You’d still have questions for your supervisor and friends. You’d still want to check the regulations and have a sense of what to expect.

The vast majority of vivas result in success. The majority of PhD candidates are asked to complete minor corrections as a result. The vast majority of vivas are fine, they’re OK, even if they’re a challenge there’s work to do afterwards.

There’s more to being ready than knowing it will be OK, but if you assumed it was going to be fine could you enjoy it more? Could you be excited?

When you know what your starting assumptions are for your viva – and if you assume it will go well – you’ll probably work towards it differently.

Nathan

Your Theme Tune

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One of my favourite conversations I’ve had with a PhD graduate was someone who told me that they made a playlist for their viva day. The day before they arranged five tracks to help them feel good – the ultimate goal being to give them a confidence boost.

Following that conversation I experimented with using music to prime myself. I now have a pre-webinar playlist that helps lift me up. I’ve been using it for years. I have positive associations with the playlist now; I know that I can listen to it in the hour before a webinar and it will help me be more myself, more confident, more capable.

 

What music would you choose to listen to before your viva?

If five pieces or tracks is too many to think of, how about one? What would your theme tune be for your viva? What would be your intro music? What music could hype you up?

I’m assuming that you’ve done all the necessary work for your PhD and done your viva prep of course! It takes more than a piece of music to get ready, but if listening to music could help you feel better wouldn’t you do it?

What other small things could you do?

 

PS: here’s the music I would most likely pick for myself (YouTube link)

PPS: and here are some past posts from Viva Survivors that are music-related!

Nathan

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

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Looking back is part of getting ready. You need to review and reflect on what you’ve done, why you did it and how you got here.

Looking ahead is part of getting ready. You need to know what to expect, what examiners look for and consequently think about how you will meet the needs of the viva.

You might need to focus on one more than the other for your personal viva preparations, but you need both in order to be ready for your viva.

Look back. Look ahead. Recognise how you got this far and what you still need to be ready.

Nathan

The Deadline

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The viva prep deadline is technically ten minutes before the viva – that’s when you need to be in the room, ready to go!

Of course, you don’t need to do things so close to the deadline. You also don’t need to use all the time available between submission and ten minutes before your viva.

When you submit your thesis, sketch out a plan. What do you need to do? When works well for you? How will you break up the work to remove stress and give yourself space to think and rest?

What’s the better deadline to be ready that you can set for yourself?

Nathan

Talent, Work and Time

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Success at the viva takes talent, work and time.

Talent means that you’re capable. As you get closer to submission and the viva take time to reflect on what you know, what you can do and how you think. Be sure of how you developed.

Work means you applied yourself. Reflect on what you did. Explore the practical elements of your research, the choices you made and the outcomes of your research.

Time means that it didn’t happen overnight. Remember the time to understand the real effort you’ve committed.

A PhD journey is busy. It’s long. It’s easy to forget or be distracted.

As you get closer to your viva date reflect on the talent you’ve built, the work you did and the time it took. Remind yourself that you’re the reason you have come so far.

Nathan

A Spare Day

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I’m fortunate enough to feel that today is a bit of a freebie.

It’s the end of the summer break. I have work to do but nothing pressing. Today feels like it could be all mine.

…well, if I wasn’t a parent and a small business owner. Alas, I do have things I have to do!

 

When you’re working towards your viva there is a lot you HAVE to do.

If you don’t, you’re leaving yourself open to the possibility of not being ready for your viva, stress and a lack of confidence.

Even so, find a spare day or two when you can rest and relax.

Maybe today! Maybe some time soon.

Viva prep requires reading, review and rehearsal. Don’t forget to rest.

Nathan

Ready At The Viva

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Everyone at the viva is ready.

Your examiners have prepared. They were selected for good reasons and have taken the time to study your thesis and do the work required. Your examiners are ready.

Your independent chairperson, if you have one, is there to support the viva. They are experienced, know the regulations and know how best to support the exam. Your independent chair is ready.

Your supervisor, if they’re observing, is ready to watch. They can’t respond to questions and won’t ask any, but can be a friendly face or make notes for later. Your supervisor is ready, if they’re there.

Above all you are ready. Years of work and weeks of prep, all for a few hours when you can show what you’ve done. You are ready.

Nathan

Unique Prep

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There’s a lot of viva help out there, particularly when it comes to ideas around viva prep.

Your PhD is unique. It’s reasonable to think your prep will be too. Take onboard suggestions and examples that you find when you look for help, then consider how you might need to adapt the idea to make it work for you.

The work to annotate a thesis by publication is similar but different to annotating a thesis which is a single project. Preparing to respond to questions about a creative work has similarities to preparing for questions about experiment-based research, but it will be different.

 

Your PhD, i.e., your research, your thesis, your process, your preferences, your situation, your knowledge, your skillset, your worries, your feelings, your plans and your hopes – all of it is unique!

It’s reasonable to think your prep will be too. Adapt ideas and good advice to fit your needs and circumstances.

 

PS: the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select, The Sparks Issue was released this week! It has twenty-five curated posts from the Viva Survivors blog archive and two original helpful resources as well. Your PhD and viva are both unique but you’ll find help in The Sparks Issue that you can apply to your situation, whatever it is and whatever you need. Please take a look. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Nathan

Symbols & Signs

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There are many elements of the PhD journey and the viva process that are symbols or signs. Some you need and some you don’t. Some you can choose and some you can’t.

  • A completed thesis is a symbol of the work of your PhD.
  • An annotated thesis is a sign that you have taken time to prepare and get ready for your viva.
  • A piece of paper with questions held in your external examiner’s hand is a sign of the respect that they have shown your work.
  • The outfit you choose for your viva can be a symbol to help how you want to feel.

For the symbols and signs you can’t choose, remember what they really mean. For the ones you can – and particularly for the ones that have an impact on you – choose carefully.

Nathan

Disciplinary Expectations

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Regulations and general viva expectations are helpful to steer viva prep. They can also impact how you think and feel about your viva.

Take a little extra time to check and be sure whether there are any particular expectations within your discipline:

  • Are you more likely to have a different examiner setup?
  • Might you be more or less likely to have an independent chairperson?
  • Is it typical for people from your department or discipline to give a presentation at the start of the viva?
  • Are vivas in your field more likely to be quite long – or quite short?
  • And are there any general questions that seem common?

Ask around. Explore the expectations, if there are any, that seem particularly prevalent in your area. A little extra knowledge can only help you as you prepare for your viva.

 

PS: Need to know more of what to expect at your viva? Follow my Eventbrite page to get notified of upcoming independent viva help webinars!

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