You Are Here

Tag: getting ready

Nathan

Want And Won’t

Daily Post

To organise your viva prep think about what you want to do and what you won’t do.

You want to read your thesis but you won’t obsessively re-read it.

You want to make a note of typos but you won’t go looking for them.

You want to know about your examiners but you won’t read every paper they’ve ever published.

You want to feel ready for your viva but you won’t over-invest your time.

You want to respond well to questions in the viva but you won’t do that by scripting lots of responses in advance.

You want to feel confident but you probably won’t be able to eliminate nerves completely.

 

You want to do well in your viva. You won’t have to do much in preparation for that outcome.

Nathan

The Prep Sequence

Daily Post

To prepare for the viva well it helps to do the right things.

  • You don’t need to cover your thesis in notes and extra scribbles in every margin. Be targeted to make a better version of your thesis.
  • You don’t need to read and re-read anything and everything you’ve ever done. Reading your thesis and checking important papers is enough.
  • You don’t need to practise every question you can think of for your viva. A mock viva with your supervisor or a good chat with some friends could help you feel prepared for the day.

Good, focussed prep tasks add up to being ready – but it helps to do the right things in the right sequence. Don’t have a mock viva until your thesis is annotated, and don’t annotate your thesis before you’ve read it!

Work effectively to get ready instead of simply doing the right things.

Nathan

Finding Reasons

Daily Post

If before your viva you feel an abundance of nervousness, then you have to look a little and find reasons to feel confident. Confidence doesn’t eliminate nerves, but it does help to put those sorts of feelings into perspective. Nervousness recognises that something is important – confidence gives you the self-belief to know that things will be alright.

Look and find reasons. They could be reminding yourself of all the work you’ve done. They could be bound up in realising just how talented you are. Or you could focus on the process of the viva, what you need to do – what you can do – and what that means for you engaging with that process.

There are plenty of reasons to feel nervous about your viva. There are even more reasons to feel confident of success at your viva. Find them.

Nathan

INTRO To Prep

Daily Post

I’ve written before about INTRO, a neat acronym for structuring the start of a presentation:

  • Interest: start by sharing something that will grab the audience’s attention.
  • Need: say why what you’re going to talk about is important.
  • Title: share the title of the talk.
  • Range: talk about how long you’ll speak for, what you might cover and how you will take questions.
  • Objective: close your introduction by sharing the goal of your presentation.

There’s a nice flow to this process, both for planning and delivering a talk. As with so many tools like this, I think there are wider applications that spring forth with a little reflection.

What about planning for viva prep? Take a blank sheet of paper and consider the following points:

  • Interest: start by writing a few lines about the value of your research.
  • Need: write five key points that you need to address in your viva prep.
  • Title: clearly print “All of this will help me become Dr Somebody!” on the sheet of paper!
  • Range: think carefully, then write one or two possibilities for how you could structure your time to get the work done.
  • Objective: for each key point expressed so far, write a clear goal that leads to progress.

From one sheet of paper we have the beginnings of good viva prep. And with INTRO we have a useful way of starting a presentation.

Nathan

Clearing

Daily Post

Clear your mind as you consider viva prep. Get a pen and paper and unload all the bits and pieces that you’re carrying around in your brain.

  • What do you need to do?
  • Who do you need to ask for help?
  • When will you do things?
  • When do you need to get started?
  • And as well as prep, what else do you have to do during that period?

Don’t try to hold everything in your head. Large scale plans might not be your preference, but at least help yourself by gently drawing your attention to what you need to do.

Nathan

The Magic Numbers

Daily Post

Some numbers are magical for the viva, and some can only cause you to worry.

Don’t think about how long your viva might be. It’s not worth obsessing over how many pages of references you have in your bibliography. And don’t check your word count to try to boost your confidence.

Instead of counting little details or wondering about things you have no control over, focus on how long you’ve been doing the work.

Several years – which can be properly understood as thousands of hours. Consider the time and effort you will have spent in getting ready for the viva itself. Remember the time invested in becoming a better researcher – and your many achievements along the way.

What other magic numbers could help you feel good for your viva?

Nathan

Discuss Your Research

Daily Post

Viva prep necessarily involves reading your thesis, making notes and checking things out. For all the help this work brings, it doesn’t match the mode of work you’ll be engaged in at the viva.

In the viva you have to talk. More than that, you have to listen, think and respond to questions. You have to discuss what you’ve done for the last few years, what that means, what you know and what you can do.

So practise. Before the viva, discuss your research in any forum or format that you can find to help you. A mock viva can help. Coffee with friends can help. Giving a seminar and taking questions can help. Use all the opportunities you have or make some more to help you rehearse and help you be ready.

Then go to your viva and have one more discussion about the good work you’ve done.

Nathan

Focus On The Good Stuff

Daily Post

There are tricky things to explain in your viva. There will be times when you struggled. There are probably questions still to answer and problems to solve. But you don’t have to exclusively reflect on all of that during your preparation.

  • What is your strongest contribution in your thesis?
  • What were your most rewarding times working on your research?
  • What do you think is the most valuable aspect of your work?
  • Where have you seen yourself grow the most in your own personal development?

Make time before your viva to focus on the good stuff.

Nathan

Down Time

Daily Post

You can afford a little break at submission. In most instances, even if a candidate has an idea of their viva date, it won’t be confirmed at the time they submit their thesis.

When you submit you have time. Plenty of time to get ready, but also plenty of time to relax. Rest. Take time away from the work you’ve been doing to get your research finished and your thesis ready.

Pause, for your own sake. You have to look after yourself so that you can get ready.

A little down time will help in the final days and weeks leading to your viva.

Nathan

Achievable

Daily Post

Viva preparation doesn’t make you viva-perfect.

Perfection is unattainable.

Viva prep makes you viva-prepared.

Prepared is achievable.

Do the work, just as you always have, and you will be ready.

1 … 36 37 38 39 40 … 67