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Tag: getting ready

Nathan

What More Can You Do?

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If you think you’re ready for your viva then there’s probably nothing to do but find space to rest and relax. If you’re not sure you’re ready then there’s lots you could try:

  • You could find out more about what to expect.
  • You could read your thesis again to check that it matches your memory.
  • You could learn a little about your examiners.
  • You could reflect and check how you feel about you as a researcher.
  • You could talk to your supervisor and get their opinion on lots of things.

If you’re not sure you’re ready then there’s lots you could try – but that doesn’t mean that you have to do lots to get ready. Viva prep is only a small piece of the viva puzzle.

Have you done the work you needed to for your research? Have you written and submitted your thesis? Then you’re almost ready. You’ve done a lot to get this close to PhD success.

Viva prep is a little more that will help.

Nathan

In The Margins

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You have lots of useful, empty space on the borders of every page in your thesis. In the margins you could:

  • Mark out important sections.
  • Highlight particular types of information.
  • Leave notes to expand on key points.
  • Improve a reference.
  • Clarify something that’s unclear.
  • Correct an error.

You can help yourself: you’re the only person who will see these marginalia, so make them really helpful.

In your preparation, take time to consider what will help your thesis be as useful as possible for the viva. Decide on a consistent way to make margin notes as easy to read and understand as possible.

Then do the work. It won’t take long.

Afterwards you’ll have a better thesis for the purposes of the viva. All of the valuable work you’ve done for years plus, in the margins, some helpful notes to help you succeed when you talk with your examiners.

Nathan

Reframe

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As you prepare for your viva, consider your thesis as the record of your research.

You followed a method or were guided by a particular reference. Why? What did that give you? What if you had followed another method? What if you used a difference reference?

Reframing could help you to see other possibilities – not better, but maybe not worse. Something different.

Reframing could help you add more evidence for your thinking: now you are even more certain you made the right choice.

This kind of reframing can open your mind to questions from your examiners. They might ask you to consider other perspectives. They will probably ask questions to gain a better  understanding of your perspective. The more practice you have before the viva, the more comfortable this could be when you meet your examiners.

Nathan

Whatever Works

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Good day socks.

A playlist that helps you feel happy.

A lucky teddy.

Three cups of coffee.

Dancing around.

A Post-it Note of encouragement.

An outfit that just feels right.

There’s practical must-do tasks that help candidates get ready for the viva – reading, checking, making notes, practising – and then there are the rituals, warm-ups, placebos and boosts that you just need. There’s no right or wrong, it’s not silly, it’s not weird: it’s what you need to feel right.

Whatever works, works. Use whatever you need to help you feel ready.

Nathan

When Are You Ready?

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You can’t be ready for your viva until you’ve at least submitted your thesis.

You need to have spent some time doing various viva prep tasks.

To be ready you have to feel some amount of confidence for the viva.

To be ready you have to have some idea of what to expect.

Ready isn’t an irreversible state: you have to maintain it.

Once you do feel ready, consider: what could you do to hold that feeling? What can you do to keep feeling confident?

Nathan

Opportunities To Practise

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A key step of viva preparation is investing a little time to practise. A mock viva could be a great rehearsal for the real thing, but it’s not the only option.

  • Simply talk. Sit down over coffee, over video if you need to, and just tell someone about your work. Invite their questions. Ask them to prompt you if you’re not being clear.
  • Give a talk. Invite colleagues to listen. Use a few slides but only to help frame your thesis and research. Don’t talk for long; use the time to get into conversations.
  • Have a mini-viva. There are thousands of possible conversations that this resource could prompt. One or two might give you useful practise.

There are reasons why mock vivas are generally valued as a part of viva prep. They’re supposed to help you explore what it would be like to be in the viva. More fundamentally though, you need practise at responding to questions; taking the time to think and feeling comfortable doing so.

So what opportunities will you make for yourself?

Nathan

The Formalities

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Find out when and how you’ll have your viva. Check the regulations. Google your examiners and bookmark their staff pages. Note down key expectations your supervisors share. Be sure of the viva process at your institution.

The formalities matter. They’re also a really small part of the viva and of getting ready for it. Sort them out as soon as possible so you can focus on preparing yourself, your thesis and your confidence for the viva.

Nathan

Your Way

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In the end, getting ready for the viva comes down to you figuring out your way to make it work.

There’s a lot of viva advice, both general and practical. This site alone contains over 24 hours of podcast interviews and 1500+ blog posts. You can’t do it all. As helpful as I like to be you can’t apply it all to your situation.

You have to do it your way.

Your friends, colleagues and supervisors will be able to help. They’ll have their experience. They might have key information which could help you get ready. But they’re not you: your life, your research and your situation might be so different that to do what they advise might be stressful or even impossible.

You have to do it your way.

So listen. Find sources that you can trust. Ask questions, then check the answers against your situation. Find a way to make it work for you. There’s lots of good advice out there. There are lots of things that will help you be ready and feel ready. But there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to viva prep.

You have to do it your way.

Nathan

Again & Again

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I’ve been playing the video game Hades every day for about a month and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.

The son of the Greek god Hades fights to escape the Underworld. It’s fantastic, stylish, polished and deep. It is an absolute delight to play and experience – even though there’s a steep learning curve, lots of challenges and skillsets to juggle and bring together. Again and again you die and return to the start…

…and in a weird way it makes me think of my PhD journey!

 

Again and again I had to rise to the challenge. Sometimes I knew what I had to do. Sometimes I found what I was looking for. Sometimes I could just do what I needed to.

But again and again I faced setbacks. Things didn’t work. References couldn’t be found. Answers were not forthcoming.

Again and again I started again. I would have to go back to the beginning of a problem and try to look at it from a new perspective. I would need to find a new way forward.

Again and again I grew. I became more skilled, more knowledgeable, more sure that I could take on new challenges.

And again and again I was surprised, delighted and frustrated as I continued on my journey.

 

All of your agains – the repeated steps, the start-overs, the learning, the experience, the knowledge-building – all of the frustration and growth and joy – all of this is what you take with you to the viva.

No more agains. The final step, more or less, and the talent, work and time you’ve invested helps you through.

Done, finally… Until you take on your next challenge.

Nathan

Headers & Footers

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Annotation can help make your thesis more useful for the viva – and there’s a lot of empty space in the borders of your thesis pages.

The top and bottom of a page could be helpful to highlight key points, to summarise the content or even to offer a word of encouragement. If something is great, use the header to make it stand out. If there’s something tricky consider using the space at the bottom to leave a helpful note or two.

Headers and footers don’t need to be filled but they’re a great opportunity for you to prepare and to help in the viva. How will you use yours?

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