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Nathan

Subtract

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I often describe the process of viva prep as adding lots of little things:

  • Read a thesis chapter per day rather than the whole thing at once.
  • Have lots of conversations about your research rather than rely on one mock viva for practice.
  • Lots of little annotations add up to having a better thesis resource for the viva.

To get ready for the viva a candidate might also need to take a few things away too:

  • Work to take away imposter syndrome.
  • Take away confusion by finding out more about what to expect.
  • Writing a summary that takes away from all your words to find the core contribution.

You need to add things to get ready for the viva. You can also help by subtracting things too.

Nathan

The Most Challenging Question

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I think there are two possibilities for most challenging question a candidate could be asked in their viva.

First, the opening question of the viva. Not knowing what that opener is until it’s asked could make it very challenging. You’ll probably respond to it well, but the anticipation might make it feel tough.

The other possibility for most challenging is whatever question you really don’t want to be asked. Whatever it is, whatever part of your thesis or research, if there’s something you really don’t want to talk about there’s likely to be significant challenges in your mind when it comes to responding.

To help prepare for the first question: remember that your examiners want your viva to go well. They want to help with that by helping you to start well. The first question is likely to be simple stated and reflective – something to get you talking about your work.

To help prepare for the question you don’t want: ask others to ask you it. Prepare. Make notes. Talk about it. Talk about why you don’t want it and invest time in talking about the thing that you don’t want. Hoping you won’t be asked is not enough. Invest time in getting better at talking about it.

You will be asked a first question; you might not be asked about the topic you really don’t want to talk about. Either way, a little prep for both will help you face the challenges of your viva.

Nathan

The Missing Things

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I used to travel a lot.

In a busy month I might spend upwards of forty or fifty hours in transit, shuttling between cities in the UK by train, going the final mile or two on foot or in a taxi. Thinking about it, I would stay in two or three cities a month. I would make small talk in hotel restaurants, secrete myself away in the corner of a coffeeshop for a hurried panini, and indulge in reading spy novels or occasionally plot out mad schemes for writing projects and new workshop ideas.

I don’t do any of these things any more.

Life changed. There’s now some of these things I can’t do, some I won’t do and some which I want to do but struggle to include in the new shape of my world.

I don’t miss the travel. I don’t miss being away. I don’t miss the hurried pace.

But I miss the space. I miss the difference and the variety. I am incredibly fortunate, all things considered. But there are still things that I would do differently now. It’s taken me almost sixteen months to realise that I have to make any changes that are going to give me the things that I need. To give me a cosy corner to think in, rather than just a desk to work at. To provide an hour here and there to relax and read, rather than just spend more time working. I am fortunate that I can explore how to make these changes and make them a reality.

 

I can only imagine what changes the last year and a half has brought for you. We can only imagine what changes the next year or so might bring our way.

If there are things in your PhD life that are missing and if your viva is coming soon, now might be the time to think about how you can bring those things back.

If you need space – different, bigger, better – then explore how you could make that happen.

If you need people – for feedback, for companionship, for learning – then ask the right people and see how you can make that happen.

If you need something, anything, you have to take the steps to get it.

 

Be clear about the need.

I don’t need to be on a train or in a cafe to read, write or think – I need a little space away from my desk to make my own.

Hence over the summer there is a corner of my office that is going to receive an armchair: a little corner to curl up in, read and dream.

What are you missing before your viva? What do you need? What will you do?

Nathan

Avoiding Crunch

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Sometimes in a PhD you might have to work an extra hour, stay a little longer, try again or keep going even if you don’t want to.

Viva prep shouldn’t be one of those times. Whatever your daily circumstances, bringing viva prep into the mix could create some pressure. It doesn’t take much to get ready for the viva, but if you’re already busy it might feel like one thing too many.

Before you get to crunch time, stop and look at your routine: how could you make space? How could you start as pressure-free as possible? When do you need to start to make it as simple as possible? Who could help you do what you need to do?

Simple questions can’t help magic the work away. They can help you to see that a little planning before you get to prep can make it work out well.

Nathan

Failing In Advance

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My hero Seth Godin describes anxiety as “failing in advance”.

In seminars I would estimate at least a third of candidates I ask describe themselves as nervous, anxious or worried about their chances of viva success – with anxiety being very common – even though the vast majority of vivas result in the candidate passing.

If you had anxiety about your viva, what could you do to help yourself?

  • Find out more about the process: having more certainty could help you to see you have what you need to succeed.
  • Remember that you don’t have to have a viva, you get to have a viva: it’s at the end of a process that you have continued through for a long time.
  • Invest a little time in getting ready: perfection isn’t needed but you can be prepared.

A little work can help lessen or remove anxiety. A little work is also what will help you to feel ready for success at the viva.

Nathan

Sooner Than You Think

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Your viva prep won’t take all that long. A pause on the day won’t be more than a few seconds. Whatever length you anticipate for your viva it will be completed very quickly – especially if you compare it to the rest of your PhD.

All of it will be finished much sooner than you think; prepare for it all carefully and you can enjoy it in the brief moments you’re engaged with the viva process.

Nathan

The Basics

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The viva is an oral exam at the end of the PhD. You submit a written thesis based on your research in advance. Typically two examiners, one internal and one external, will read your thesis carefully. In the viva they facilitate a discussion with you.

The viva is different for every candidate but there are common expectations. Most candidates pass. Most candidates are asked to make amendments to their thesis.

Nervousness is common, but only a symptom of how important the viva is. Candidates can prepare and rightly feel confident of their success given their experience, work, talent and knowledge.

 

I am sometimes asked very simple questions about what the viva is and what happens. I make assumptions sometimes about what someone might know, and get puzzled looks about certain details. The three paragraphs above are my attempt to share “the basics” in 100 words. What do you think?

Nathan

Playing For Confidence

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I’m going to share a secret today. I’ve hinted at it in webinars for the last year, but never completely revealed what I’m about to share with you: my secret playlist of songs that boost my confidence.

The five songs I listen to when I want to feel capable, confident and ready to get things done. The playlist is here on YouTube, and is a short burst of happiness and energy that helps me when I need it. I need it before each webinar to get me into the right frame of mind for the hour or three that will follow.

And it’s a trick.

Five songs I’ve built up a strong association with feeling confident and doing good work. Listening to it shifts me to feeling more capable for what’s ahead. If I feel tired, I wake up. If I’m uncertain because of something, it focuses me. If I felt good, I now feel great.

There’s no reason at all that my boosting playlist will work for you – but you can find your own. Five songs that help you feel good, talented, capable and more. Or a poem that you read that calms you before something important. A passage from a novel, a powerful video or a pair of socks. There will be something that you can find that boosts you.

You still have to do the work, but if you look you will find a confidence boost for your viva.

Nathan

Do I Need A Printed Thesis?

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Over the last year a lot of PhD candidates have asked me variations on this question. Any response has to be layered, because there’s lots to think about. Often, the question is being asked because it has been more difficult than usual to obtain a printed copy.

Do you still need a printed thesis in the age of Zoom vivas?

  • The first thing to do is check what your institution and department say. Have regulations or expectations changed? If yes, you could consider having a digital copy, but if not you just might need to get a printed copy produced regardless.
  • If you need a printed copy but your institution print shop is out of action or has greatly reduced capacity, then Google is your friend: there are lots of online printing services that can produce this and ship to your door quickly.
  • If you don’t, according to the rules, need a printed copy, then you have to consider about what you need for the viva.

You need a copy of your thesis, in a format that is easy for you to read, search through and find sections. You need a copy of your thesis that you can annotate, both before and potentially during your viva. Annotation makes your thesis more useful for the viva and helps you to reflect on your thesis as you get ready. A digital copy of your thesis could do this, but you have to be sure that the format, the software and the device you are using is going to be enough for you in the viva.

My personal opinion is that a print copy of a thesis could, in many cases, be the best solution. But that’s my personal opinion, based on my needs, how easy I would find it to use a paper document and so on. I don’t have any needs that wouldn’t be met by a paper thesis. I don’t have any restrictions in terms of getting access to a printed 200-page document if I needed one for that purpose. I’m me, I’m not you.

If you need a digital copy, then it’s worth exploring how you would make that work well for you in the viva.

If you need a paper copy but that might be tricky to find, then it’s worth searching for a way to get one.

Nathan

In This Together

Daily Post

Who’s in the room? You, your internal, your external and in some cases an independent chairperson.

Everyone present will be prepared. Everyone present will have done the work. Everyone present will have different roles in the viva, but ultimately you all have the same goal: for the viva to go as well as it can.

The value of the outcome is different for each person, but everyone present wants your viva to be a good one.

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