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Nathan

A Manifesto On Good Viva Prep

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This isn’t finished, but here are some thoughts that I’ve been knitting together for a long time…

Good viva prep is personal. It responds to the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is effective. It takes only the time needed and meets the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is planned in advance. A candidate’s time is valuable and stress and rush can only hinder readiness.

Good viva prep creates greater certainty. It improves understanding of the general experience of the viva and gives greater confidence in being ready for the viva.

Good viva prep is supported by others. This happens in big and small ways, because while getting ready is the candidate’s responsibility it will be better with help.

And good viva prep is only as good as a candidate makes it – so make yours good!

Nathan

Make A Choice

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You can’t press a button and feel ready for your viva, but you can decide that that’s your destination.

You can’t just arrive there, like a science-fiction teleporter, but you can know where you want to be and act to move in that direction.

If you want to be ready for your viva, what could you do?

Without diving into a blog with over 2000 entries or asking your friends or listening to a podcast or picking up an ebook or two, what could you do? What small (or big) steps could you take to being ready?

What will you do?

Make the choice to be ready for your viva. Then start getting ready. There’s work to do, but it doesn’t have to be more complicated than saying, “I’m going to do this.”

Nathan

Actions & Improvements

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There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva.

  • Placing a sticky note at the start of each chapter can help you navigate your thesis more easily.
  • Taking half an hour to reflect and list key references can help you make connections about your research.
  • Preparing for and having a mock viva can help your confidence grow for meeting your examiners.
  • Simply writing one short sentence – you can do this – at the start of your thesis can give you a little boost.
  • Describing your research to a friend over coffee can help you practise sharing ideas.
  • A two-hour meeting with your supervisor can help you review ideas, key questions and difficult problems.

There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva. Some may only help a little, but lots of small actions can add up to a huge difference.

Don’t neglect the little things – and don’t put off the big tasks!

Nathan

The Minimum

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What’s the minimum amount of viva prep I can get away with?

There are no bad questions in webinars, no stupid questions, but there are questions that surprise me!

 

What’s the minimum? A core set of tasks perhaps – reading, checking, practising – or a time period to do the work in.

What’s the minimum? Well, all you “need” is to submit a thesis and attend on the day of the viva. That would be the absolute minimum, right?

What’s the minimum? Maybe we need a better question. Charitably, I can imagine that the person asking the question is stressed, tired, overwhelmed and wondering what they can do to fit in what could feel like a lot of work.

Maybe instead of what’s the minimum? we can focus on how do I get ready if I’m busy?

You plan, you break the tasks down, you give yourself a generous period of time to do the work, you ask for help and so on.

 

And at a minimum, you’ve invested three years of work when you meet your examiners. There’s still more work needed to get ready for the viva, but don’t forget the foundations you’re building on to be ready for that conversation.

Nathan

What Will It Take?

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When you start to prepare for your viva, make a list of what you will need to feel prepared. Ask yourself:

  • What practical materials do you need to help you get ready?
  • How much time do you have to invest?
  • Who do you need to consult with?
  • What key tasks do you have to have finished?
  • What activities will you engage with?
  • What outputs or outcomes will help you to know that you are prepared?

With all of these questions responded to and items listed, you have a checklist. The more you mark off, the closer you are to being sure you’re ready. Even if you can’t get everything – say, if you can’t have a mock viva – if you manage most things then you can feel pretty confident for the big day.

What will it take for you to feel ready? Make a list and do as much as you can.

Nathan

Prep Progress

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Keep a tally of your viva prep. Every day you do something to help your preparations, big or small, make a mark. One mark per day, not one mark per task. Watch as the number of marks build over time.

If you’re pre-submission this could be a task as simple as downloading regulations or as big as finishing your thesis. After submission this could be marking when you write a few notes or have a mock viva.

Just one mark per day. Every time you add a mark you’re showing your commitment.

It’s a simple little message that you’re sending to someone: you, days or weeks from now on the morning of your viva.

Whatever else you feel, whatever else is happening, when you look at your tally you can see clearly that you’ve done the work.

Nathan

Ask Your Peers

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Where peers are your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and whatever other titles you can think of!

Ask about their vivas. Ask about their experiences. Ask what they know about the viva.

Ask them what they did to get ready and if they have any advice (but only if they will offer suggestions and not instructions).

Ask them to help you if it’s appropriate.

Seek help now. Offer help later.

Nathan

Preparing When Busy

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You could have many things to do when you’re getting ready for your viva – work, family life, responsibilities and obligations – and viva preparation might not break into your top ten time commitments.

It won’t help to be stressed. It won’t help to rush. It won’t be a boost to your confidence if you have to cram prep work in.

So plan ahead.

At submission or in the weeks leading up to it, get a sense of your diary. You may not know your exact viva date but you will have an idea of when it will be – as well as an idea of everything else that you have in your life.

Plan. Break down the prep tasks, sketch out the timeline between submission and the viva. Give yourself breaks. Ask for help and ask for space.

Whatever you do, don’t overload your schedule to success.

Nathan

Small, Medium, Large

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Or, a handy guide to the scope and scale of various viva preparation activities!

Small Tasks

  • Downloading regulations for your institution.
  • Putting a sticky note at the start of each chapter of your thesis.
  • Bookmarking the staff pages of your examiners.
  • Messaging a friend to go for coffee and talk.
  • Raiding the stationery cupboard for annotation supplies.

Medium Tasks

  • Preparing a plan for completing your viva prep.
  • Reading half a chapter of your thesis.
  • Working through with highlighter to mark out key references.
  • Summarising five important ideas from your research.
  • Reading regulations or stories of viva success.

Large Tasks

  • Having a mock viva.
  • Reviewing your thesis and reflecting on it.
  • Giving a presentation to rehearse key thesis ideas.
  • Writing a list of ten key papers in your bibliography.
  • Building your confidence for the viva.

There’s lots you could do to get ready. You don’t need to do everything, but everything you do will help.

Nathan

Colourful Prep

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You have an opportunity during viva prep to make your thesis as useful as possible for you. Thesis annotation doesn’t just mean writing notes in the margins. Perhaps using colour could help, for example:

  • You could underline typos with red to mark them out simply.
  • Use sticky notes to show the start of chapters or help locate important pages.
  • Apply highlighters consistently to show certain kinds of information clearly.
  • Use highlighter tabs as a colour-coding system of annotation.

These suggestions are just to start your thinking. There’s a lot more you could do when you consider the specifics of your thesis and the information in there.

How could you use a little colour to help your viva prep?

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