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Tag: plan your prep

Nathan

Analyse & Annotate

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A helpful part of viva preparation is making your thesis ready for the viva. Then, throughout your discussions with your examiners you have a silent partner, able to support how you think and what you say.

You can write in the margins, stick Post-it Notes in, highlight and underline and do anything to annotate the book and make it better.

How can you make your thesis easier to navigate?

How can you make things easier to find?

How can you make things easier to see at a glance?

Those are the key questions that help you make a well-annotated thesis. You have to analyse what you have and annotate to make it better for you in the viva. Easier navigation could be achieved with Post-it Notes or highlighter tabs. A brief note at the start of each chapter could make things easier to find. Consistent highlighting practice might help you find key words and ideas at a glance.

Analyse and annotate. Find a system that works for you. Make a list, do the work and then benefit.

Nathan

Describing Viva Prep

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Viva preparation is not a production line. It doesn’t follow anything as neat as moving from one task to the next, finishing one component and moving neatly on to the next. Prep does not follow a flow diagram: it’s not reading followed by notes, checking papers and then a mock viva at the end.

Viva prep is a series of workouts. You practise various activities to feel ready. You read your thesis to help your memory; you read more later to build on that feeling. You make notes in your thesis, then review them to check they are sticking – and to find out how you think now.

Viva preparation is personal. It involves exploring. There are things you need to do, but many ways to do them. There are lots of steps, but some are steps to the side and some follow path you’ve already been down before.

It all helps. In some ways, viva prep is work to help you realise that you’re ready: you really did the work and you can go succeed in your viva.

Nathan

Prep Principles & Personal Prep

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Viva prep principles are fairly simple to share. How you put them into practice is not hard, but it is personal.

Read your thesis to refresh your memory. Annotate your copy so that information is easier to find or clearer to see on the page. Create summaries to help you clarify your thinking. Rehearse to help your comfort and confidence for the discussion in the viva.

Read your thesis – but when do you start? How much do you do at a time? It depends on how big your thesis is, how busy you are and when works best for you.

Annotation sounds good – but how much? What kind of things? What’s best? It all depends on how your thesis is written, what information will help you and how you like things to be organised.

And so on. The principles of viva prep are simple. How you need to do the work is personal. Reflecting on your thesis and circumstances will help you navigate getting the work done.

Nathan

Read Your Thesis

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When you sit down to read your thesis for the first time after submission try to do the following:

  • Read everything. Don’t skim past things you think you know. Read every word.
  • Read for pleasure. Don’t second-guess what you’ve submitted; try to enjoy what you have written.
  • Take your time. Start well in advance of your viva to relieve pressure. This is important work so don’t rush.
  • Note down typos. They don’t mean much unless they cause confusion; they can always be amended later.

Reading your thesis is probably the first step in your plan of viva preparation. Make the most of the opportunity to start well.

Nathan

Solve An Easier Problem

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If you look at your viva prep as just so much to do, a great big problem, and if that is weighing heavily on you – know that it doesn’t need to be this way. Big problems are hard to solve. You can make this easier on yourself.

Start small. Make a little plan. Do something. Read a page of your thesis before you worry about how much or how often you need to read the whole thing. Have one conversation with a friend about your work before you create any anxiety about having a mock viva – or responding to questions on the day.

Of course there are lots of things to think about with the viva and viva prep. For some aspects there are no simple solutions about what to do, how much and when. But you don’t have to start with those big things immediately. You can start small. Solve an easier problem.

Nathan

The Busy Factor

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If you’re busy and you need to get ready for your viva:

  • Plan your prep. Take a few minutes to sketch out what needs doing and when you could do it.
  • Ask for help. Talk to your supervisors, friends and colleagues about what you need and how they could support you.
  • Spread the work out. Don’t overburden your plans. Give yourself space to do a little work regularly.
  • Be kind to yourself. Do the work – but remember that you have already done a lot! The years of work for your PhD all count towards your preparation.

If, for some reason, you’re not busy then all of the above still helps!

Nathan

Rewarding Progress

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If you need any extra motivation to get viva prep done, consider setting rewards for when you finish tasks. Big or small, rewards help spur people to action. What sort of rewards might help you? What sort of milestones in your prep could you aim for?

  • What could you do to reward a read-through of your thesis?
  • How will you celebrate when you have finished exploring your examiners’ recent publications?
  • And how could you bring a smile to your face after completing a mock viva?

You could ask others to join you for some friendly social pressure, or set some future rewards by yourself. The fact that you set rewards for yourself will do nothing to dampen your enthusiasm, so long as the reward is suitably motivating!

Nathan

Pressures & Priorities

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When and how do you get ready for the viva? How do you manage what needs to be done, especially considering that you’ve already got lots that you need to do?

Consider the pressures on your time and availability to get the work done. You don’t need thirty hours per week for a month before the viva; a little time each day can help. Focussed work helps you get ready.

If you have a job or responsibilities, if you’re looking for work or face other pressures then you can find time to get your prep done. Step back and look at the big picture. Find gaps to allow you to get the work done.

Consider that viva prep – even while getting ready for your viva – is probably not the number one priority in your life. Acknowledge that it needs doing, accept that there are other things that have to be your main focus, then plan out where and when you will do your work to get ready for the viva.

Sketch a plan over the period you think best, making sure there is enough time to do all of the things that will help you: reading your thesis, making notes, checking papers and rehearsing for the viva.

The pressures and priorities that are your personal situation can only be navigated by you. Step back: look at how things are and what you need to make space for. Then find a solution that works for you.

Nathan

Easy Wins

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Viva prep can sometimes seem like a huge project. Existing pressure, personal responsibilities and fatigue can all add to overwhelm. There are no shortcuts to getting ready, but you can start the process by completing tasks that take very little time.

  • Search for and bookmark your examiners’ staff pages to consult later.
  • Download a copy of the viva regulations for your university.
  • Stick Post-it Notes at the start of each chapter of your thesis to make it easier to navigate.
  • Send a short email to a friend asking them to give you a mini-viva soon.
  • Gather together stationery you could use to annotate your thesis.
  • Decide on whether or not you want a mock viva with your supervisor – and let them know.

Small tasks can provide real benefit to viva prep or help to set up greater success. If you’re daunted by the scale of what you need to do then get some easy wins. Get small tasks done and then start to break down the bigger project of viva prep into smaller pieces.

Nathan

Defining Effective

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I was helpfully challenged in a recent webinar to define what I meant when I talk about effective viva prep. It was a great provocation to help me unpick what I think.

  • Effective has to mean that it benefits the person doing the prep. They do the work and are prepared.
  • Effective has to include some idea of working smart: not starting early, not rushing or stressing while doing the work.
  • Effective viva prep must also help the candidate to feel that they are working towards being ready (and that ultimately they are ready for the viva).

Let’s define effective viva prep as a set of useful tasks and activities that help a candidate become ready for the viva in as organised and stress-free way as possible.

It’s a bit of a mouthful! Maybe there’s more we could say or a more concise framing but it’s not a bad start.

A definition doesn’t tell you what to do exactly for your situation though. For your circumstances consider:

  • What do you think you need to do?
  • When do you think you need to start?
  • How can you help yourself to see your progress to being ready?

We can usefully define what effective viva prep means generally, but you have to realise what that means for you specifically.

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