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Tag: plan your prep

Nathan

Set Prep Goals

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It’s not enough to plan your viva prep and write read my thesis: you have to spell out what you’re trying to achieve by doing that.

Don’t just pencil in a date for your mock viva: what do you want from that experience?

And you can’t simply allocate time for checking a few papers written by your external: what do you want to know from reading them?

Plan your prep so you have an idea of how and when you’ll do the work.

Set prep goals so you have a good sense of what you’re achieving and how it will help you.

Nathan

Small Step, Big Impact

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What viva prep actions would have a great impact on how ready you were for your viva?

I’m thinking about the Pareto principle – in brief, that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes – and I wonder how it might apply to viva prep and building confidence for the viva.

I don’t have an answer! I do have some thoughts though:

  • Having certainty about the viva process increases calm and confidence. Asking supervisors and colleagues, reading regulations and even searching online are all small actions that can have a big impact.
  • Reading your thesis again won’t take a very long time but can really help with sharing your research, formulating responses and generally feeling secure for the viva.
  • Rehearsing and talking about your thesis is a great preparation step that doesn’t take very long compared with tasks like annotating or reviewing papers.

Some big activities in viva prep can be broken down into little steps that add up. But perhaps some small actions by themselves can give big advantages to being ready.

I’ll have to think more about this! But perhaps you already have ideas of little things that you know will help you to feel ready.

Nathan

An Alphabet Of Actions

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What could you do to get ready for your viva? A lot! For example you could:

  • Annotate your thesis to make a better version for yourself.
  • Brief your friends and family on how they could support you.
  • Create a cheatsheet of key ideas and notes about your research.
  • Discuss what you can expect with your supervisor.
  • Explore the thesis examination regulations for your institution.
  • Find out what friends and colleagues have heard about the viva.
  • Give a seminar to have a little practice talking about your work.
  • Host a viva prep club where you meet with others getting ready.
  • Identify key points about your examiners’ recent research.
  • Join a friend for coffee and a chance to share your research.
  • Keep a record of your actions to help boost your confidence.
  • Listen to podcasts or interviews of PhD graduates.
  • Make a plan for your viva prep.
  • Notice what stands out about your research.
  • Organise your notes and resources for prep.
  • Prioritise your preparation to make sure you cover the important tasks.
  • Question your supervisor about your research.
  • Rest. Simply rest.
  • Summarise your research contribution in a single page.
  • Talk about your research more generally to have some rehearsal for the viva.
  • Understand the viva experience and how that relates to regulations and expectations.
  • Verify your viva date, location and process.
  • Work towards being ready by simply doing things and ticking them off your list.
  • X-out, or mark the days leading up to your viva when you do something to get closer to being ready.
  • Yawn – in which case you need to rest some more!
  • Zero in on what makes you a good candidate.

All of these could help but finding what makes you a good candidate – in terms of your knowledge, your research outcomes, your thesis, your success – is really important. It’s the kind of work that helps develop confidence.

It’s last on this list, but not least in importance. Take time to reflect on what makes you a good candidate.

Remember that success and confidence are founded on your actions – and there are many, many actions you can take to build confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Start With Reading

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There’s a lot you can do during viva prep. Some tasks and activities are essential, some are optional and some depend on how you feel about your work (or the specifics of the work itself).

Always start the period of viva prep by reading your thesis. Whatever plan you make, make reading your thesis the starting point.

Don’t rush, don’t skip or skim, but take some time to refresh your memory before you do all of the other things.

Making notes, annotating margins and reading one more paper can all wait until after you have made the solid foundations of reading your thesis.

Nathan

Unrushed

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While viva prep depends a lot on the person, their research and their circumstances, there is one quality I wish for every PhD candidate’s prep: I would want it to be unrushed.

No rush. Pressure can be useful as a motivator for some but I don’t think stress is ever helpful.

Plan your prep. Give yourself the luxury of time and space to do the work well.

No rush, no hurry, less stress, less fuss.

Nathan

You Can’t Do Everything

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The list of things you can potentially do to prepare for your viva is very, very long. If you combed through the posts on this site for unique ideas then you’d find far too many for someone to do.

Viva prep ideas give options for how someone can do the work. For example, there are lots of useful summaries you could write to gather your thoughts but you don’t have to write all of them to be ready.

When it’s time to think about viva prep, take a moment to really consider how much time you have. Reflect on what you need to do and how you can do it best for yourself.

I don’t have a list of criteria for you but here are some helpful questions to consider:

  • When will you do the work?
  • What do you feel confident about?
  • What do you feel less sure of?
  • What tasks are necessary?

Remember to ask others about what they did and what they found helpful. That doesn’t mean you should just copy their approach, but you might find ideas you can adapt rather than start from a blank page for your own prep.

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: Viva Prep

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It’s that time of year where I share my favourite posts from the last twelve months!

I always like to start my round-up posts with viva preparation as it’s a big part of the viva experience. The viva itself is done in a few hours, but preparation is often spread out over several weeks. Here are five helpful posts:

Look for more viva prep posts on the site, and look out for tomorrow’s post with my favourite reflections from this year.

Nathan

SWOT Your Prep

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SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It’s often used to help assess a situation where you need to come up with a plan. By exploring each area you have all the information you need to plan your next steps.

So why not apply it to viva prep?

  • Strengths: What do you have taken care of? What resources do you have? What can help you as you prepare?
  • Weaknesses: What are you currently lacking? What are you not looking forward to? What are you less sure of?
  • Opportunities: Who can help your preparation if you ask for support? Are there events in the near future that could help you get ready?
  • Threats: Are there things that might get in the way of your preparation? What obstacles do you have to avoid as you prepare?

Taken together, all of these explore the environment you have for getting ready – and can help you figure out the environment you need for viva prep.

Nathan

The Distinction

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Viva prep is the set of tasks and activities related to your research and thesis that help you be prepared for meeting with your examiners. You feel comfortable responding to their questions and engaging with the discussion. Viva prep involves reading your thesis, making notes, checking papers and rehearsing.

Getting ready for the viva requires viva prep, but also preparing oneself emotionally for the viva. It involves feeling confident. It involves reflecting on your doctoral journey to realise that your work has value and that you are talented. Getting ready is a lot of practical work and a lot of hidden work.

Viva prep is something that you do in the weeks leading up to your viva, but getting ready for your viva is something that you start when you begin your PhD – if not earlier.

Nathan

Prep Is Personal

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The purpose of viva prep is universal among PhD candidates: it’s part of the work that someone does to help them get ready for the particular challenge they’ll find in the viva.

The principles of viva prep are sound for any postgraduate researcher: read your thesis, annotate it, write summaries of things you need to think about and rehearse for meeting your examiners.

The doing of viva prep is individual for every PhD candidate.

No two candidates have the same prep because no two candidates are the same. Every thesis is unique and every set of circumstances is different. There are similarities and generalisations that can be made, but when it comes to doing the work every candidate has to pause, plan and then do the work in a way that suits them.

Plan the work in advance. Fit it around your other responsibilities. Get the support you need.

Prep is personal.

 

PS: Looking for more ideas of what you can do to be ready for your viva or how to get the work done? Check out the Viva Help Bundle: three great resources for a special price of £6 until November 30th 2023. The bundle has an edited book of 150+ Viva Survivors posts, my successfully Kickstarted 101 Steps To A Great Viva and an original reflective writing game on the PhD journey. Please do take a look!

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