Daily viva help for PhDs
The viva isn’t a game. The viva isn’t a quiz.
You’re not scoring points. You’re not competing.
You’re presenting your work. You’re responding to questions.
You’re sharing what you did and demonstrating what you can do.
Do the work, prepare and go to show what you know and what you can do.
The viva is a demonstration and confirmation.
Talent, work and time are three related things that help a PhD candidate get to their viva – and help them get through their viva.
You need all three and each of them needs the others.
All three of these are wrapped up in you, your research and your PhD journey. All three of these are behind you, supporting you as you work towards being ready for your viva and then help your success at your viva.
You took the time. You did the work. You have the talent.
That’s how you got this far and it’s how you will succeed at your viva.
PS: I’ll be exploring viva confidence, which is what today’s post is all about, at my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared Viva Survivor more than 400 times. It is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva covering expectations, viva prep, examiners and more. Check the link for full details of what to expect from the webinar!
These four words are my new shorthand for thinking about viva prep.
To do viva prep well you need to approach it with the same purpose as the rest of your PhD journey but now bent towards a different goal.
You need to be determined and careful. Engaged with your research. Engaged with the needs of the particular situation of this project (the viva).
You need to show up to work on overcoming a challenge just as you have with many other challenges before. That’s all the viva is: the next challenge you need to work through.
The drive that has helped you with all of the other challenges of your PhD is what will help you with the task of viva prep – and with the task of succeeding in the viva.
Here’s a little viva prep exercise to unpack problems you faced on your PhD journey.
Start by listing up to ten problems that you faced. These could be access to literature or resources, time challenges, supervisory issues, personal circumstances, a particularly difficult research issue or something else.
Once you have up to ten on your list take a minute or two to rank them according to severity, starting with the one which had least impact and then working your way to the most severe.
For each one write a few notes to respond to the following questions:
Reflecting and writing you will build up ideas for how you could talk about this with your examiners if the topic comes up at your viva. You might make connections between problems and see there was a deeper issue you addressed.
However big the problems were you will also see that you were able to rise to meet them: you overcame a lot to get this far and that means something, both for your research and for you.
Vivas are special days.
Like most special days it’s not the setting or the build-up that makes it really special. There are lots of expectations about what special days need – cost, preparation, traditions and so on – but like any other day what makes your viva special are the people involved.
While your examiners are special and particular to your viva you could also have your viva without them; they could have been busy and someone else would have said yes. Your examiners are like the DJ at a party or a celebrant at a wedding: they’re good but there are other people who could fill that special role.
So let’s be clear: you’re the reason why your viva is a special day. You and your work are what make it matter. Prepare and get ready but remember who the viva is for and how you got there.
A PhD journey is a series of steps. You make choices, do the work, see what happens and then figure out the next options. Then you do it all again.
A PhD journey can develop due to good fortune. You make a choice and it works out well. Maybe an opportunity comes your way. A eureka moment strikes you at just the right time.
Still: where do these things come from?
You have to put yourself in a good place to receive an opportunity. It isn’t a lightning bolt from nowhere. It’s not magic. It happened to you because you did the work.
Remember the steps that got you where you are. Think about how you might explain that to other people including your examiners. If you’re telling your story and someone says “Then what happened?” your response should never be to simply say, “Oh, I got lucky…”
You might have the benefit of some good fortune, where you work hard and enough of that hard work pays off – but PhD candidates don’t get where they are because of luck.
(if you’re working towards your PhD and your plan requires luck to succeed then you need a new plan!)
The most important thing you can remember about the start of your PhD journey is that you are a long, long way from it.
This is more important than remembering your first meeting, the first paper you read or even why you wanted to pursue a PhD!
You have done more. You know more. You can do more.
You are more knowledgable, more capable and far better at what you do.
Remember that whatever else has happened in your PhD you have come a long way. You have not got this far through luck. You got here because you are good at what you do. You can build on that foundation to be ready for your viva.
Success at the viva takes talent, work and time.
Talent means that you’re capable. As you get closer to submission and the viva take time to reflect on what you know, what you can do and how you think. Be sure of how you developed.
Work means you applied yourself. Reflect on what you did. Explore the practical elements of your research, the choices you made and the outcomes of your research.
Time means that it didn’t happen overnight. Remember the time to understand the real effort you’ve committed.
A PhD journey is busy. It’s long. It’s easy to forget or be distracted.
As you get closer to your viva date reflect on the talent you’ve built, the work you did and the time it took. Remind yourself that you’re the reason you have come so far.
Your success is partly the result of many actions that push your work forward and create your thesis contribution.
Your examiners will want to know all about this at your viva: the story of your research, the actions that got it done and the result now that your thesis is finished.
The actions that push your work forward also pull you along. Through the process you learn, understand more and become a capable researcher.
Your examiners will want to know all about this at your viva as well: what you know, what you can do, how you think and more.
Remember in viva prep to reflect on and review both your thesis and yourself.
What were the best references that supported your research?
Who were the most helpful people who have supported you?
What practices have you used for getting things done?
Whatever your best sources of support – whether they’re papers, people or practices – it’s a good idea to think about them as you get ready. In some cases, it might be a good idea to consult or use them one more time.
You did the work but everyone needs support.