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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Making A Choice

Daily Post

You don’t get to simply choose your examiners. You don’t get to choose what questions they will ask at your viva. You don’t get to choose whether or not you feel nervous on your viva day.

You can choose how you get ready for your viva though. You can choose the attitude that you show up with to your prep and your viva day. You can choose to steer yourself towards confidence.

You can choose the kind of person you want to be at your viva and choose to work towards that.

Of course, it’s not a single choice: it’s a daily, repeated choice to work towards something good.

Like the rest of your PhD journey.

Nathan

Number Problems

Daily Post

Your PhD success is not directly measured by big numbers.

It’s not in the thousands of words in your thesis. It doesn’t correlate with the number of papers you’ve read or the number you’ve cited. You don’t need a heroic number of hours invested into mastering a skill. You don’t need to do more than the last person.

The numbers that really help may sound similar but they help in different ways.

  • The number of papers you’ve read helps you know what you need to know.
  • Take confidence from knowing you have written 200 good pages not for simply having 200 pages.
  • You’ve invested thousands of hours to show your determination and express your ability – you’ve not simply done a lot.

Bigger alone isn’t better. Recognise the value of the numbers that matter to your PhD.

Nathan

Final Checks For The Viva

Daily Post

Check that you’ve read the regulations.

Check you have done all the prep you meant to.

Check you know the logistics for your viva day.

Check you’ve got your thesis and anything else you need ready.

And check in with yourself: remember you did all of that over the course of years so you can do this too.

 

PS: If you’re still checking what the viva is all about then also check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Registration includes attendance, one of my pdf publications and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. There are also two more sessions before Christmas if November or December might be better!

Nathan

The Small Help Of Prep

Daily Post

I have a pocket multitool that fits in my wallet. It’s a solid rectangle of metal with a sharp edge, a ruler, various marks and divots, several holes and a screwdriver point.

I probably use it once a week to help with small tasks. I can probably use it to do a lot more than I’ve realised. I’m glad I have this small help.

My multitool makes me think of viva prep.

Viva prep is a small thing but the general process helps a lot. Viva prep is a solid approach but can be adapted to meet the needs of particular situations. And the steps that help someone get ready are also more widely applicable.

The overall help of viva prep is a small, limited thing. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in feeling ready for the viva.

 

PS: If you want to know more about viva prep – what to do, when to start and how much to do – then check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Viva prep is a big component of the session and the follow-up materials – and there’s a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Hope to see you there!

Nathan

7 Reasons, 7th October 2026

Event, Update

In Brief: I’m sharing my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar live next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Booking is open, there’s one of my pdf resources and a catch-up recording included. I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone who comes – and maybe that’s you?!

(I also have two more dates before Christmas if you’re busy on 7th October!)

 

A Few More Details: When I announced my autumn 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions earlier this month I shared a lovely email from a PhD candidate who attended one this summer. Since then I’ve had another lovely email!

“I wanted to say a huge thank you to you for your viva materials and the session I attended. I passed my viva today with minor corrections. Your magazines, daily newsletter and the session were all brilliant resources. I read the magazines last night and they were what I needed to keep me calm and to believe in myself. “ – University of Huddersfield PhD graduate

The magazines mentioned are the Viva Survivor Select pdf zines I’ve been creating (more on those here!). I’m really glad the summer sessions were so helpful. I really love sharing 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva and it’s now starting to edge out my Viva Survivor session in terms of how often it’s requested.

I think of 7 Reasons as a 1-hour confidence boost for the viva. In the space of an hour I cover key reasons why people succeed at the viva. There’s space for everyone to ask questions, a copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva pdf and a catch-up recording of the session too. I have a total of three dates coming up before Christmas:

These are the only independent sign-up sessions I’m running between now and Christmas.

I am also invited by universities to work directly with PGRs – so check your researcher-development programme first – but if I’ve not been invited to help your PGR community then please take a look at the details for these upcoming events. Registration is open now for all three and if you’re looking for viva help then please take a look.

Thanks for reading – if you think it will help a friend then please pass on the news.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Don’t Worry*

Daily Post

Don’t worry about what might happen at your viva – take steps to learn more about what to expect.

Don’t worry about the variety of questions you might be asked – find spaces to rehearse responding to questions and build up your confidence.

Don’t worry about remembering everything – work through your prep to help your memory as best you can for the things that matter most.

Don’t worry about the outcome of your viva – find ways to remind yourself of what you’ve done and what that means.

 

* Or rather, don’t only worry. Feel the feeling and then take steps to help change the feeling.

Nathan

The Meaning Of “Pass”

Daily Post

It means you did enough. You don’t need perfection to pass your viva and your PhD.

Do your best.

You’ll likely find typos in your thesis after submission. That’s OK.

You’ll likely find questions at the viva that you find challenging. That might be uncomfortable but it’s OK too.

Good is enough.

Minor corrections means “you’ve passed so long as you make these changes.”

“Pass” means you did it – but like the rest of your PhD journey you have to figure out what that really means for you.

 

PS: Rehearsing for your viva helps you feel more like you’re going to pass. If you’re looking for helpful thoughts on rehearsal then Viva Survivors Select 14, The Rehearsal Issue, is out now. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please check it out. It’s the latest issue in my series of curated collections of viva help: twenty posts from the blog’s archive and new help to help you get ready!

Nathan

Can’t & Can

Daily Post

You can’t memorise every paper you’ve read for your research but you can be sure of the ones that matter.

You can’t know every question you’ll be asked at your viva but you can be ready to respond to any question you’re asked at your viva.

You probably can’t remove all trace of nervousness but you can build your confidence for the viva.

You can’t be perfect but you can be enough.

Nathan

The Negatives

Daily Post

I spent a few months in the second year of my PhD trying to solve one calculation.

I stopped after seven weeks.

I had written and rewritten tortured sequences of symbols. I had found simpler ways to write things. I had noticed helpful formulations that made things easier to see. And I had an idea of what might actually be going on with my mathematical puzzle even if I couldn’t prove it.

Maybe I sound upbeat now but I was not thinking positively about it at the time.

In the summer of 2006 I was frustrated, tired, stuck and only seeing the seven weeks as wasted:

  • I had hundreds of sheets of handwritten notes that didn’t show an answer.
  • I had disappointed myself and I was sure that I had disappointed my supervisor.
  • I didn’t even know at that point if I was on track to finish my PhD.

I could only see the negatives.

 

It took time for me to find a different way of looking at things:

  • I didn’t have an answer but I had progress.
  • I hadn’t solved this problem but I had found new methods.
  • I had shown that some ideas weren’t good ones.
  • And I had a new hypothesis even if I couldn’t show it.

If you find yourself, like me, in a situation where you can only find the negatives in your research then you need to take a step back and really reflect.

It won’t all be bad.

Limitations and setbacks can still lead to progress. Failure can become success. It might not be the success you were expecting, it might be smaller or different, but it still counts for something.

If you’re struggling to frame your work in a positive way then take some time to reflect, particularly as you get ready for your viva.

You have to convince yourself that you’ve made a contribution before you can convince your examiners.

Nathan

Live Webinars, Autumn 2026

Event, Update

The Short Version: I have three upcoming dates for independent viva help webinars and registration is open now. Full details of all three dates are at the link and you can also find out more below. Thanks for reading!

 

The Longer Version: I got a really lovely email from a PhD candidate about one of my webinars over the summer.

“Thanks for your time and for setting these up – often it helps to hear about this from someone not in the department/same uni to get a broader perspective. I felt so assured when you said you’re more likely not to submit a final thesis than you are to fail a viva – so in a way that will make me have a much better summer knowing the hard slog is actually 90% over. I liked the structure of the session as well as your willingness to answer questions and interact with us.” – University of Leeds PhD candidate

It was nice to receive this after one of my independent sign-up 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions in July. I love delivering this session: I’ve shared it over 100 times now to many, many PGRs!

I think of it as a 1-hour confidence boost for the viva. In the space of an hour I cover key reasons why people succeed at the viva. There’s space for everyone to ask questions, a copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva pdf and a catch-up recording of the session too.

I really love sharing this session and that’s why I have three dates coming up in the next few months where you can join me to find 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva:

These are the only independent sign-up sessions that I’m running between now and Christmas. I might be running a viva help session for your institution between now and then, so do check with your graduate school or doctoral college first before booking.

If I’ve not been invited to help your PGR community then please take a look at the details for these upcoming events. Registration is open now for all three events. If you’re looking for viva help or know someone who is then please take a look.

Thanks for reading – if you think it will help a friend then please pass on the news.

All the best,

Nathan

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