Daily viva help for PhDs
How did you get this far in your PhD journey?
There’s a great series of steps, actions, ideas, questions, papers, successes, failures, setbacks, breakthroughs, meetings and long hours.
All of which boils down to: you did it.
The talent, skill and knowledge are yours. The actions were yours.
You did it. Remember that as you get ready for your viva.
Some PhD candidates have unusual expectations for their vivas.
I’m not a mind-reader, but I know this must be true because of the questions that some candidates ask. I have met candidates who have expected the following:
These are all quite extreme! More benign and unusual expectations include candidates believing that they can’t take a break or that they can’t consult their thesis.
It’s not just that these expectations are wrong and don’t match reality: they are really negative. To hold them can only harm someone’s confidence as they get ready.
It’s not wrong to feel nervous ahead of your viva, but if you find yourself worried by an expectation or belief about the viva then find a way to check if your expectation is reasonable. If it’s unusual then you can maybe stop worrying.
And if you find that it isn’t unusual then there will still be something you can do towards feeling more prepared and more ready.
PS: I released the latest edition of Viva Survivors Select yesterday! The Confidence Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive exploring confidence for the viva including how to respond well to questions in the viva – something which definitely helps with having good expectations.
It was a few years after my PhD before I started to feel confident. It took me time to find a way to build it up for myself. I didn’t find it during my PhD or ahead of my viva: I thought my thesis was pretty good but didn’t think I was a good candidate. I knew something was missing on my viva day but didn’t know what it was.
After my PhD I started to listen to podcasts, read blog posts and found books that helped me assemble a jigsaw of confidence from myself, borrowing ideas from many different places and finding what worked for me.
I’ve had the good fortune to spend my post-PhD life exploring confidence for myself and how to help other people find it for themselves. I’m glad to have the chance to share some help, encouragement and ideas in this month’s issue of Viva Survivors Select.
The Confidence Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive exploring confidence in the PhD, helpful practices to try during viva prep and how to respond to questions in the viva. This is a topic I’ve explored a lot over the last fifteen years and it’s great to share a curated resource like this zine.
Every issue of Viva Survivors Select also contains new help too. This month I share my thoughts on making a playlist to help promote confidence. I love using music to prompt a shift of feelings and know I’m not alone in thinking it’s a useful nudge – and nudging confidence is the theme of my other new piece, a short game to help people getting ready for their viva.
Viva Survivors Select 07 is out now for £3 and joins six other issues in this ongoing series. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Confidence Issue.
The final issue of this volume, The Survival Issue, will be released on Wednesday 12th November. I’m also considering releasing a bundle of all eight issues of Volume 1 for a special price. Let me know if you think that’s a good idea!
Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.
Thanks for reading!
Nathan
I bought a leather cover for my blog post ideas notebook and it completely changed how I use it.
The cover makes the book feel special. The cover protects the paper notebook so I feel better about carrying it around with me. The cover has little pockets for notes too!
And the cover is an extra reminder to me about what the book is for. It’s one more thing to encourage me to do the work.
The leather cover wasn’t that expensive. By itself it doesn’t do the work. It just helps the work get done.
What little things can you do to help your viva prep? What little changes could make you feel more ready for your viva?
By themselves little changes aren’t the work but they help the process along. A small change can be a catalyst for action. It can be an encouragement for or a reminder of what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.
What could you do to help your viva? Make a list of some ideas that might help – then make a choice and take it from there.
PS: one more helpful idea would be to subscribe to the Viva Survivors blog and get a new helpful post emailed to you every day!
If you’re getting ready to endure your viva then you’re probably not going to approach it with a good frame of mind. If you are hoping it goes well you’re probably downplaying the force of your other prep and work.
It’s one thing to worry that your viva will be a nightmare – a nasty noun could easily distract you – but the real concern is that you might worry!
Unhelpful verbs while you’re thinking about your viva and viva prep can have a big impact on your confidence. You might not simply be able to choose how you feel or choose the verbs you keep in mind but if you’re aware of negative associations you can make changes. Read the regulations for the viva, ask for support and find out more about what to expect.
How do you want to approach your viva? What do you need to change? What will you do?
What’s getting in the way of you being prepared for your viva?
What can you do about these sources of friction and irritation?
That last point is really helpful actually: if you know you feel something that’s getting in the way of being prepared and you know WHY you’re feeling it then there’s typically a lot you can do to help yourself.
Figure out why and you can remove any obstacles in your way.
Whenever something viva-related is tricky, confusing or makes you feel negative, your first step is to figure out what the problem is.
What makes this hard? What don’t you understand? Why are you feeling this way?
Once you know what the problem is you can start to do something about it. You could work to make the tricky more simple, the confusing more clear or act to change how you’re feeling. You can ask others to help and even if the problem is big you can take a small step in the right direction.
The work ahead might not be easy, but it’s easier than just trying to cope with stress at your viva. Once you can explain the nature of the problem clearly then you can start to do something about it.
(of course, this kind of thinking applies outside of the viva too!)
Every viva is unique. All vivas follow patterns.
Some vivas follow patterns more closely than others.
A friend’s viva experience can give you a hint of what to expect but not the whole story.
Reading about someone’s feelings might help you to process your own, but only in part.
Listening to a podcast can give you some great tips but you still won’t know what you’ll be asked until you’re there with your examiners.
Knowing about other vivas is helpful.
Stories, experiences and regulations can feed into the pattern of expectations to help you prepare.
As ready as you can be, you won’t know the whole story until you have your viva.
PS: for more thoughts on how to resolve the tension between viva expectations and the fact that every viva is unique please take a look at The Expectations Issue of Viva Survivors Select, my latest curated collection of Viva Survivors posts and new viva help.
What do you expect of yourself at your viva?
Viva expectations are often discussed in terms of length and first questions, format and examiner tone – but what do you expect from yourself? What should others expect of you?
Together, you and your examiners can all reasonably expect that you’ll succeed at your viva.
If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need a plan. Sketch one out at submission. Just a sketch. Can you spread the work over a month? What could you do in thirty minutes per day over three weeks and maybe an hour or so each day in the week before your viva?
If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need help. So ask for help! Talk to your supervisor, your friends, your family and make sure they know what you need with plenty of notice. Ask early so that anyone you live with can give you space and time to get ready.
If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need to make your working situation as good as you can. Get your materials together. Always know in advance what you will do with a chunk of prep time. Make yourself comfortable and perhaps find rewards for getting things done.
If you are too busy to prepare for your viva then you need to change how you feel. Reflect on and explore your progress to help you realise just how much you’ve done and just how proud you can be. Build up your confidence for the viva.
If you’re busy you still have to prepare. You can make a plan and make it nice but it’s still work. There are no shortcuts but equally it doesn’t have to be stressful.
If you’re busy: make a plan, ask for help, remove friction and build your confidence.