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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Summary & Memory

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Writing a summary of some aspect of your thesis or research before the viva can do a lot of things to help you. It forces you to focus on something, to highlight the best parts or the most difficult sections and can really support you as you fine-tune your thinking.

It’s important to also recognise that creating a summary can help your memory too. It helps embed ideas. You don’t need to memorise your thesis, or a list or a page of notes, or anything like that. Your examiners want to talk to a person and hear their research, their story and what that means. They don’t need you to recite your work to them.

The focus of writing a summary can help boost what you remember for the viva. You know enough and have done enough or you wouldn’t be working towards finishing your PhD. A little more work can help you remember what you need for meeting your examiners.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on July 8th 2023.

Nathan

Let Go

Daily Post, Sabbatical

All the things you didn’t do. All the things you couldn’t do. All the ideas you didn’t follow. All the questions you couldn’t answer. All the opportunities you had to turn down.

You have to let them go when you prepare for the viva.

Whatever they mean, and whatever you might do with them in the future. They might be of interest in some way, or add context to something you could need to talk about. Exploring them might be a small part of your preparations but they can’t be your focus for getting ready.

Focus on what you did. Focus on the ideas you explored. Focus on the questions you answered, the results and conclusions you found. Focus on the opportunities that lead you somewhere.

Focus on who you are, not who you might have been.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on March 12th 2021.

Nathan

Evidence

Daily Post

Confidence follows your actions. If you don’t feel confident ahead of your viva it’s not because you’re lazy. It’s not because you don’t have anything to show for all your work. It’s probably because the length, difficulty and circumstances of your PhD have made it hard to appreciate what you’ve done.

When you go looking you’ll find that the evidence of your capability is everywhere. As soon as you start to see the evidence you’ll feel capable – and in turn you’ll start to build your confidence.

Look at the hundreds of days when you’ve showed up to do the work. Look at the thesis you’ve produced. Think back over the many, many papers you’ve learned from. Remember the meetings, the seminars, the posters, the presentations and maybe the papers you’ve produced too.

None of this simply just happened. All of it exists because of you: your time, your effort, your determination and your willingness to grow and learn.

A PhD is hard for a lot of reasons. When you stop and reflect you’ll see evidence of your talent everywhere. Use that as evidence of your confidence as well. Then go and succeed at your viva.

 

PS: the Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical starts tomorrow! A daily post from the archives all through the summer while I take a creative break after seven years of Viva Survivors 🙂

Nathan

Feeling Ready

Daily Post

If you feel ready for your viva then you probably are!

So ask yourself two questions, just to be sure:

  1. Is there anything else you can do?
  2. Is there anything you might have forgotten to do?

If you can honestly answer no to both of these then the third question is simple: what will you now do to hold on to this feeling of being ready?

Nathan

The Nightmare Viva

Daily Post

What’s the worst thing that could really happen at your viva?

Failure is a very, very remote possibility. If you have real concern you should talk to your supervisors and friends – and unpick whether failure is more than a very, very remote possibility for you.

So then, what’s the worst thing that could really happen at your viva?

Perhaps you could be asked to complete corrections that you weren’t expecting or don’t want. That would be a nuisance but corrections come after the viva, after you’ve passed. You need to do the work to complete your PhD, but that’s all. Do them and you’re done.

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

Maybe an examiner could make a comment that you don’t like or ask a question you don’t want. It might be an uncomfortable moment but it wouldn’t stop you passing.

What’s the worst thing you could find at your viva?

Your viva could be long. It could have questions you don’t like. You might freeze or forget something. Your viva might not follow the trends of expectations you had heard about.

 

And yet: you’d still succeed. Because whatever happens, you still would have done the work. You still would have prepared. You still would be ready.

Maybe none of the things above match what you think the worst thing might be at your viva. It’s all hypothetical. Some or none of the above and perhaps none of your deepest worries might come true. They’re just traces of nightmare fuel for you, secret concerns that perhaps you’ve missed something in some way and that will spell the end.

It won’t be.

There is an end coming – the end of your PhD – and it’s a good thing. It might be different than you expect and it might have surprises you don’t like, but they’ll pass. You’ll be on to whatever you’re dreaming of next.

Nathan

Find Your Music

Daily Post

Find a piece of music that makes you feel happy. Find a piece of music that lifts you up and makes you feel like your best self.

Find a way to make sure that you have access to that music in the days leading up to your viva. Perhaps make sure you have a way to listen to that music on the day of your viva.

There are many ways to build confidence and how positive you feel about your viva. Consider how you prepare, what you wear, what you listen to.

You need to find what you need to help you feel how you want to feel about your viva. None of it is magic – sometimes it’s music!

 

PS: here’s my music, in case you’re curious.

Nathan

Hope Helps…

Daily Post

…but actions help more.

It’s good to hope you pass your viva and it goes well. It’s not wrong to hope that your examiners have nice questions for you. It’s pretty understandable to hope you get no or few corrections.

After that you have to do the work though, just as you have for the rest of your PhD.

Prepare well. Read up on expectations and who your examiners are. Be prepared for the real possibility of making corrections to your thesis after the viva.

Hope that your viva is a good one – then work towards being at your best for the viva.

Nathan

Final Words

Daily Post

The viva is not the only time in your life when you will have a big, important conversation about your PhD. It might be the final time though and it will be your only viva. As you prepare, take some time to think about how you can get as much as you need to from the experience.

  • How would you like your viva to conclude?
  • Are there specific questions you want to hear from your examiners by the end?
  • Is there an opinion you’d like to make sure you take time to ask for?

You might not be able to direct your viva but there are aspects you might be able to influence. If you have questions, make a list and take them with you so you remember to ask them.

Nathan

A Changing Why

Daily Post

Why did you want to do a PhD?

Why did you want to explore the topics or projects you did?

Why did you keep going even when your PhD journey was hard?

Why did you want a PhD still when you were finishing?

Your examiners might not ask you directly about why you’ve been doing a PhD, but motivations are worth reflecting on before your viva. The reasons you started and kept going might change.

It helps to remind yourself why you did all this work, either to help with sharing things with your examiners or to keep you motivated for the final weeks of your PhD.

Nathan

No Shame

Daily Post

I’ve sensed the worry and the shame behind many PhD candidates’ questions about the viva.

  • If only I’d done more, I could have worked harder…
  • If I knew then what I know now I wouldn’t have made that mistake…
  • Ugh…
  • The stupid pandemic made it go wrong and now I don’t have what I wanted…

Could someone do more or different than what you’ve done for your PhD? Perhaps.

Should you feel ashamed or nervous or in any way bad because you haven’t done more or different to what you’ve done? Absolutely not.

Remember that you couldn’t have got this far with your PhD journey unless you had done something right. Not just one something. A lot of somethings. You have got this far because you did the hard work and enough of that hard work brought success to you.

Maybe you could have done more or different to what you’ve done.

Maybe, but taking time to think about that is probably a distraction.

If it helps, be aware of the alternatives, but focus on what you did and who you became – because more than anything that’s what your examiners will want to talk about at your viva.

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