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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Escape The Room

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We’ve become a little obsessed with puzzles and escape rooms in our house. It’s odd because we’ve not actually visited a real-life one yet!

My family has been enjoying mystery and challenge programmes that involve escape rooms, as well as video games and board games that have layers of puzzles. We can’t get enough. A visit to a real world escape room is somewhere in our plans for this year.

 

I was reflecting on this yesterday and it made me think of the viva and some questions I’ve been asked in the past:

  • How can I make my viva shorter?
  • What can I do to answer questions quickly?
  • How can I steer my examiners away from topics?
  • If I write a shorter thesis does that put a limit on the length of my viva?
  • Seriously, what can I do to make my viva only an hour?!

In all of the many themes for escape rooms I wonder if anyone has done a viva-themed one?

There are lots of verbs I would associate with the viva, but escape isn’t one of them. You can’t make your viva shorter; you can make it better. You can take your time to respond well. You don’t need to give quick answers: you need to give good responses.

Your examiners can’t be steered. They have things they need to explore with you and that’s that. Work towards giving good responses. And of course, there’s no data that suggests a shorter thesis leads to a shorter viva!

Engage with your viva rather than try to escape from it. Worries about doing well are valid, but try to invest your energy in being great instead of getting away.

Nathan

Worry & Questions

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Lots of viva worries are centred around responding to questions.

  • Viva Worry 1: I’ll freeze.
  • Viva Worry 2: My examiners will ask me something difficult.
  • Viva Worry 3: I’ll get a question I can’t answer.

A deeper worry is that some combination of these will all happen at the same time.

 

These are real and human worries, particularly for a PhD candidate. Being nervous for an exam is understandable. Being worried is understandable.

You can learn to sit with nerves – they’re a recognition that something is important – but worry is something that has to be dealt with proactively.

You can work past the three viva worries above – and others – by taking action.

If you’re worried you’ll freeze then find opportunities to rehearse. Mock vivas and conversations can help you to get a rhythm for responding to questions and comments.

If you’re worried that your examiners will ask something difficult then ask your supervisor to practise with you by asking difficult questions. Take time to think and respond.

If you’re worried about questions you can’t answer then you have to  explore what the viva is really like. You might get questions you can’t answer but not every question needs an answer. You might be asked for an opinion or a theory or just your first impressions.

 

Worry doesn’t just go away. You have to work your way past it.

Nathan

Good, Not Perfect

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Good is the standard you need to meet for your thesis and your viva.

  • You don’t need to have thought every thought.
  • You don’t need to have followed every idea.
  • You don’t need to have an answer for every question.
  • You need to write a good thesis but it could have typos despite your best efforts.
  • You need to be ready to engage with every question but that could still mean saying “I don’t know” sometimes.
  • You need to get ready for your viva but you don’t need to be perfect.

How did you get this far? By being good.

Keep doing that.

Nathan

Mile 26

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It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Lots of metaphors about the PhD and the viva recall marathons. They suggest perspective on how much time is involved, the pace, the determination and so on. It’s even common to see writers talk about the viva as the final mile of the PhD journey.

The viva is the last big challenge – but marathons aren’t 26 miles in length.

A marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards.

After 26 miles of progress there’s still a little more.

Not quite a quarter of a mile.

Submission is the 26 mile marker. The viva is that last 385 yards. Still a little to do. A little more work. A little more determination. But you really are almost there.

Nathan

Gasp!

Daily Post

If a question or comment in your viva makes you freeze then just stop.

Breathe again.

Think again.

Try to understand the question.

Think some more.

Breathe again.

And if the question or comment still makes you freeze then reflect, “Why?”

Why is this question or comment giving you trouble?

Once you start thinking about that, even if you still don’t have an answer or an opinion you’ll have the beginning of a response that you can share with your examiners.

If a question or comment gives you pause, makes you freeze or even makes you gasp, just sit with it a moment. Take a little time to think and explore how you can still respond.

Nathan

Viva Kit

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You need to take your thesis to your viva. Your examiners don’t expect a perfect memory. You can use your thesis throughout to help you respond to questions.

You need to take a pen and paper. The viva is a discussion but it’s an important one. Give yourself the option of taking notes that could help you afterwards.

You need to take something to drink. Don’t forget! Many examiners and universities don’t arrange for refreshments and you’re likely to be in your viva for a few hours at least.

You need to decide on what you’ll wear. You don’t need to be smart for your examiners, but you can dress in a way that helps you feel as good as you possibly can.

 

You need to have the right kit for your viva. It won’t take a lot to bring this together. This post has the basics that everyone needs to think about – but what do you need for your research and your viva?

Nathan

Not To Plan

Daily Post

Vivas have institutional regulations, general expectations and local norms from recurring practice within departments all over the UK. Together these describe a picture of what any candidate can reasonably expect. The picture is a bit blurry in places but there’s a reasonable sense of what a viva is supposed to be like.

Individual candidates can have logistical expectations too. Examiner A and Examiner B are nominated and approved. Date and location are set. Preparations are completed, confidence builds and all is right with the world.

 

Then something happens.

In spring 2020 that something might have been a sudden shift to a video viva.

Or an examiner having to postpone or cancel the week before viva day.

Or through miscommunication it could be that the start time is not what was expected.

When things don’t go to plan, as viva expectations of all kinds collide with viva reality, what do you do? What can you do?

 

You ask for help. Whatever is driving the change of plans you ask for help, because it won’t solely be your problem to resolve. Talk to your supervisor, your director of postgraduate studies or someone in your graduate school. There will be a friendly face. They will listen. They will help.

The change will then become part of your expectations. A new examiner. A new date. A short delay or a moment or two while you adjust to a different video software.

Remember: things don’t have to go completely according to plan for you to succeed at your viva.

Nathan

In The Distance

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If you’re reading this and you’re in your first or second year of your PhD, you don’t have to worry about your viva! You don’t have to give it any great thought: for now, keep on with the main work of your research and your own development. You don’t need to be focussing on your viva.

And with that said, if you want to help yourself now and when you get to the viva, consider doing some of the following:

  • Regularly reflect on how you’re doing. Highlight your successes. See how your confidence changes.
  • Find opportunities to talk about your work. This will help you figure out how to explain what you do and what it means. This is helpful for your PhD, your thesis and your viva.
  • Pay attention when your friends and colleagues have vivas. What do they do to get ready? How do they seem before and after?

Little things you do over a long period of time will help you both on the journey and at your destination. Your viva is a way off in the distance. Don’t worry about it, but help yourself as you make your way there.

 

And of course, if you’re in your third year or fast-approaching your viva, you can follow the ideas above, they’ll still help!

Nathan

Again, For The Final Time

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That’s the viva. You’re doing something you have done many, many times throughout the last few years – thinking about and talking about your research and your ability as a researcher – and this is the last time you’ll need to do that.

(you might want to do it again, you might want to be a researcher or have a career that involves this – but you won’t need to do it after your viva)

At your viva you need to discuss your research contribution, your PhD journey and what you can do as a researcher. These are all things you must necessarily have done a lot during your PhD. The viva is a particular challenge which requires particular prep, but it’s not so different from the rest of your PhD experience.

The viva means doing it one more time. Maybe the last time.

Nathan

You Did The Work

Daily Post

Four words to remember.

They don’t mean that you’re ready. They don’t mean you’re perfect. They don’t mean that your viva will be easy.

They simply mean that you have got to this point in your PhD journey because of time, effort and talent. You did the work. Luck doesn’t hold sway over your progress. Your success is due to what you did.

Your success at the viva is built on a foundation of your work. A little more will help you be ready and that’s enough.

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