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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Inspecting Chapters

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Pick a chapter in the middle of your thesis. Have a quick read and then consider the following questions for a few minutes each:

  1. What does this chapter add to your thesis?
  2. What did you learn from doing the work?
  3. How did you feel writing this chapter?
  4. How did you feel reading it now?
  5. How many typos or other mistakes have you found?
  6. How many times did you think “I wish I could change that!”?
  7. What else from your research did you think about when reading it?
  8. What do you think your examiners might make of it?

Some of those questions might seem odd or unfair – but probably not as unfair as some of the questions you might ask when you doubt your progress or capability!

 

Doubts and worries are a part of being human but you can decide what you’d like to give your attention to. Not every question is worth your time. You can decide where to put your focus.

Find ways to ignore questions which only hinder your prep and confidence. One approach would be to focus on more helpful questions. In my opinion, questions 1, 2, 7 and 8 are probably the most helpful questions in the example above!

Nathan

Three Overviews

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I like the structure of Why-How-What for writing an overview of PhD research:

  • Why did you do this research?
  • How did you do it?
  • What was the result?

Why-How-What has a nice structure for creating a summary during viva prep. It can also be expanded on in other ways. For example:

  • Why did you explore this area?
  • How did your plans change?
  • What do you need to emphasise to your examiners?

A different set of questions can help you draw together different helpful ideas. You could also help your general viva preparation with a quick Why-How-What overview:

  • Why are you on track to succeed at your viva?
  • How could you build your confidence in the coming weeks?
  • What will you do to help yourself?

Keep Why-How-What in mind as you approach your viva. If you’re asked to prepare a presentation as part of your viva, as some candidates are, then consider this as a nice introduction structure too!

 

PS: if you’re looking for helpful viva prep ideas then check out Viva Survivors Select Volume 1. This is my complete collection of helpful viva zines I made last year. Volume 1 has eight issues, 165 curated posts from the archives and lots of new resources – and an introductory offer price until tomorrow at midnight!

Nathan

Find Your Whys

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Why did you want to do a PhD?

Why did you pursue the research that you’ve explored?

Why did you keep going when things were tough?

Why do you believe your work makes a contribution?

Why do you believe you’re ready for your viva?

 

When you have answers to all of these then you’re in a good place to succeed at your viva.

Nathan

My Checklist

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Before I deliver a webinar I go through a checklist to make sure everything is right.

  • Equipment set up?
  • Software running smoothly?
  • All of my session notes up to date?
  • Any special notes for this webinar?
  • Got my backup notes?
  • Water bottle?
  • Break time chocolate stash?
  • Chair adjusted?
  • Captions working on Zoom?
  • Adjusted other Zoom settings?
  • And have I got the paperweight I like to hand?

There are a lot of needs being met here. Some are purely practical: the software and equipment for delivering a webinar. Some are informational: the general and specific notes. Some are emotional: the chocolate and paperweight!

If I meet all of these needs I can be sure I’m ready. This list is the final piece of confidence I’m looking for.

 

What do you need for your viva? Make a list and check things off. Gather up whatever you need in terms of resources. Do the preparations that will support you. Ask for the support you need from other people and from your institution.

Once you meet your needs for the viva then you’re on your way to feeling ready for the exam.

 

PS: one more thing for your checklist might be Viva Survivors Select Volume 1, which I released this week. This is my complete collection of helpful viva zines from 2025: eight issues containing a total of 165 posts from the Viva Survivors archives and lots of new viva prep resources. Volume 1 is a great deal made better with an introductory offer price available until 31st January 2026!

Nathan

Perfectly Impossible

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You can’t be perfect for your viva.

You can be prepared.

You can be polished.

You can be practised.

 

Also: you don’t need to be perfect.

You have invested years of work into practical research in your field, into reading and building your knowledge and into writing your thesis. You’re not perfect but you are very good.

Your examiners expect good, not perfect. You can clearly demonstrate by this stage that you are good.

 

PS: if you’re looking for more ideas of what to expect from your examiners and the viva then do take a look at Viva Survivors Select Volume 1, which I released yesterday. This is my complete collection of helpful viva zines from last year: eight issues, 165 posts from the archives and lots of new resources – and with an introductory offer price until 31st January 2026!

Nathan

Days Of Work

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Between 700 and 800 days probably, if you’re a full time PhD candidate.

Seven to eight hundred days where you show up to do the work. Maybe some were really light on work but others were full dawn to dusk efforts.

Between seven and eight hundred days. Seven or eight hundred days of opportunities.

Probably not all of those 700 to 800 days were good. I’m sure they weren’t all bad either.

700-800 days of learning. 700-800 days of trying things. 700-800 days of moving your research forwards. 700-800 days of becoming a capable researcher.

Between 700 and 800 days of work. That’s what helps you be ready to succeed at your viva.

Nathan

Conditions

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What conditions can you create to support your viva preparations? Think about how you can plan your prep and get support from others.

What conditions can you find that will help your confidence grow? Reflect on your PhD experiences and what your development and work means.

What conditions do you need for your viva to be a fair examination? Be sure to inform your graduate school or doctoral college if you have accessibility requirements that must be in place.

 

What do the conditions and circumstances of your PhD journey – your growth, knowledge, talent, learning and work – mean for life after the PhD?

Nathan

Greater Than

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Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible.

It’s entirely possible to get to your viva and be faced with a question you’ve never considered before. You can forget or go blank. And you can always be asked a question that – through lack of understanding, lack of knowledge or a glitch in the moment – it feels like the only thing you can say is “I don’t know.”

Taking all of this into account, how much more likely is it that you know something?

It’s not wrong to worry about what if’s, brain freezes or feeling uncertain as you respond to an important event like the viva. You can do something about all of these through preparation and through recognising that you don’t need to know everything.

Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible – but, for your viva, what you know is greater than what you don’t.

Nathan

So Far, So Good

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People often say this in an almost resigned way.

Well, we got here somehow…

At the viva it’s better to remember that you have got so far because you are so good.

 

Not perfect: good enough.

Luck didn’t lead you to this point.

You got this far, learned so much and made a difference because you are good.

Nathan

The Firsts

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There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey.

What was the first day of your PhD like? How far have you come since then?

What was the first paper you read? How did it help?

When did you find an answer to the first question you raised? How many more have you found since then?

What was the first step towards the first big result you got? And what was the first big result?

When did you finish your first draft? How did you improve upon it?

After submission you’ll find your first typo, take your first step to being ready, have your first moment of nervousness at the thought of your viva and eventually face the first question at your viva.

There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey. Don’t forget them – and don’t forget how much more you have done.

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