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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Two Reflections

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Today: two series of questions that could help as one gets ready for the viva.

First a reflection on your research:

  • Why is your research contribution valuable?
  • How did you do your research?
  • What was the result?

Second, a reflection on you, the researcher:

  • When did you make the greatest progress on your research journey?
  • Where have you found the most help and support?
  • Who are you now that you are coming to the end of your PhD?

Long-time readers of the blog might recognise the “Six Honest Serving Men” of Rudyard Kipling: proto-questions that I think help find good questions for reflection.

Getting ready for the viva involves preparation related to your research and yourself. This could involve talking, making notes and so on – but a little quiet reflection can also be really useful. Invest some time in thinking about what you did and who you are now.

Nathan

Boring

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What can I do in the viva if my research is boring?

Oof.

This was a tough question to hear at a webinar.

My first instinct was to turn the question around and ask, “Well, why do you think your research is boring?” but this was a group webinar and not a coaching session. Thinking or feeling that something is boring is related to perception: how someone sees something might not represent what that situation is really like, at least not fully.

There’s no shortcut to magically fix thinking if you feel your research is boring, difficult or highly specialised; a little reflection on one or more of the following questions could help:

  • Why did you want to do research in this area?
  • What is valuable about your contribution?
  • What is original about your thesis?
  • What have you enjoyed in exploring this topic?

If we think or feel that something is dull we can’t click our fingers or push a button to change that. Asking the right question, taking time to reflect and consider can help shift our perceptions. The process of doing your research could be boring at times – I remember the feeling well! – but perhaps with the right question you can get excited regardless.

Nathan

Big Challenge, Small Step

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What’s the biggest challenge standing between you and feeling ready for your viva?

What’s the smallest meaningful step you could take to overcoming that challenge?

If you feel there’s a problem stopping you from being prepared it helps to name it, however big it might be. It also helps to realise that most big problems aren’t solved by a single big action: it takes a lot of little steps. Sometimes it helps just to do something – anything – to start the process.

Nathan

Making A Difference

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It’s what you must have done over the course of your PhD.

Your research and thesis must have a significant, original contribution – or, more simply, you must have made a difference. Something now exists that didn’t before and that something matters.

Remember that and be ready to talk about it in your viva.

Nathan

The Last Minutes

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What do you do if you have an hour left until your viva and you feel a little nervous?

You do something.

  • You write a few sentences to describe your contribution.
  • You check the bookmarks you have placed in your thesis.
  • You talk with a friend and tell them how you feel.
  • You go for a short walk and breathe!

When you’re nervous in the viva you can only be there and engage as best you can. Before then, if you feel nervous, you can do lots of things to help yourself. Be thoughtful as you prepare: if you were to feel nervous in the last minutes before your viva, what could you do to help yourself?

Nathan

In The Spotlight

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In preparation for the viva you can reflect on possible questions, talk with friends or have a mock viva – but don’t forget that you’re not the only one in the spotlight on the big day!

Your thesis is centre-stage with you. Your examiners have read it cover to cover, so you’d best do the same as well. Your examiners will be thinking about it a lot, so it helps if you do too. They’ll be considering it carefully so take some time to do likewise.

Being in the spotlight, for you or your thesis, might not always feel great – but the only way to get around that feeling is to spend more time in the spotlight. More time rehearsing, more time reading and reflecting.

Nathan

My Comfortable Shoes

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I didn’t feel particular nervousness about the viva, but I don’t remember feeling great about it either. To feel a tiny bit better I wore my most comfortable shoes. I continued to do this for years afterwards when I was in situations – mostly work-related – where I felt uncomfortable.

In fact, I did everything I could to make my situation comfortable. Comfortable shoes. A preparation routine. Arriving early to make sure I had plenty of time. Anything and everything I could think of to feel more comfortable and more capable.

The nature of the viva can make it very uncomfortable for some candidates. It’s to be expected: general nervousness or apprehension about what might happen can be unsettling. Feelings of nervousness about the viva aren’t bad in themselves – they’re normal responses to the environment you’ll be in – but they aren’t comfortable and they aren’t always helpful.

So, if the event could feel uncomfortable, what could you do to increase your comfort?

  • You could find out more about what to expect and possibly remove anxieties that aren’t necessary.
  • You could have a mock viva to remove discomfort at thinking about questions and responding to them.
  • You could take something with you that helps you to feel good or better.
  • You could invite your supervisor to your viva to be a friendly face – assuming that’s how you feel about them!

What could you do to increase your comfort at the viva? Once you have some options, decide what you will do to be more comfortable on viva day.

Nathan

Thought Experiments

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I like thought experiments, both philosophically and in fiction. It can be fun to ask what if? and then follow that thinking to see what might happen next. It’s useful in the kind of work I do too, thinking through how a session might run or how a new webinar might help someone. It can identify issues that need addressing in advance – or eliminate headaches before they happen!

 

Thought experiments allow us to get ahead of problems sometimes, but they can also be a distraction. A lot of what if questions about the viva are completely understandable but can also be very distracting:

  • What if my internal asks about something I didn’t do?
  • What if my external asks about something I can’t remember?
  • What if someone disagrees?
  • What if I lose my train of thought?
  • What if I feel nervous?

I have specific advice for each of these, but the general response to all of them is: “Then you would pause, think and ultimately respond to the situation in the moment in whatever way seems best.”

Because that’s all you can do.

You can prepare, you can practise and you can ask yourself what if – in the end you have to stop worrying and wondering about thought experiments.

Remember who you are, what you did, what you can do and what you bring to the viva.

Nathan

Where You’re Meant To Be

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For all the nerves you might feel, despite any knocks to confidence or worries about research, it’s worth remembering that if you are headed towards your viva date you are precisely where you’re meant to be.

You did the work. You learned. You grew. You got better. Your thesis is proof of that. It’s not perfect, and neither are you, but by now both of you are good enough to meet the standard.

If you don’t feel that, you’re the only one who can change that feeling. Find out more about the viva perhaps, work to boost your confidence, do the necessary work to get ready – and remember that this is where you’re meant to be.

Right here, right now, on track to succeeding in your viva.

Nathan

What You Need

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You need to feel prepared and confident for your viva.

What does that mean for you? I don’t know.

I can make some guesses:

  • You might feel you need to read your thesis a lot, so it sticks in your mind.
  • You might need to know about your examiners, to feel happy with who they are and what (you think) they might ask.
  • You might need to make a lot of notes, read a lot of papers or have a mock viva.
  • You might need to read the regulations or you might simply need to ask a few friends about their vivas.

You will need particular things to feel prepared and confident for your viva. You are the only person who can figure out what practical things will help you feel that way.

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