Daily viva help for PhDs
Your viva is coming up and you got this!
Whatever questions, comments or criticisms your examiners have, you got this!
Whatever pressures you faced throughout your PhD, you got this!
However the pandemic impacted your work, you got this!
Whatever challenges you face in your prep, you got this!
However you feel – nervous or excited, anxious or eager – you got this!
Because if you don’t, who does?
Viva preparation is not a production line. It doesn’t follow anything as neat as moving from one task to the next, finishing one component and moving neatly on to the next. Prep does not follow a flow diagram: it’s not reading followed by notes, checking papers and then a mock viva at the end.
Viva prep is a series of workouts. You practise various activities to feel ready. You read your thesis to help your memory; you read more later to build on that feeling. You make notes in your thesis, then review them to check they are sticking – and to find out how you think now.
Viva preparation is personal. It involves exploring. There are things you need to do, but many ways to do them. There are lots of steps, but some are steps to the side and some follow path you’ve already been down before.
It all helps. In some ways, viva prep is work to help you realise that you’re ready: you really did the work and you can go succeed in your viva.
There are PhD games that people play that are ultimately not fun or helpful. They’re founded in perfectionism and not knowing what’s expected. Playing them seems like a good idea sometimes, but is ultimately frustrating. Don’t play those games.
These games aren’t worth playing. They won’t reward you or your progress.
The games that will help are personal games. You set a reasonable target and try to achieve it. You recognise the commitment you have and your growth (as a person and a researcher). You take action and move along the very, very long journey.
Play the games worth playing. Save your focus for what matters the most. Your success does not have to be defined by the achievements of others or false expectations.
What if I forget something? What if I go blank? What if my examiners don’t like something?
All hypothetical questions. All reasonable too: any PhD candidate could feel worried about these things for their viva.
But why are hypothetical questions about the viva always framed negatively? I think we could ask a different kind of hypothetical question to help prepare for the viva.
What if you didn’t forget anything? What if your mind stayed clear during the viva? What if your examiners told you what they liked?
What if you had already done the hardest work? What if you had committed three or more years to getting to the viva? What if you had prepared for it?
What if you were good enough?
Hypothetically speaking, what would you do, think and feel?
(using hypothetically rhetorically!)
To help remember your effort and progress – to then help build confidence for the viva – keep records of what you do and what happens during your PhD.
You don’t have to have a minute-by-minute journal of what you do: perhaps start a tally and for each day you show up to do something for your PhD, make a mark. Each time you finish a task, make a mark. Whenever you do something new, make a mark. Whenever you feel you’ve learned something, make a mark. And so on.
Whatever challenges you face, whatever gets in the way, – and particularly whatever makes you feel like you’re not going as far or as fast as you might want to – perhaps all you need is simply to show yourself, with a few marks, that you really are making progress.
You really are good enough.
It’s not a bad thing if you feel nervous before the viva, or at the start.
It’s probably not comfortable. Nervousness can sometimes grow into feeling overwhelmed or anxious because – but by itself it’s not a terrible state.
Nervousness recognises the importance of something: your viva matters. Success means something.
If you feel nervous, don’t fight it. Focus on the work you’ve done. Remind yourself that your ability and knowledge, your effort and research outcomes are what has brought you to your viva. Focus on all of that and you’ll find enough confidence to put your nerves in perspective.
Yes, your viva is important, so you might feel nervous.
Yes, you did the work, so you can feel confident.
The viva is one more time when you have to bring your best.
One more time when you have to share your research and contribution.
One more time when you might be challenged.
One more time when you might be stretched.
One more time when you can show your knowledge and skills.
And one more time on the path to being done. You have lots of experience when you submit. You have repeatedly demonstrated how good you are. Now you have your viva: one more time to show what you can do.
Make the most of it – and remember how you’ve got this far.
How much preparation do I need to do?
Not too much.
How long will the viva be?
Not too long.
How tough will the questions be?
Not too tough.
How critical will my examiners be?
Not too critical.
How often do I need to read my thesis before the viva?
Not too often.
How likely is it that I’ll get no corrections?
Not too likely!
In my experience, PhD candidates over-estimate how much, how long, how tough and how good they need to be in order through the viva process.
Prepare, learn expectations and get ready. Your viva is not too much for you.
Typos matter because they need correcting. It’s important to work towards your thesis being as clear and polished as possible – but it also helps you to know that perfection is an ideal. Most PhD candidates have to complete corrections of some kind after the viva.
After submission you don’t need to scour your thesis to identify mistakes. If you find one, make a note in some way. Be prepared to explain something that’s unclear or incorrect. In general, identifying mistakes is less important than spending time to identify your strengths.
“What potential corrections have I found?” is a much less useful question to ponder than “What’s good about my thesis and research?”
If you feel worried or anxious before the viva then stop and ask yourself, “Why?” What is getting in the way?
For example, if you feel unprepared it could be that you’re pressured with the time available. It could be that you’re not sure what to do. It could be you’re now concerned something is missing in your work. Any of these could be in the way, but all have solutions – you have to know what is in the way before you can work to remove it.
If you don’t feel confident it might be that you don’t know what to expect from the viva. It might be you are feeling especially nervous. It might be that you just don’t believe you’re ready. All of these and more could be reasons why someone doesn’t feel confident. All can be overcome, once you know what the barrier is.
And if the thought of talking with your examiners makes you uncomfortable, perhaps it’s because you don’t know that much about them. Perhaps you don’t know what the tone of the viva is supposed to be like. Perhaps you don’t always feel certain when discussing your work. Whatever is in the way, you can take actions to improve how you feel.
There could be lots of things in the way of you feeling good about your viva. There are also lots of things you can do to help yourself. You just need to know what is in the way so that you can start a plan to get past that barrier.