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Nathan

Good Fortune & Hard Work

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In my PhD I can remember times I was lucky. Lucky to be at a particular seminar and see an unsolved problem that I knew I could solve. Lucky to suddenly make a breakthrough and get the result I needed.

Except I wasn’t. I was in the right place at the right time perhaps, but I couldn’t have spotted the first solution without all the results I’d already achieved. I couldn’t make my breakthrough, everything slipping into place, without three weeks of background reading and calculations first.

Words matter.

In all my seminars I remind PhD candidates they’re not lucky to have finished their thesis or to have got results – they’re fortunate. Fortunate is when hard work pays off. There might not have been a certain outcome, but it could only have happened thanks to someone taking the actions that they did.

None of your PhD success is luck. It’s good fortune, when your hard work has paid off.

Remember your good fortune. Remember too the hard work that has got you there.

Nathan

Mistaken Identity

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I’ve observed some PhD candidates think their examiners’ expectations will be set way too high.

Candidates can worry…

  • …whatever someone has produced for their thesis, the examiners will want more.
  • …if you’ve published a paper, they’ll wonder why you don’t have three.
  • …if your future plans don’t include academia they’ll put a question mark around the whole viva.

None of this is true. Examiners are trained. They’re professional. They know what they’re there to do in the viva. They’re not there to be harsh or to set impossible standards (that they couldn’t hit themselves!).

The mistaken identity in the viva process, if it’s there for you, is the identity you believe you need to be in order to pass.

The wonder-brain, the super-achiever, the one-in-a-million.

That’s not who you need to be. That’s the mistake.

Your identity, who you are, is enough.

Nathan

Questions Are Opportunities

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The viva is a conversation driven by the questions your examiners ask. Every question is an opportunity.

  • An opportunity to explore your work.
  • An opportunity to clarify a misunderstanding.
  • An opportunity to add to what is in your thesis.
  • An opportunity to defend your choices.
  • An opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge or ability.

Every question is an opportunity for you to do something good for yourself.

Pause, think and respond as best you can.

Nathan

Easy Mode

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I enjoy playing video games where I can alter the setting to “easy” and feel powerful. I can advance through the story, feel present and connected to the world of the game (as enemies don’t knock me down every two minutes) and I can really have fun.

Unlike a video game, you can’t simply alter the difficulty setting of your viva.

The nature of what you’re there to do, not knowing exactly what questions you might be asked, feeling nervous – all of these can layer to create a challenging environment.

I also enjoy playing video games where you can’t alter the difficulty. There is no easy mode, you have to persevere. You explore the systems and scenario, get a feel for the challenge. Try different tactics and find ways to play to your strengths. The game remains challenging, but also seems easier, due to the practice I’ve had.

This is more analogous to the PhD journey and the challenge of the viva. You can’t alter the difficulty, you have to raise yourself up to meet each challenge. Learn more to do more, do more to know more. Find your strengths, use them well and you make it through.

The final challenge is still a challenge, but it’s not all or nothing: you continue to show what you know and what you can do, and you succeed.

There’s no easy mode for the viva – and you don’t need one anyway.

Nathan

When You Submit

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Take some time off.

Get a little distance from your work and rest.

Viva prep is not a full time job.

You need to read your thesis, you need to rehearse for the viva, you need to reflect on your success so far and find confidence.

But first rest.

Nathan

So Far, So Good

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Say it with emphasis as you get nearer to the viva: “If I’ve come so far, I must be so good.”

Not perfect, not omniscient, not without nerves for such an important event.

You’ve come so far on your PhD journey, so you must be good enough to pass your viva.

Nathan

Zap!

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If you could wave a magic wand and improve some aspect of being ready for your viva, what would you do?

  • Perhaps you could memorise your thesis.
  • Would you want to know all of the questions in advance?
  • Maybe it would be good to feel really certain that you’re ready.
  • Or would it help to see your thesis beautifully annotated to help you?

All great, idealised outcomes. But there’s no magic wand. We can’t get perfection.

Instead, you could take small steps towards all of these. You can’t be perfect, but you can make things better.

  • You could read your thesis and break it down into a list of sections.
  • You could practise in a mock or with friends to get comfortable responding to questions.
  • You could do things to reflect on all you’ve achieved on the PhD journey so far.
  • And you could add a careful set of notes to your thesis to help you on the day.

No Zap! No magic. Just lots of small, positive steps to helping you get ready. What will you do?

Nathan

On Point

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Big, open questions in the viva like “How did you get started?” or “Can you tell us why this method is valid?” could have big, open responses. It might be necessary to talk about a lot of different things to really respond to a question, and it’s not unreasonable for a candidate to be concerned about saying everything they need to or staying on track.

What could you do in your viva to stay on point with a response? A few thoughts:

  • Pause. Stop for a moment when listening to a question and just after to make sure you understand it.
  • Think. Is there a way to break the big question down? Are there key points you have to talk about? Can you do something simple to keep focus?
  • Note. Quickly write down keywords. Tick them off if you need to so you cover the appropriate points.
  • Pause again. There’s no rush. Quick pause, sip of water maybe, and ask yourself, “Have I said what I needed to so far?”
  • Check your thesis. Stay on the page relevant to the discussion. Flip forwards or backwards to find details. Does anything jump out that needs to be referenced?
  • Ask your examiners. Ask if they want to know more. Ask if you’ve been clear on a point if the topic is complicated.

If there’s a lot to talk about it’s natural to be concerned about going off the point you want to make. Thankfully there’s lots of little things you could do to make sure that isn’t such a big concern.

Nathan

Make A Note

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Making notes helps with the viva process.

You can make a note in the viva. It could be a helpful pause in the middle of a difficult conversation. It might help you to stop and unpick a challenging question.

You can make a note (or twelve) on your thesis before the viva to help make it a better resource for the viva.

You can make a note – lots of them! – for every time you think of something that you did that has helped you grow on your PhD journey.

And you can make a note, just one, and keep it close to you through the final stages of your PhD and viva prep:

“I could not have got this far by being lucky. I must be good.”

Nathan

Subtract

Daily Post

I often describe the process of viva prep as adding lots of little things:

  • Read a thesis chapter per day rather than the whole thing at once.
  • Have lots of conversations about your research rather than rely on one mock viva for practice.
  • Lots of little annotations add up to having a better thesis resource for the viva.

To get ready for the viva a candidate might also need to take a few things away too:

  • Work to take away imposter syndrome.
  • Take away confusion by finding out more about what to expect.
  • Writing a summary that takes away from all your words to find the core contribution.

You need to add things to get ready for the viva. You can also help by subtracting things too.

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