Daily viva help for PhDs
The viva is all about talking! You have to talk! You have to answer questions! You have to get your ideas across!
But you also have to listen, you have to think, you have to take your time, you might have to make notes or draw diagrams depending on your research.
You have to talk in the viva, but don’t forget everything else you have to do, and can do really well.
A while back I published a post, The Fourth Option, which summarised how candidates could respond to tricky questions in the viva. This was specifically about situations where a question seems hard to respond to, or even perhaps seems unfair, but I think that some of the same thinking can be extended to the more general idea of responding to questions in the viva.
There’s so much narrative about the viva that describes it as an overly negative experience, that it’s no wonder candidates think it will be a struggle, some kind of conflict, some kind of ordeal. And then candidates believe the dialogue with their examiners will lead to them freezing, fleeing or fighting.
The fourth option, figuring things out, extends to the whole viva as well. If a candidate does away with narratives of conflicts and trials, if they instead focus on the viva as a chance to talk, a chance to defend their choices, an opportunity to discuss their work with their examiners, then the best way suggests itself. You can do the work, you can prepare, you can be ready, and then you can figure it out.
Far better than worrying you’ll freeze, or assume you’ll need to run away or fight. Like a lot of your PhD, you can figure out what to do in your viva when you find yourself there.
You wouldn’t buy your viva from a supermarket, assuming that the viva was a physical thing you could buy. You wouldn’t find it by wandering up and down aisles, past eighteen brands of pasta sauce and ten kinds of toilet paper. Supermarkets sell to everybody, and vivas aren’t for everybody.
You have to know where to look. You have to be a bit of an expert really.
You’d be more likely to find your viva in a specialist antique shop. These things take time to become what they are. They may be one-of-a-kind, expensive by now, and aren’t for everyone. They’re rarely looked for on a whim.
And your viva is certainly going to be one of a kind, a real curio.
Like my old salmon metaphor, there’s only so far you can go with this! Take away the idea that vivas are rare, and yours is just for you, and find your own metaphor to help you come to it with confidence.
It’s easy to tie oneself up in knots about what to expect in the viva. There are simple expectations to hold on to though. Listen to advice and stories from your peers. Appreciate the range of experiences and the common threads that tie them together.
A topic you know really well.
A matter of hours.
An examination with clear goals, and a clear focus for assessment.
Questions leading to discussion.
Two examiners in most cases.
Make it as simple as you can for yourself, and build your confidence and preparation on a few simple expectations.
At the end of one of the last seminars I delivered before social distancing and lockdown, a PhD candidate came up to me with a strange smile on his face. He was generous, thanked me for the session, told me how it had been useful – and then surprised me by saying, “I still don’t get how you did it though!!!”
“…I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t understand!”
“Well,” he said, with a sort-of-frustration, “You just stood and presented for nearly three hours! You didn’t have a script you read from – I didn’t even see you look at notes! And you responded to all of our questions! How did you do that???”
And I told him the simple truth: it was practice. That day was probably Viva Survivor 240-something! I’m in a fortunate position that I’ve been asked to share the same developing session many, many times. I get to publish and share this blog. And over time, through mistakes and mis-steps and finding what works I got good.
I wish that I had made the connection on the day, which only came a few months later, that this truth is also the simple truth for how candidates do well at the viva.
Yes, there’s a challenge – yes, there’s hard work to do – yes, someone could be nervous or worried, as I am when I present – but they’re in a fortunate position. Like me and my work, they must have become good by now. They’ve developed their talents, their research, their thesis, and now get to have a conversation with their examiners.
I like to imagine that the PhD candidate who spoke to me has had his viva by now. Perhaps, when describing his success to a friend they’ll stop him and say, “Wait wait, you talked with them for how long? And they asked you all about your research and your thesis! You didn’t have any long breaks, or any chance to confer with your supervisor – you didn’t take in a script or go away to check your files! You responded to all of their questions…
…how did you do that???”
Combatting nerves and anxieties ahead of the viva is like cutting the heads off the hydra of myth: cleave away the head of concern about typos, and it’s replace with two heads of slightly-unclear passages. Become certain that your examiners are good choices, and you can then stress about what each of them might think.
Every attempt to squash away nerves or thwart little anxieties will make you more and more open to spotting things that could make you nervous. It’s fine to practically assess and fix issues, but doing so to try and push nerves away is not a great strategy.
Unlike ancient heroes though, you have a choice: you don’t have to fight this hydra at all. You have to prepare, but your goal does not have to be eliminating nerves – more will always pop up – instead you can work to build your confidence.
Turn away from the worry-hydra. Work to become more certain of your ability. Worries are not the real challenge in the viva. Greater confidence in yourself and in your work can help you to respond to challenges in the viva, and also put pre-viva worries in perspective.
I think nearly all PhD candidates can point to at least one thing in their thesis or research that’s a Problem.
A specific issue, question, idea, result – a thing – that invites reasoned concern. Non-hypothetical, something you can talk about, analyse, offer opinions on, but perhaps something that is still undecided. Is it good or bad? Right or wrong? Perhaps it opposes conventional thinking, or is different to how your examiners might think or approach a topic.
Unlike vague hypothetical worries – resulting from general nerves over the importance of the viva – a Problem can become a focus for concern that can’t simply be defused by general practice and prep. If you have a Problem, you can’t push it away. You have to work with it. Dig deeper, learn more, write notes, discuss it with your supervisor and be ready to discuss it with your examiners.
Remember too that a Problem is not automatically disqualifying. A good thesis does not mean a perfect thesis. A Problem does not mean a fail or even major corrections. After three or more years of research, there may not be the space to remove all problems or Problems from a thesis. You may simply have to say, “This is as far as I could come.”
Also remember, that after three or more years, if you have a Problem in your thesis, then YOU are the person best qualified to understand it. Your work, talent and time created this Problem, but also made you the person most capable to discuss it in the viva.
Whatever you have heard about vivas, good or bad, specific or vague, your viva will be different.
You may have expectations about the length, about the general outcome, about what questions examiners tend to ask or themes they tend to be interested and all of these are useful for being confident in the process and in yourself.
Still, your viva will be different. Every viva is unique, building on a singular thesis and candidate. A candidate has to balance the knowledge that there are general expectations and unique experiences. And different is OK!
If you listen to enough stories you can see the common experiences that are worth paying attention to, but also notice that each viva is different. Yours will be too.
Different but not bad; fine, and not to be concerned about.
Luck could be a factor in your viva, some strange twist of fate that determines the eventual outcome. But in the same way that sunlight and water stimulates plant growth more than playing Mozart, there are other factors that are far more important. For example:
Don’t rely on luck winning through for you; instead, focus on factors that you can actually influence to steer your success.
Hope is not a strategy; luck is not a resource.
There are two kinds of expectations you might have for your viva, facts and feelings. In the swirl of thoughts about the end of the PhD, and anticipation for what might happen, it can be difficult to determine whether an expectation is one or the other.
Is it a fact that vivas are long, or is that a feeling?
Are you certain your examiners will be looking for problems or do you just believe it?
Reflect on whatever expectations you have. What do you think you know about the viva?
Which are facts? What do they then mean for your viva?
Which are feelings? What do they tell you about what you might need to do?
What can you do to fine-tune your expectations, to know more facts and to have better feelings for the viva?