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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

There’s Always Next Time

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Until there isn’t.

There’s another opportunity to get things right, another test you can re-run, another day to spend on writing and editing. Until you hit the deadline, the submission date, the limit of your resources.

A fear I’ve heard around the viva is that there’s no next time to make it right. I hear the worry, and I know for most people there is no cause for concern. Most vivas don’t need a second time, most candidates are exactly where they need to be – the overwhelming majority of candidates in fact.

But saying, “Don’t worry,” never helps.

From the small to the large, from worry over responding well to a question to worry about passing at all, there are actions you can take to help yourself.

Worry alone won’t help. You have to work past it.

What can you do to be more ready to respond to questions?

What practise could help convince you that your thesis is good enough?

What reminders could help convince you that you are good enough?

There’s no next time after the viva. You have one opportunity to show what you know and what you can do. One opportunity after thousands of others.

This one is enough.

Nathan

Find Your Reasons

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While there are general reasons why a PhD candidate will have got to submission, and general reasons why that candidate would pass their viva, personal reasons will be much more powerful. What are yours?

  • What have you learned that has brought you to where you are?
  • What have you achieved?
  • What keeps you going – particularly in 2020?

Find your reasons for why you will pass, and you find a source of confidence that will keep you going.

Nathan

Problems & Opportunities

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A problem is an opportunity in workclothes.

I love this phrase. It’s not always possible to remember the wisdom in it: it can be hard to find a solution when you’re stressed, or tired, or overwhelmed. Still, problems can be a great way to develop and to find value, and both reflection and forethought can be useful to stimulate ideas and problem-solving.

In your PhD, what did you learn because of the problems you faced?

When you had challenges, what solutions did you find?

In your prep, if you have only a little time, what could you focus on for the best outcome?

In your viva, if you were challenged, how could you rise to show your talent?

A problem is an opportunity in workclothes.

It’s not always possible to remember this, particularly if you find problems in your research. To begin with don’t sweep them away. Uncomfortable as it may be, sit with your problems, think about them. And then find the value that’s there.

What opportunities have your problems brought to you?

And what opportunities might you then find in the viva?

Perhaps an opportunity to show your talent. An opportunity to show what you learned. An opportunity to show why your research has value.

Nathan

Hows & Whys

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Your thesis didn’t just appear. You did the work. You made something good.

But how did you do it? And why did it need doing?

How did you find a way to get your results? And why were they good methods to use?

How can you be certain of your conclusions? Why do those conclusions matter?

Be sure you know the hows and whys of your research and thesis for your viva.

Nathan

Blah Blah Blah

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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.

Nathan

4 Ways To Engage In The Viva

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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.

Nathan

The Curio Viva

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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.

Nathan

Simple Expectations

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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.

Nathan

Fortunate Positions

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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???”

Nathan

Fighting The Hydra

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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.

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