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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Values & Valuable

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Different people value different things.

Whether or not a job, a house, a partner, a research idea or anything else is suitable or good to you will depend on what you see as valuable. For your thesis then, there are two useful sets of questions to consider.

First, what do you value in your field? What is it that you think is “good” or “useful”? What topics or ideas do you think are better? Consequently, how do you see your thesis as being valuable? What contribution does it make? Why does that align with your idea of what you value?

Second, what might others value in your field? What might they then see as being valuable in your thesis? What ideas are people looking for? What contributions have you seen others value recently, at conferences or in papers?

Different sets of values might still find common valuable features in your research. Perhaps by considering what others find interesting, useful or significant, you could find a new perspective on your research.

Nathan

Every Single Question

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Every single question in the viva comes as a result of your research and your thesis. While you can’t predict every question, nor know a perfect response for every one, you do have everything you need to be able to respond.

Every single question in the viva is being asked for a reason. It might not be immediately clear to you what that reason is.

Every single question in the viva is going to be asked by one of your examiners, or by you. You can’t know what questions your examiners will have, but you might have ideas. Prepare for your examiners’ questions by rehearsing with a mock viva or in conversation with friends. Don’t create model answers, instead build experience of responding to questions. You can know what questions you would like to ask your examiners; think about this topic in advance, write a list of questions you’d like to ask.

Every single question in the viva is NOT every single question you could possibly be asked about your thesis and your research. Rather than focus on trying to anticipate every single question, focus on being knowledgeable, confident and prepared for the questions as they come.

Nathan

False Hopes

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Don’t hope for a short viva. Don’t hope for no corrections. Don’t hope that your examiners “go easy on you”.

Don’t hope they tell you the outcome at the start. Don’t hope they have no comments. Don’t hope you won’t be worried or nervous.

Hope is a powerful thing, but you can do so much more than hope when it comes to your viva.

For some of the points above, you have no control at all: so why focus on them when there are things you can do something about? Better to put your efforts where they might do something. You can do a lot more than hope you won’t be nervous: you can act to work on what makes you nervous, and act to boost your confidence and offset anxieties.

Don’t hope for things you can’t control. Do more than hope for things that you can. Put your focus on more than hope.

Nathan

17% Uncomfortable

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That’s my prediction for your viva.

You know your research, you wrote your thesis, you’ve prepared for the day. You’re reasonably confident, not arrogant, slight flutter of nerves because it’s important. There’s a few moments of worry – you don’t know what your examiners think, what they’re going to ask, if you’ll go blank on something or not – but you can probably feel pretty comfortable with the situation.

I would hope that you feel only a little uncomfortable, just a little, because when you think rationally you know why and how you’ve got this far. 17% uncomfortable means that you’re doing well.

And if you’re feeling more uncomfortable than that, what are you going to do about it? Who are you going to ask for help? What actions are you going to take?

Nathan

The Least I Can Do

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There are lots of things that could get in the way of preparing.

You’re busy or you’re bothered, you feel stressed or worried…

What’s the smallest meaningful thing you could do? Even if you’re busy or something’s getting in the way, what could you do that would take five minutes and make a difference? Two minutes? One minute?

Why not…

  • Read a page of your thesis.
  • Add a bookmark.
  • Stick a Post-it in your journal saying what you need to do next when you get a moment.
  • Write down a question that occurs to you.
  • Summarise your contribution, even if you’ve done it many times before.
  • Google your examiners and save their staff pages for later.
  • Pencil in half an hour in your diary for when you will do some prep.
  • Download “The tiny book of viva prep” to print and fold later!
  • Print and fold “The tiny book of viva prep”! 😉

Viva preparation takes time; usually thirty minutes to an hour at a time is good for considered thinking or work. But little things add up too. If you find yourself short on time, short on patience, short on confidence, just ask yourself, “What’s the least I could do?”

What small thing could you do, even if it takes only a moment, that would make a difference overall?

Nathan

Not Ideal

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There’s so much about your viva that might not be exactly how you want it to be.

You find typos or a clunky paragraph after submission.

You’re busy and struggle to find preparation time.

Your first choice examiner can’t do it.

You feel more nervous than you want to be.

You worry there’s something missing in your thesis.

You worry you should have done more.

Worry and mistakes and missed opportunities are all not ideal. But the best thing to do is ask, “What can I do?”

Then act. Do something. Don’t diminish how you feel, or just stress about would be better: work to get closer. Work to do something that helps.

So underline your typos or pencil in a correction.

Make a plan for your prep and do what you can.

Learn about your examiner’s research.

Ask yourself why you feel nervous and work on the root cause.

Examine whether there’s really something missing, not just a worry.

Ask why you didn’t do more – probably, because you were doing something else in your thesis!

If something’s not ideal, you can feel disappointed or cross or upset.

But then act. What can you do?

Nathan

Viva Advantages

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There are lots of things in your favour when you go to meet your examiners!

  • The conversation is about your research, which you know better than anyone.
  • Your examiners have read your thesis, but you wrote your thesis.
  • You can annotate your thesis to help details stand out in the viva.
  • You can rehearse being in the viva.
  • You can decide in advance how to approach responding to questions.
  • And finally you have extremely relevant talent, knowledge and experience.

Individually, these are helpful for viva day. Combined, they mean you have a lot of advantages to meet any challenges you’ll face in your viva.

Nathan

A Reminder About Viva Nerves

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Nerves don’t mean there’s something wrong. They’re just a symptom of you noticing that the viva is a big day.

Your viva is important, so you probably feel nervous as a consequence. Nothing more.

Prepare for your viva, because it is important. Do what you can to find confidence, because while confidence won’t banish nerves, it will help to keep them in check.

Acknowledge that your viva nerves are there. An anticipation of an important event. Nothing more.

Nathan

Leap

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You’ve done everything you can, become everything you are, know everything you can and need to know.

Viva day comes and you have to leap and trust you’ll reach the other side. A day that’s different from all the others in your PhD life, but still just a day like any other.

You’ve got what you need. So now you come to it: a leap of faith, an act of confidence.

Of course you’ll reach the other side of your examiners’ questions and discussion. How could you not?

Nathan

You Must Be This Tall To Ride

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Amusement park signs have never bothered me.

I’m tall and I don’t like rollercoasters. Those signs with arrows indicating heights have always been for someone else. My daughter, however, is six, and tall for her age, but short for the signs. “You can’t go on this one, it’s not for you, not yet, not now.” Tears of frustration follow, until another diversion is found.

Frustration and sometimes tears show up around the end of a PhD too. Frustration brought on by fear, worry, anxiety – candidates wondering if they’ve hit the mark. Has their thesis passed the test? Have they done enough? It’s not wrong to wonder, it’s natural given how important everything is at that stage. The thesis, the PhD, the effort that goes into them – your efforts – they’re all important.

It takes time for children to grow so that they pass the arrow on a rollercoaster sign. Academia doesn’t print any signs like that, but they’re there, invisible, and probably behind you now as you head towards the end of your PhD…

You Must Be This Good To Viva.

And to get as far as you have, you must be good enough.

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