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Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

Airbrush

Daily Post

There’s a lot you might need to focus on from your PhD journey as you prepare for your viva: your contribution, the work you put in, time invested in building your skills and knowledge.

As you take time to prepare consider that it could be time to let some other things go.

Let go of disappointments. Don’t dwell on your failures, except what you learned from them. Airbrush out things that drag on your confidence. Leave behind past frustrations that aren’t helping you get ready.

What do you need to forget from your PhD journey? What can you leave out of the story you tell yourself of how you got this far?

You don’t have to focus on your whole PhD journey to find confidence and feel capable for your viva.

Nathan

Knowing Your Stuff

Daily Post

At the viva you’re expected to know your stuff, whatever that might mean for someone in your field or discipline. Broadly speaking: you’re clever, you’ve done the work and you’re assumed to be capable.

It’s not hard to worry that you might be missing something, but keep in mind, to set the right perspective:

  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you need to know everything.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you are expected to have a fast recall of every detail.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean having read every paper.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean guessing every question your examiners might have.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean knowing all of your examiners’ stuff too.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean figuring things out quickly.

At the viva, knowing your stuff means being knowledgeable, capable and being willing to engage with your examiners’ questions and the discussion that follows from them.

To get as far as you have you must know your stuff: it’s the only way anyone could get to submission.

 

PS: want to know more about the viva process and expectations? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is live for my March 27th 2025 webinar and includes follow-up resources and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend on the day.

Nathan

Imperfect Metrics

Daily Post

Viva success is not based on how many days you showed up to do your work.

Success isn’t determined by the number of chapters you have written, the number of papers you cited, how many conference talks you’ve delivered or whether you have several publications out there.

All these numbers can give a boost to your confidence though. The numbers mean you did something, repeatedly, and over a long period of time.

You need to look a little deeper for proof of your knowledge and capability as a PhD candidate, but a good starting point might be the imperfect metrics of a few numbers that show you did the work.

They count for something.

Nathan

Contributions Matter

Daily Post

“How would you define your significant, original contribution?”

That’s a hard question for a lot of reasons.

It asks for specifics, your opinion and makes an assumption that there is one big thing you’ve done through your research. Personally, I would struggle to respond because I didn’t have a single focus during my PhD: my thesis was a collection of results, not one overall idea that I explored.

It’s a hard question, but it could be rewarding to unpick nonetheless. Reflecting might reveal some helpful ways to share your research with your examiners (and others).

It’s also helpful to reflect on all of your contributions, big and small. Look back over your PhD and think about your results, achievements and victories. What do they all amount to? Whether or not there is a single headline conclusion to point to, what do your contributions mean?

Remember that contributions can be a stepping stone to confidence: recognising what you’ve achieved can be a helpful way to boost how you feel.

 

PS: exploring confidence is a big part of my Viva Survivor webinar – alongside expectations, viva prep and the whole viva process. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 session and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live!

Nathan

“Have A Great Time”

Daily Post

…is a sentiment that is a bit like “Good luck” or “Don’t worry” when related to the viva. It’s very well meant, but there might not be a lot that you can do directly.

While you can’t control whether or not you will have a great viva, you can influence things. You can:

  • Do the work
  • Plan and prepare.
  • Check the regulations.
  • Reflect on your PhD journey to build your confidence.
  • Check out your examiners.
  • Read, review and rehearse.

Having a great time at the viva does not rest on good luck. It won’t happen if you simply don’t worry. As with all of your PhD success, you have to do the work.

Nathan

Don’t Wait

Daily Post

Don’t wait until your viva day to think about how you explain your contribution.

Don’t wait until your viva day to wonder about what your examiners might ask.

Don’t wait until your viva day to experience what it’s like to be asked a question about your work.

Don’t wait until your viva day to find out what vivas are like.

Don’t wait until your viva day to know whether or not you’re ready.

Nathan

All The Choices

Daily Post

When you reflect on your PhD journey, take a little time to think about the choices you made.

  • Some choices will have been about purpose. How you wanted to do things and how you did them. Were you able to follow your intentions? Did they lead where you expected?
  • Some choices will have been about options. Do you pick Plan A or Plan B? How did you make the choice? Did it work out as you thought it would and what did you learn along the way?
  • Some choices will have been hard. How did you arrive at that situation? Was there any other choice open to you?

Looking back, some choices might seem like they were obviously right. For some you might now think that you would choose differently. Hindsight is wonderful.

Looking back you can see that you have got to the end of your PhD with work, growth, adding to knowledge and by making choices. These choices alone don’t have to define you, but they do influence how you think about yourself, your work and your PhD.

If you’ve not arrived at your viva day yet, you still have time to make choices that can help you get ready.

Choose wisely.

Nathan

You Make It Good

Daily Post

Remember that the contribution in your thesis is only there because you did the work.

Remember that your thesis, imperfect though it probably is, only exists because you took the time to write it.

Remember that you have got to your viva because you put in the effort over a very long period of time.

Whatever your research, your thesis and your viva have that make them good is because of you.

Nathan

Prep & Placebos

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Prep helps to you get ready for your viva. Placebos help you to feel ready for your viva.

Prep is the practical work that gets you closer: read your thesis, make notes, check papers, rehearse with a mock viva and so on.

Placebos are the necessary activities and artefacts that help you feel better: the routines and rituals, the music that is just right or the outfit that helps you feel confident.

Both have an element of personal preference. Prep involves specific kinds of work done in particular ways to meet your needs. Placebos can be cultural but are more typically unique to each person.

(my paperweight is just for me!)

Prep helps you get ready. Placebos help you feel ready. Together they help you to be ready.

Nathan

Important Past Dates

Daily Post

A companion post to these thoughts from November 2024!

The first day of your PhD: it was a long time ago and you’ve come a long way since then.

Your first supervisory meeting: whatever your relationship over the course of your PhD, you’ve grown as a result of your supervisor.

The first new thing that clicked: do you remember the moment when you made a significant connection?

Your biggest setback: what happened and what did you do as a result?

When you finished your first draft of your first chapter: how did it feel to get it done?

The final problem: why was it a problem? How did you solve it?

Looking back over all of these, whether you remember exact dates or not, the important thing is that you have grown. You were good at the start of your PhD and you have become more.

Viva prep involves relatively simple work like reading and making notes. The more difficult work is to reflect on your journey, what happened, what it means and why it makes you exactly right for the challenge you’ll face at your viva.

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