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Nathan

In Your Way

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Time or work pressure.

Not knowing what to expect.

Being unsure of how to prepare.

Hearing stories that create doubt.

There can be lots of obstacles in your way of getting ready for the way. They’re real, they are barriers. You can still be ready, but only you can take the steps to get these things out of your way.

You have to make a small piece of time for yourself. You have to find out what to expect. You can learn what to do to prepare. You can ask for more viva stories that help.

You can and you must deal with anything in your way of getting ready for the viva.

Nathan

The Numbers Game

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95% of vivas are finished by the four-hour mark.

I estimate that less than one-in-ten candidates will be asked to prepare a presentation.

Around 85% of candidates are asked to complete minor corrections to their thesis as the formal outcome of the viva.

Approximately 10% could be told the outcome of the viva as they start the exam.

And as useful as these statistics can be sometimes for shaping expectations, they’re also really hard to give someone a game plan for the viva. Lots of overlapping ideas – and while they create a feeling to hope for or engage with, you can’t know what is going to happen until you’re there.

The statistics help but you can’t play that game. You have to focus much more simply.

Use the stats and the stories of friends to create a picture of the viva that honestly seems fine. Then do your best. Create the best thesis you can. Prepare as best you can. Boost your confidence as best you can. Start the viva well. Keep going.

It’s important to have good expectations for the viva but the numbers can be a distraction. Create good expectations for yourself too.

Nathan

What’s Your Worry?

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Don’t keep your viva worry bottled up in your brain where you can merely be anxious about it.

Write it down. Tell a friend. Talk to your supervisor.

Your worry could be unfounded. Talking to someone who has had their viva or knows about the process could put your concerns in perspective. They could help you see what you can do to help yourself.

Your worry could be easily resolved. Being clear with yourself and knowing what’s wrong and could allow you to move forwards.

Your worry could be a tough situation – in which case exploring what you could do and what you will do, possibly with support from others, will allow you to work past that worry.

It’s natural, given the importance of your viva, that you might have worries. If you do then you can also do something about them.

Nathan

Clumsy Paragraphs

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Everyone writes them. Too-long sentences or a missing conclusion. Half-finished thoughts or poorly-punctuated points.

Despite your best efforts, you might not find clumsy paragraphs in your thesis until after submission. Don’t stress too much, there’s a chance to get it right – two chances actually!

First in the viva, there’s the chance to set the record right with your examiners. Explain what you really meant and make it clear. They’ll listen. They might have questions or need things in more detail but you have the opportunity to get it right.

Your second chance is in your corrections. Most candidates have corrections to complete after the viva. This is a great opportunity to get your thesis as good as possible. Never perfect! But better.

In your preparations you have to do two things. Read your thesis carefully to see if something isn’t quite right – that’s the easy step. Step two, if you find something, is to hold on and accept that it’s going to be OK; the clumsy paragraph or section can be fixed but you have to wait for the viva to start that process.

It will be OK. Everyone makes mistakes. In the viva process everyone gets the chance to correct them.

Nathan

A Few Thoughts on Survive

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After many years of working in this area I still think survive is the best verb to associate with the viva.

Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances.

Survive doesn’t mean it’s going to be a struggle, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be hard.

Difficult is different for everyone. Manage might be harder or easier. Survive doesn’t come automatically.

The difficulty of the viva might be found in different things for different people.

Survive doesn’t mean you might not thrive in the viva. Survive doesn’t mean you will be scarred by the experience. Survive has a positive aspect for you: whatever the difficulty, whatever you did, you kept going.

Surviving doesn’t automatically mean the circumstances were bad. They were difficult. They were a challenge.

Not so great that you could not keep going.

Nathan

The Formalities

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Find out when and how you’ll have your viva. Check the regulations. Google your examiners and bookmark their staff pages. Note down key expectations your supervisors share. Be sure of the viva process at your institution.

The formalities matter. They’re also a really small part of the viva and of getting ready for it. Sort them out as soon as possible so you can focus on preparing yourself, your thesis and your confidence for the viva.

Nathan

Support Your Choices

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When a candidate hears “defend your thesis” it’s easy for them to think of the viva as a battle, a struggle or a debate.

Perhaps a better way to describe the viva is that it’s a chance to support your choices. Your examiners have read your thesis. They’ve prepared for your viva. They have questions and opinions but the space is there for you to support what you’ve done.

You can clarify the unclear, add details or expand on your process. In sharing more of your research you have the opportunity to support your choices. So in your preparation be sure to check details that need checking, highlight details that are important and summarise anything that could make a difference.

The viva is one more opportunity to show what you did, what you know and what you can do.

Nathan

7 Questions To Ask Friends About Their Vivas

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Friends who have recently had a viva in your department are good to ask about what to expect. Listening to their stories can give you certainty for your viva.

There’s great variety generally when it comes to viva experiences; local knowledge of your department’s practices can both shape your expectations and help you to prepare. By asking the right questions you can get the information that will be most useful to you.

  1. Was your viva in-person or online? (this helps frame other expectations)
  2. How long was your viva? (everyone wants to know this!)
  3. How did your viva begin? (it’s helpful to know the sorts of things that happen)
  4. Was anyone else apart from your examiners present? (some vivas have chairpersons; some candidates invite their supervisors)
  5. What was the flow of questions like? (were they big picture, focussed and so on)
  6. How did your viva end? (get a sense of what to expect)
  7. How did you feel throughout your viva? (knowing some of the thoughts and feelings that flow can help)

If you ask only one person then you might hear a helpful story that puts the viva in perspective. If you ask several people you might spot patterns in the structure of vivas in your department. Perhaps your department has a certain way of doing things. Knowing that information could really put you at ease.

Don’t simply ask a friend, “How was it?”

Go deeper. Ask more to help yourself more.

Nathan

All The Answers

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Knowing exactly what to say to answer every question in your viva isn’t a reasonable expectation. It’s not required for the viva. Your examiners don’t expect it from you. You would probably need to know all of the questions before they were asked (and you won’t).

You’re not expected to know all the answers, but you are expected to respond to every question.

A response could be an answer or an opinion. A response could be sharing an idea or offering a hypothesis. A response could be a gut feeling or a question for clarification.

A response could even be saying “I don’t know,” and then explaining why.

You can’t have all the answers but you have many options for offering a response.

Nathan

Long or Short

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There are lots of reasons why a short viva might be “good” but no good reason to try and make it that way.

The viva is not a race, so you don’t have to rush. The viva is not a quick-fire quiz, so you don’t have to respond to questions quickly.

Listen.

Breathe.

Take your time.

Long or short, your viva will be over sooner than you think.

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