Daily viva help for PhDs
When you defend in the viva you aren’t throwing up a barrier with your words – that’s being defensive.
Defensive sounds like, “I’m right!” whereas defending says, “I hear you, but this is why I’m right on this…”
Listen to questions about your thesis and research, then support what you’ve done.
“What if I’m wrong?” asks the concerned PhD candidate, getting ready for their viva.
Typos are a kind of wrong. Not quite meeting expectations with the thesis is too. Not knowing something is a flavour of wrong, but can be fixed.
You could be wrong when you respond to a question. Your examiners could know something, or have a different opinion, or a different belief… But perhaps they’re not right either. Perhaps you’re in a situation where there are lots of good “right” opinions. That could be interesting
Most of the time, considering the work you’ve done, the time you’ve spent, your talent, your knowledge and your thesis, you will be right.
That might be the easy part. Now you have to share what you know with others. That might be harder, but again, considering the work you’ve done, the time you’ve spent, your talent, your knowledge and your thesis, you’ll rise to that harder challenge when you need to.
Am I right?
Gather what you need: thesis, notes, pen, paper… What else do you need for your viva?
Decide on what you will wear: wear something for comfort, for confidence, to feel right or to feel happy… Decide in advance to remove a decision from the day of the viva.
Check the details: whether online or in-person, check what you’ll do or where you’ll go… Then put it away for the next day.
Talk if you need to: find a trusted person, someone who can listen if you have any worries or concerns from nerves… You may or may not need this, but find someone in advance who could support you.
Rest: take a break, relax, distract yourself… All the work you can do to get ready has probably been done.
Picture the hours after your viva. You’ve passed. You did it, you really did.
Who are you telling first? How are you getting in touch? What are you saying?
Picture the hours of your viva. You’re talking with your examiners, responding to their questions and engaged with the discussion.
What’s that like? How do you think you’ll feel? What would you want to stand out in those moments?
Picture your hours of prep. Reading, making notes, rehearsing, becoming more sure you’re ready for the viva.
What do you need to focus on? When are you doing the work? How are you keeping it stress-free?
Picture the (perhaps many) hours of work left before you submit. Finishing practical parts of your research, writing and redrafting, and finally being done.
What’s left to do? How do you prioritise? How can you keep yourself on track?
If you can imagine these different stages, whichever are left of your PhD journey, then you can work to make them a reality. If you start with your goal or outcome, you can consider what will help you reach it.
Imagine the PhD and viva you want, then work to make it real.
Your examiners aren’t there to fire questions at you and expect an answer in ten seconds or less.
They don’t have a big list of true or false statements for you to correctly identify.
And they won’t be grilling you on every single reference you listed.
The viva is a discussion. Your examiners have prepared questions to guide the process. Some are to steer the conversation, others are to check details in your thesis; some are sparked by their personal interests, and some questions might be to satisfy ideas of what is “correct” in your discipline.
But they’re not rapid-fire, all-or-nothing, earning points or against the clock.
The viva has questions but it’s not a quiz.
You’re a candidate, not a contestant.
This is a non-exhaustive list of things that candidates, in my experience, consistently throw lots of energy and attention at – despite none of these things really being problems.
It’s not wrong to feel concerned about something, but better to check if it really is a problem. The list above is non-exhaustive, but it could be exhausting for you to deal with. It’s much more useful to find things that are really worth your attention before the viva. Invest time in getting ready. Invest attention in your confidence. Invest your time in finding out more about the viva.
You might not have to travel for your viva, but it’s still good to consider how you’ll arrive.
What will the journey be like, possibly from one room to another? What could you do to help you transition from a space in your home to the space for your viva?
What will you wear? Hopefully something comfortable, but could you also wear something that helps your confidence?
What will you take with you to the viva? What do you need when you’re there?
A little thought on arriving, even if it’s in your home, can be a great boost for how your viva starts and how you’ll feel throughout.
Clever. Skilled. Professional.
Prepared. Looking for a good outcome.
All at the viva for good reasons.
It’s worth remembering that you and your examiners have a lot in common.
When I was a teenager, me and a few friends liked superheroes. We bought random American comic books from this one newsagent in our home town that stocked them. This was the mid-1990s. No real internet, no way to connect or find out more. There were three or four of us in our school who loved superheroes, and hundreds who didn’t. The thing we liked wasn’t popular.
Jump forward twenty years and superheroes are everywhere. The biggest movies are about superheroes, saving the day in two to three hours of screen time – they’re not universally liked but they’re much, much more popular than when me and my few friends were reading about them.
Popular culture changes over time. Nevermind the popular: culture changes. It’s steered by people, by time, by events, and hopefully – but sadly not always – for the good.
Over the last decade I’ve seen that the culture around the viva is changing. More and more candidates feel less and less worried. Still nervous, but not overly concerned.
The viva is less unknown, it’s more common for people to have an idea of what to expect, more common for candidates to take steps to really get ready.
The culture around the viva in the UK is slowly changing for the good. If you’re not seeing it for yourself then take a few steps to finding out more. Ask a few friends about their vivas. Check the regulations. See what expectations are valid and what you can do to be ready.
Like superheroes, vivas aren’t universally liked – but you can be ready to save the day when it comes to your two to three hours of screen time.
Pause.
Breathe.
Think.
Every question is an opportunity, a prompt for you to share something. No tricks or traps, just invitations to add something to the discussion.
Pause.
Breathe.
Think.
There’s time in the viva. Enough for you to use it well. No rush, no hurry. Engage with your examiners’ questions.
Pause.
Breathe.
Think.
Be as certain as you can – not because you have to be right about everything, but because to do otherwise wouldn’t help you to present yourself and your work as best you can.
Pause.
Breathe.
Think.