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Tag: viva feelings

Nathan

A Recipe For Viva Stress

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Take several years of difficult and demanding work.

Sieve together with months of writing.

Stir in vague half-truths and uncertain expectations.

Add two experienced academics to the mix.

Fold together with nervousness, worry, future plans and, depending on circumstances, pandemic-related uncertainty.

Bring to a slow boil over weeks of preparation and serve at the appropriate time.

 

A candidate might not feel stressed, but it’s not hard to appreciate why someone could be stressed by the thought of their viva. They would most probably still pass but the experience might be uncomfortable.

There’s no silver bullet to defeat viva stress, but there are remedies for each of the ingredients above.

Review your work and highlight what really matters. Re-read your thesis to be sure of how information flows. Find out more about what happens at vivas. Check recent publications by your examiners. And instead of bottling up stress as you prepare, use that time to build your confidence.

There’s a clear recipe for viva stress – but you don’t have to follow it.

Nathan

It Doesn’t Matter

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Lots of things matter about the viva and how you succeed at it, but lots of thing really don’t.

It doesn’t matter if you have typos in your thesis, not really. Do your best to proofread and eliminate them, but be prepared to complete corrections after the viva.

It doesn’t matter if you missed a “key” reference from your field. You might have to think about it. You might have to talk about it. But how many more things have you read?

It doesn’t matter if your examiners are experts or not – and it doesn’t matter if you have cited them or not. Whoever your examiners are, they will be professional, they will be prepared and they will be ready to examine you.

It doesn’t matter if your viva is two hours or three hours or longer, except in terms of how tired you feel and whether you need to do something to prepare for that investment of time and energy. Long vivas don’t lead to more corrections.

And it doesn’t matter if you’re nervous. It might not feel comfortable and it could be distracting, but recognising that your viva matters, i.e., being nervous, won’t stop you from succeeding. Work to build your confidence and you’ll see that nervousness is just one more detail of your viva experience.

Nathan

Special Days

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There are so many special days in the life of a typical human.

Special days usually invite some element of preparation.

A special day might make someone nervous.

You mark your calendar for a special day.

And a special day is often marked in some way: a celebration, big or small, to show that the day really was special.

The viva is a special day in the life of a typical human. Not every human has one, but those that do get there after a long series of days. Some of those will have been special too, but some will have been hard, others will pass without comment and some days will go by in a blur of activity.

The viva takes preparation, you might be nervous because you’ll know it’s a special day ahead of time.

And hopefully you’ll make time to celebrate somehow too.

 

PS: Today is a special day for me as it’s my birthday! I won’t say how old I am, but for a little fun and celebration of my own you can save 42% on all of my ebooks at my Payhip store until the end of the month if you use the code SPECIALDAYS when prompted at the checkout! 🙂

Nathan

More Or Less

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Before your viva, work to feel more confident rather than less nervous.

The importance of your viva doesn’t change: you feel nervous because it matters.

Your confidence levels can increase though. You can reflect on your experiences. You can remind yourself of the successes you have created throughout your PhD. You can be sure of the improvement in your ability and knowledge. You can remind yourself that you did the work.

Work to feel more confident and you can feel less of the impact of nervousness.

Nathan

Sounds Of The Season

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It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas. Everywhere I go I hear seasonal music. Cheesy 80s number ones, crooners from a former era, carols.

Of course there are other signs too that Christmas is weeks away! – but the sound is the thing that sticks with me. There’s a series of associations building up the feeling and the energy.

 

I wonder if something similar could help for the viva? Actually, it’s more than a wonder, I’m sure it could!

I’ve heard from plenty of candidates and graduates over the years who have a viva prep or positivity playlist that helps to boost them. Songs that help someone to just feel better. Music that helps someone to concentrate. Sound that helps people to feel more confident that things will work out well.

What sounds – music, songs, tracks, whatever you call them – could help you as you prepare for your viva? And could they help steer your confidence positively?

Nathan

Nervous Is OK!

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Anxious, worried and concerned can be distressing.

Nervous is uncomfortable. Nervous is reacting to the importance of a situation.

For the viva, nervous means you’re acknowledging that the exam is important. The conversation you’ll have with your examiners matters. And that feeling could be very uncomfortable.

If you’re anxious, worried or concerned then you’re not simply recognising the importance: you’re responding to a problem of some kind. Maybe there is something you don’t know about the process and it troubles you. Maybe you’re aware of some imperfection in your research or thesis and you feel uneasy about it (regardless of how big or small that imperfection might be).

If you’re anxious, worried or concerned and can name the problem that is causing that emotion then you can do something about it. Reflect, analyse the problem, ask for help but ultimately do something to lessen the burden of that problem in advance of the viva.

If you’re nervous then all you need to do is find a way to feel comfortable with the uncomfortable. Building confidence helps, learning more about the process and being prepared help too.

But fundamentally feeling nervous about the viva is OK. It’s a very common part of the process.

Nathan

Viva Time

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It could be a nervous time.

It could be a happy time.

It could be a strange time.

It could be a rushed time.

 

It’s a time of preparing.

A time for remembering.

A time for reflecting.

A time for checking.

 

Time could pass quickly.

Or time could pass slowly.

You could be waiting or pacing or chasing ideas.

Time could feel odd.

 

But it’s your time.

Your time to use as you want or need.

Your time to get ready and then be ready.

Viva time is your time.

Nathan

Daily Confidence

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I worry about my viva every day…

These were the first words I saw in the chat window during a viva help webinar when I asked for questions. In a few short sentences the person described how they couldn’t help it: they felt nervous and worried every day when they thought about their upcoming viva.

There are useful big picture things that could help – learning about what to expect, preparing for the viva, talking to friends – but nervousness for the viva can persist regardless.

Feeling nervous is not always an easy thing to switch off, but building confidence can help; confidence doesn’t eliminate nervousness, but it does help to put it into perspective.

The person in my webinar worried every day. I wonder what might happen if they did something for their confidence every day?

What would happen if you did something every day for your confidence? For example, you could:

  • Reflect on the contribution in your thesis.
  • Bookmark a page in your thesis that you’re proud of.
  • Create a playlist of music that helps you to feel confident.
  • Tell someone about your research.
  • Make a list of successes from your PhD.

Worrying and feeling nervous are perfectly human responses to big, important events. They can become habitual though, a recurring issue to be dealt with. Rather than wait for them to arrive, invest in a daily practice to build your confidence.

Nathan

Finding Reasons

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If before your viva you feel an abundance of nervousness, then you have to look a little and find reasons to feel confident. Confidence doesn’t eliminate nerves, but it does help to put those sorts of feelings into perspective. Nervousness recognises that something is important – confidence gives you the self-belief to know that things will be alright.

Look and find reasons. They could be reminding yourself of all the work you’ve done. They could be bound up in realising just how talented you are. Or you could focus on the process of the viva, what you need to do – what you can do – and what that means for you engaging with that process.

There are plenty of reasons to feel nervous about your viva. There are even more reasons to feel confident of success at your viva. Find them.

Nathan

Yikes!

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Outside of ghost stories and horror movies, there’s not a lot to be scared of on Halloween. The frights are all make believe, costume and shadows serving to send shivers down our spines. For a moment, perhaps, we feel a little anxious before we realise there was nothing to worry about.

And outside of apocryphal tales and half-rumours, there’s not a lot to be scared of by the viva. Worries spring forth from not-knowing, easily dismissed when you find out more about the process. Fears are largely unfounded, nerves building on feeling just how important the occasion is – evaporating in the daylight of the actual experience or by building confidence.

It’s not wrong to feel concerned about the viva. It matters, and it’s understandable to feel anxious. Eventually though, you will realise there was nothing to worry about.

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