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Tag: viva feelings

Nathan

Feelings Matter

Daily Post

Whatever you feel about your viva, reflect and think about what that means you have to do.

  • Feel nervous? Why? What’s at the root of that? What could help?
  • Feel anxious? What’s the problem? Who could you turn to for help?
  • Feel uncertain? What do you need to know? Where could you get more information?
  • Feel unprepared? How much time do you have? What are you next steps?

And what if you feel confident? Well, what can you do to build on that and continue to feel confident for your viva?

How you feel about your viva matters – but then you have to do something.

How do you feel? What do you need to do?

Nathan

Believe It Or Not

Daily Post

If you believe your examiners will be fair with their questions then you’ll be more likely to try to engage with them, rather than suspect a trap or harsh comment.

If you believe you can get prepared during the submission period then you’ll be more likely to feel ready when the time comes.

If you believe the mostly positive stories about viva experiences that you hear and read then you’re going to act as though your viva will be a mostly positive occasion too.

 

What have you heard about the viva? What do you believe about it? And how does that help you (or not)?

Nathan

What’s Your Real Worry?

Daily Post

If you feel worried about any aspect of your viva, ask yourself why first. For example:

“I feel worried about the discussion…”

Why?

“I’m worried I might forget something important…”

When you know what’s behind a worry you can start to do something about. You could reflect and think of possible steps to take. Continuing the example, possible next steps could be:

  • Highlighting information;
  • Adding notes in the margin;
  • Attaching sticky notes to key pages;
  • Writing summaries of important ideas;
  • Rehearsing for the viva.

These are all possible steps to help. Individually they might not be solutions to the problem, but they could move someone closer to feeling better about the worry. When you have possible steps, you then have to do something.

 

When faced with a worry about the viva, follow three steps:

  • Ask yourself “Why is this a worry for me?” – and dig a little deeper into what’s really wrong.
  • Reflect and think “How could I do something about this?” – find options that could help.
  • Decide, “What will I do now?” – and take action to help yourself.

Why is this a worry? How could I do something? What will I do?

Nathan

Getting Ready & Being Ready

Daily Post

The process and the goal.

Getting ready means reading your thesis, asking questions, checking things, making notes and building confidence. Being ready means feeling certain that your viva will be successful.

Before you sit down to get ready, think ahead to what you want to feel when you are ready. What does being ready mean for you? What would you have done? What would convince you that you’re ready for your viva?

When you have a sense of what it would mean for you to be ready for your viva, you can plan and do your preparations much more easily.

Nathan

Bracing

Daily Post

Every now and then we’ve had trouble with the boiler in our house.

One of the more extreme problems was a time when the temperature of the shower would cycle between pleasant and absolutely-freezing while in use. Over the course of twenty seconds or so a rhythm would play out in the temperature:

  • Nice.
  • Nice-
  • -cool-
  • -cold!
  • Freezing!
  • Oh gosh how does it go that cold?!
  • It goes colder???
  • Freezing!
  • Warming, phew!
  • Nice.

And repeat.

It took a few weeks to arrange the repair. During that time it was never certain when or if the problem would recur. Some days the shower was fine. Some days you would get a sudden surprise as the water temperature plummeted. We never knew when it would happen!

 

For the most part, everything works with vivas. Examiners and candidates have a sense of what is supposed to happen, and then everyone does their part to make that a reality.

But sometimes a question doesn’t produce the response that was expected.

Occasionally an assumption about an idea is wrong.

Or emotions in the event are too much.

All of these could be uncomfortable, even shocking in the moment. Like a suddenly cold shower.

But like a cold shower, if you’re already in that moment, what else can you do but continue? What else can you do but keep going?

If there’s a mismatch of expectations, or a question prompts an odd response, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed then pause. Ask a question. Ask for a break. Ask for help! Read your thesis. Sip some water. Do something.

As best as you can in the situation, keep going.

 

Cold showers and challenging viva moments. Both can be unexpected. Both can be uncomfortable.

When you’re in that kind of situation, you have no choice but to find a way forward. For the viva, remember that you have knowledge, talent and experience.

Nathan

Summary & Memory

Daily Post

Writing a summary of some aspect of your thesis or research before the viva can do a lot of things to help you. It forces you to focus on something, to highlight the best parts or the most difficult sections and can really support you as you fine-tune your thinking.

It’s important to also recognise that creating a summary can help your memory too. It helps embed ideas. You don’t need to memorise your thesis, or a list or a page of notes, or anything like that. Your examiners want to talk to a person and hear their research, their story and what that means. They don’t need you to recite your work to them.

The focus of writing a summary can help boost what you remember for the viva. You know enough and have done enough or you wouldn’t be working towards finishing your PhD. A little more work can help you remember what you need for meeting your examiners.

Nathan

If Things Go Wrong

Daily Post

There’s a chance that something could go wrong before, during or after your viva. It might a small thing, but if something does go wrong:

  • Stop. Ask yourself why this thing is wrong.
  • Ask yourself if you can solve this yourself. Or is better to seek help from others? Depending on the situation it could be your supervisor, director of postgraduate studies, Graduate School staff or your examiners.
  • Do something. Whether it’s the answer to the problem or a first step, you have to do something. You’re the person who has to take action.

You might feel nervous, unsure, concerned, confused or even angry if something goes wrong in and around your viva. Any of those and any other feelings are perfectly understandable – but they can’t be the end of it. You have to do something.

Stop. Ask yourself if you can solve the situation yourself (and if not, find someone to ask for help). Then do something.

Because that’s the only way that problems around your viva can get resolved.

Nathan

Viva Omens

Daily Post

Some things just are, in life and in the viva,

Typos don’t indicate that you’ll face stern questions or tough corrections.

Silence in the viva doesn’t mean that anything is wrong.

If you pause to think then your examiners don’t expect you have a problem.

And if your examiners are subject experts or take a long time to discuss something or if they have done research in something different you are no more likely to face a bad experience.

Some things just are. Typos are simply missed, silence happens when people think and pause. Examiners need to be experienced and can take their time.

None of these are omens of a bad viva or a bad outcome.

Nathan

Only

Daily Post

I’ll be fine in the viva so long as I’m not asked about Chapter 4…

I can only talk about what I did, I don’t want to talk about hypotheticals…

I’m happy to talk to my examiners but don’t want them to challenge my conclusions…

PhD candidates have told me these things and similar for years. They’re reasonable things to think. They come from a place of concern about whether or not they can manage the task that’s ahead of them. There’s nothing irrational about wanting to do well.

But these thoughts don’t help.

A candidate has no control over what examiners will ask. You might have ideas or hopes of what they will want to talk about in the viva, but you won’t know until you get there.

Focus on being ready to talk whatever the question. Your only job in the viva is to engage with each comment and question as needed.

That’s it.

Hold on to that idea, prepare to be a full participant in the discussion, and you’ll find a far more useful position than holding on to worries and concerns.

Nathan

The Paperweight

Daily Post

A small white paperweight, with a black etched design of a leaf

It was a gift from my daughter on Father’s Day a year or two ago. I love my paperweight. It feels like I’ve always had it.

Whenever I feel nervous before a webinar – which is every time I deliver a webinar – picking this little paperweight up is the action that helps me feel confident.

I’ve been a researcher-developer for nearly fifteen years. I’ve helped candidates get ready for their vivas for thirteen of them. I’ve delivered over 400 viva help sessions to almost 8000 PGRs, and been writing this daily blog for over six years.

Yet when I come to deliver a webinar this little paperweight is the thing that helps me feel confident. A small, solid reminder of why I do what I do. A little kickstart for my confidence.

You can’t have my paperweight, but you can find ways to be confident.

Think about what could help you. Is it reflecting on your PhD journey? Is it a routine that helps to centre you? Or perhaps even a small object or image that reminds you of who you are, what you can do and why you’re doing what you’re doing?

You can’t have my paperweight. You can find your own path to confidence.

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