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Nathan

The Birthday Sale Post

Daily Post

It’s my birthday today and so begins a one-week sale on all of the ebooks and resources you can find at my little online store!

You don’t need to do anything to take advantage of the sale – no codes are needed, no mailing lists have to be signed in advance – you can simply go to this link and save some money on some great resources like Keep Going, 101 Steps To A Great Viva or The Viva Help Bundle.

I won’t say how old I am today, but will simply note that this sale – which runs until January 25th – will save 43% off the regular prices at my online store.

If you’re looking for viva help and like a little bargain then take a look. Please feel free to share the news of the sale too.

Right, I’m taking the day off now! Back tomorrow with more viva help 🙂

Nathan

101 Steps To A Great Viva

Update

I am very happy to share that, after my recent Kickstarter project, 101 Steps To A Great Viva is now available to buy! 😀

Cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva

Thanks to the generous support of backers I was able to finish this project and create a small print run of this new guide. Copies are now available for purchase from that print run – and 101 Steps To A Great Viva is also available to buy and download as a pdf.

 

Wait, what is this? What are you talking about?

…are two questions you might be asking!

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a 24-page guide to what a PhD candidate could do to help themselves before the viva. From learning about expectations to researching examiners, and from planning viva prep to building viva confidence – this helpful little guide is my attempt to gather together useful, practical advice that any PhD candidate can put into action.

I’ve helped over 8000 PhD candidates with their viva prep in the last decade or so: all of that experience, the questions I’m regularly asked, the worries I hear, the advice I offer – it’s all in 101 Steps To A Great Viva, framed as clear steps for PGRs to take as they prepare to get ready.

How can someone get this?

There are two ways!

First, you could get one of the limited number of print copies still available after the Kickstarter. You can get these from the Books page on this site. For £7 you’ll get a print copy sent through the magic of the Royal Mail (but note that I can only ship to UK addresses).

Second, you can buy and download a pdf copy from my Payhip store for £5: there’s an infinite number of copies so you’ll always be able to get one this way, wherever you are in the world! 101 Steps To A Great Viva has an A5 page size so it will read very well on most screens and devices.

I am excited and happy to finally release 101 Steps To A Great Viva. It’s taken a lot of work but been a lot of fun and I’m delighted at the thought of it helping a lot of people. Take a look, ask me about it if you want to know more and please pick a copy if it sounds like it might help.

Thank you for reading!
Nathan

 

PS: if you’re looking for a lot of help, check out the Viva Help Bundle on my Payhip store, which brings together digital versions of 101 Steps To A Great Viva, Keep Going – A Viva Survivors Anthology and my new, short writing game for viva confidence, How You Got Here.

Nathan

Last Call For Summer Sessions!

Update

I have three viva help sessions running this week and there’s still time for you to join me!

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is a tried and tested 1-hour live session of viva help. I’ve delivered it almost seventy times in the last three years. In one hour I break down what the viva is all about, how you can engage with it and what you can do to pass – and we still have time for your questions too!

The seven reasons I share are not tiny things. They’re not hacks, tips or dodges. They’re seven fundamental things to know, explore and hold on to. 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is a 1-hour confidence boost. I’m sharing it three times over the next three days. You can find out more at these registration links:

Registration closes an hour before the start of each session; I won’t be running more until at least the autumn.

If you’ve already had your viva or have valued my writing or sessions in the past then please pass this on to someone who might need 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva.

Thank you for reading and thank you for your support!

Nathan

Nathan

Looking For Viva Help?

Update

This is an extra blog post today to say thank you for subscribing. This post is public on Viva Survivors but I won’t be publicising it on Twitter etc. It’s really just for you.

I’ve been writing this blog for over six years now and I have no plans for stopping. There are so many reasons why I keep doing it.

  • I know that people, like you, subscribe and read what I write.
  • I know that it helps people.
  • It’s helped me to have a practice, inspiration and an ongoing project.

It really does help to know that so many people like you subscribe. Thank you.

If you ever read a post and it sparks a question or you’re getting ready for your viva, do get in touch. I’m always happy to respond with some thoughts.

And if you’re looking for viva help right now then please take a look at my upcoming 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions.

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is a tried and tested 1-hour live session where I break down what the viva is all about, how you can engage with it and what you can do to pass. It’s a 1-hour confidence boost and I’m thrilled to be offering at different times on three consecutive days.

If this sounds helpful, check the dates and register soon: space is limited and I won’t be running more until at least the autumn. To continue saying thank you for your support, if you book in the next three days and use code CONFIDENCE you can save 20% on the registration.

If you’ve already had your viva and have valued my writing or sessions in the past then please pass this on to someone who might need 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva.

Thank you for reading and thank you for your support!

Nathan

Nathan

The Big Announcement

Update

I’ve written a helpful little guide to the PhD viva and I need your help to make it a reality.

From today until May 31st I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I’ve nurtured this idea for a long time and I’m thrilled to be sharing it now.

Draft interior pages from 101 Steps To A Great Viva

If you find Viva Survivors helpful then please take a look at my Kickstarter. I think you’ll like what you find and if you think it’s worth backing there are some great rewards to say thank you:

  • Copies of 101 Steps To A Great Viva, including limited earlybird pledges at the time of writing!
  • Signed copies of my last book Keep Going – A Viva Survivors Anthology.
  • Your name listed in the special thanks section of 101 Steps To A Great Viva.

There are also a limited number of very special pledges to have a 1-2-1 conversation with me over Zoom! We can talk viva prep, advice, respond to particular questions and just go over anything you need for your viva.

Thank you so much for reading and do take a look at 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I’m so happy to share this with you today and I hope it can help you or someone you know. Pledge your support and help me make a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!

Draft cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva

Nathan

Another Little Announcement

Update

(The Big Announcement is coming on Tuesday 16th May!)

I’ve written a short and helpful guide to getting ready for the viva and you can help me publish it – in fact, I would be very grateful if you did!

Cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!
My draft cover!

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a 24-page zine packed with practical steps for any PhD candidate. I’ve been thinking about this for years while I’ve been writing the Viva Survivors blog and delivering webinars. For the last six months I’ve been planning, writing and rewriting and I’m really pleased with how it has finally come together.

The Kickstarter to produce a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva will launch on Tuesday 16th May. I need your help to make my little helpful guide a reality. Please go to the Kickstarter pre-launch page today and use the “Notify me on launch” button. This does not commit you to supporting the Kickstarter or paying any money, but it will help the project to be shared more widely and you’ll be emailed by Kickstarter when the campaign starts.

On Tuesday, when the campaign launches, you’ll be able to decide if you want to pledge money to back it. If you do I’ve got some great rewards to say thank you, depending on your level of support:

  • Signed print copies of Keep Going!
  • Your name in the thanks section of the zine!
  • 1-2-1 Zoom conversations with me!
  • And, of course, 101 Steps To A Great Viva sent through the post!

Thank you for reading. Please use the notify button on the Kickstarter pre-launch page and help me make a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva a reality 🙂

Nathan

Oxygen Mask

Daily Post

Make sure your oxygen mask is fitted before helping others…

It’s the instruction given in aeroplanes in case of emergency, and used as a metaphor to encourage people to make sure they have what they need before assisting others.

The metaphor applies to viva prep too. You can’t help yourself if you’re not in a good place to begin with.

You need rest. You need space. You need time.

You need to be able to breathe.

Make sure you have your oxygen mask on before you help yourself get ready for the viva.

Nathan

A Little Announcement

Update

(because The Big Announcement will be in a few weeks!)

The Headline: I’ve written a new publication and I’ll soon be running a Kickstarter campaign to fund producing a print run!

Cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!
My draft cover!

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a short guide to the many things that a PhD candidate can do to work towards a great viva. From understanding expectations to building confidence, via planning your viva prep and asking for help, the guide covers 101 actions that any candidate can do. I share a concise and simply-framed statement for each followed by an exploration of what that means, how someone might do it and what it does for being ready for the viva.

101 Steps To A Great Viva is the publication I’ve been thinking about for years: an original, short guide of viva help. Bite-sized help built on my experiences of working with over 7500 postgraduate researchers and writing the Viva Survivors daily blog for more than six years.

I’m really pleased with what I’ve developed and 101 Steps is 95% complete. A few more edits and it will be ready to be printed. Which is where I need help!

Draft of Page 7, Getting Started
Draft of Page 7!

A few weeks from now I’ll launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund producing a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I need people to help me by pledging money – and in return I’ll be offering rewards, from copies of the guide, ebooks and print copies of my last publication and even 1-2-1 Zoom conversations with me! If everything goes well enough with the crowdfunding, I’ll be sending out the first copies of 101 Steps in July 2023.

If this sounds at all interesting to you today, here’s how you can help: please go to this link and use the “Notify me on launch” button. That way you will be emailed on the day I launch the campaign, which I’m expecting will be Tuesday 9th May 2023. Using the “Notify me on launch” button won’t obligate you to pledge any money at all. The campaign will run for about three weeks after that, but early interest really helps with the algorithms that help organise these services.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you check out 101 Steps To A Great Viva!

Nathan

The Value of Advice

Daily Post

Viva advice is available in many forms. There are books, podcasts, blog posts, seminars and people you can ask for help. You could talk to people on the internet, in your department or from your own network. You could speak in person, over email or via Zoom.

Viva advice could cost you money to buy a book while reading a blog post could be free. Searching the internet to find help could cost you time but be very convenient; asking a colleague might cost you in terms of scheduling, but be a quick conversation at the appropriate time.

There’s lots of viva advice and it costs in different ways – but it’s only worth the cost if it helps you to do something (or perhaps not do something) that helps you on the way to your viva. Viva advice is useless if you don’t do something as a result.

Advice is valuable, but the real value comes when you do something.

Nathan

Out Of Ideas!

Daily Post

I’m so sorry, but I sat down to write and I have nothing left to say.

Almost six years. That’s how long it took me to write everything that I could say about the viva.

It was a good run, I suppose.

 

Still, there are almost six years of daily posts to read on the site. You can use the random post link if you want to read something at random, or perhaps use a tag to find support on all sorts of topics like viva prep, examiners and viva confidence.

You could even take a look at the anthology I published last year if you want a really considered take on the viva, what to expect and what to do. It’s the best of five years of writing.

 

Who knows if I’ll ever publish anything again after today, April 1st 2023, but on the off chance that this is just a strange day where I feel a little foolish, do subscribe if you haven’t already! 😉

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