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Nathan

The Paperweight

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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.

Nathan

The Happy Candidate

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You could feel happy at your viva because of the opportunity to talk with two experienced academics about your work. You could feel happy that your PhD journey is almost finished. You could feel happy that your hard work has paid off!

You could feel happy for many reasons at your viva – and I hope you do. If that’s not the first feeling that comes to you then do what you can to navigate your way to finding some positive thoughts. Find a little ray of happiness, anything you can, for meeting your examiners and heading towards the conclusion of your doctoral journey.

Whatever you feel, work towards feeling ready. Work towards feeling as good as you can for the work still to do.

Nathan

Tell Someone

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If you need help with some part of your viva prep, tell someone who might be able to assist you.

If you feel concerned, tell someone who might have experience or advice for your situation.

If you have questions about what to expect from your viva, tell someone who will understand and be able to share realistic expectations with you.

If you feel like you’re missing something in the weeks leading up to your viva, then tell someone who can offer considered advice to help you find what’s gone astray.

And if you want to mark your viva success when it’s all done, tell someone who will enthusiastically join in with your celebrations!

Nathan

Hold On To Confidence

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It’s not wrong to feel nervous before your viva. It’s really important! It comes at the end of years of work and you want to succeed. It’s almost certain that anyone would feel a bit nervous, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be confident too.

Confidence follows your actions. It grows as a result of the things we do. Once you realise it for yourself, in and amongst all of the things you do and the success you achieve, you need to hold on tight. Don’t let it get away.

Remind yourself why you feel confident of your ability. What do you do? What have you achieved? What stats or highlights help you remember?

Keep doing the things that help you to be confident, and keep reminding yourself of how far you’ve come and why you’ve made it this far.

Keep going.

 

PS: At the time of publication there is a little under eight hours to back 101 Steps To A Great Viva on Kickstarter! This really is your last chance to be one of the first people to get my new helpful little guide. Take a look and back it now if you want to be sure to get a copy.

Nathan

Risky

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Are there risks of danger, problems or disappointment in the viva?

In general when we consider risk it’s worth assessing three elements:

  • The Bad Thing: the problem or outcome you’re concerned about.
  • The Likelihood Of The Bad Thing: an honest assessment of how certain The Bad Thing is to happen.
  • The Potential Impact Of The Bad Thing: an honest assessment of what might follow if The Bad Thing happens.

So, for example: your examiners find a typo. That’s very likely in a book with tens of thousands of words, but it wouldn’t have a great impact on your success or the work needed to correct it.

Or: your examiners could find a section in your thesis that they don’t agree with. There’s a fair chance of that happening when considering new and interesting research. The impact could be an in-depth discussion of the points in the viva or perhaps a request for certain amendments to your thesis.

An extreme example: it’s possible to fail your viva. That would have an enormous negative impact in many ways – but it isn’t very likely at all. It’s a very rare situation.

If you think or feel something about a potential Bad Thing, ask yourself how likely it is. Ask yourself what might happen. Then consider what you really need to do in response, either to reduce the chance of it happening or lessen the impact if it does.

Nathan

The Question No-one Asks

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Almost thirteen years of workshops, seminars and webinars and no-one has ever asked me, “What do I do if I feel fine about my viva?”

  • I’ve met candidates who feel excited, but they also admit to needing to know more about the process.
  • I’ve met candidates who feel capable, but want to know how to prepare well.
  • I’ve met candidates who are reasonably confident and yet they don’t know what to do about a particular problem or issue they’ve realised.

And I’ve met a lot of candidates who are nervous, uncertain of the process or unsure of what to do to prepare.

People feel lots of things about their viva. I’ve never met a candidate who told me they just felt fine about theirs.

 

Of course, if you do then continue to do whatever has helped you to feel that way! Tell me (and everyone!) what your secret is. Relax, read your thesis and continue to build on how you feel.

If you don’t feel fine, which seems far more likely, then reflect on what’s holding you back.

What do you need to know? What do you need to do? Who do you need to ask for help?

Then take the steps you have to take to lead yourself to being ready for the viva. Maybe you won’t arrive at fine, but you can certainly feel capable and confident for meeting your examiners.

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

The Edge

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Are you nervous about your viva or nervous about the upcoming change?

Your viva, and your success at it, aren’t a leap of faith. You did the work, you did the prep, you can learn about the process. You don’t need to hope that it all goes well. You can be reasonably certain that things are going to work out.

And yet you are at the edge of something.

The edge of your PhD before you step out and do something different. The boundary line between here and there. It could be very similar if you’re continuing in academia or a great change if you’re moving to another field or industry – but it will still be different.

Are you nervous about your viva or nervous about the upcoming change?

It helps to know because then you can do something.

 

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.

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