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Nathan

The M&M Clause

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There’s an old story that rock band Van Halen asked for bowls of M&Ms in their dressing rooms as part of their contract – but with all of the brown candies removed.

This wasn’t superstars being super-picky: the detail was way down the contract clauses and served as a safety check for them. The band had shown up to concerts previously and found stage crews who hadn’t followed safety procedures they had set out and agreed to. Now if they showed up and saw brown M&Ms in their dressing room they would know there was a good chance that the venue weren’t paying attention and they could take action as needed.

 

There’s an analogy here for the viva!

You might want to be a rockstar but alas you’re the venue.

You need to read the regulations (the contract) that your institution has put forward. Don’t simply follow what others tell you or what seems like common sense.

Read the regulations. Be sure. Regulations are updated from time to time so be sure that you know the process, know what you and others need to do and know what the exceptions are. If your viva needs to be different for some reason then you can see how that comes about, who does what and why.

You’re unlikely to find a small clause in the regulations that means you have to provide bowls of treats for your examiners but it’s worth checking all the points so that you can concentrate on the real work of getting ready.

Nathan

Needing Help

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Academic culture can create barriers. If you don’t know something then you can feel like you are supposed to figure it out by yourself without knowing where to look. Somehow, you are just supposed to know…

Sometimes PhD candidates do need to take a first step or take some responsibility. In most cases though, if you feel like you need help to understand what the viva is all about or to help you get ready for your viva then please reach out to someone:

  • Ask your institution for resources or for guidance on regulations.
  • Ask your supervisor for their perspective on your examiners.
  • Speak to friends and colleagues about their experiences to help guide your understanding.
  • Talk to family and friends about what you’re going through and what they can do to help.

Ask if you need help or support. Be clear, give people time to respond but do ask.

And if you need something from Viva Survivors or me then please get in touch!

 

PS: One potential source of help is my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. I’ll cover everything you need to know about the viva and getting ready, as well as take questions throughout the session. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Lots Of Lists Of Questions

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You only have to search for “phd viva questions” in your search engine of choice and you will find many, many resources that people have created. It’s likely that your AI-service of choice can also offer a lot of general questions from similar sources. If you want examples of the kinds of questions that can be asked by examiners then there are many resources to explore.

The value of these questions isn’t found in simply reading over them though. Making notes will help but will only do so much. The real value is in being asked questions by someone else so that you can rehearse being in the viva and seeing how it feels to respond to a question in real time. It helps not to just skim over a question on a page and think for a moment – but to be surprised by a question and know what it is like to cope with it.

There’s a place for reflecting on questions. Creating summaries is a big boost to viva preparation. Rehearsing by responding to questions is absolutely essential.

You can’t get what you really need to be ready for your viva by simply looking through lots of lists of questions.

 

PS: Looking for more viva prep ideas? Then check out my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026 where I’ll talk about viva prep and a lot more. You’ll get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Prep For Your Examiners

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Viva prep is for the specific challenges that you’ll find at the viva – and two of those challenges are your internal and external examiners.

  • Talk to your supervisors, if you haven’t already, to explore why these academics are good choices to be your examiners.
  • Read the most recent publications by your examiners to get a sense of who they are and what they do.
  • Rehearse for the viva by having a mock viva so that you have a feel for the process that your examiners will be using on the day.

If the viva is a challenge then it makes sense to focus some preparation on the people who will be challenging you.

 

PS: Looking for more viva prep ideas and information about examiners? Then check out my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026 where I’ll talk about these topics and a lot more. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Final Focus

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I try not to be overly prescriptive or proscriptive when it comes to advice about viva prep.

There are certain kinds of work that are helpful when someone is getting ready for their viva but every candidate faces their own challenges and situation. There are approaches to planning prep (start with reading, for example) that would seem appropriate for every candidate…

…but what might be a good approach for one person could be bad for someone else. You might need to read your thesis over the course of a week in preparation for your viva while a friend has the opportunity and impulse to read theirs in one afternoon.

I emphasise the kinds of work that help not how someone “must” do them. It’s helpful to make a plan but you need to make a plan that works for you.

And with all of that said, one thing I would encourage is to give a little focus towards your confidence at the end of your preparations.

A few days before your viva take some time to think about your PhD journey. Note down what you’ve done and what it means. Recognise the talents that you have developed and see them as a foundation for confidence at meeting your examiners.

Nathan

What Are Your Distractions?

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I wear noise-cancelling headphones when I’m writing. Sometimes I forget to put music on; I can sit and write for an hour and realise that I didn’t pick something to listen to. The trigger that helps me focus is the headphones rather than the music (or, at least, the headphones are enough to help me focus).

It might help you to think about how you could minimise distractions when you’re getting ready for your viva. There are lots of practical elements you could explore:

  • Headphones might be a starting point!
  • Find a good time and a good space to work in: when will you be free but not tired? Where can you work and not be disturbed?
  • Have your resources to hand so that you don’t start a task and then have to pause as you get something.

There are other distractions for viva prep and the viva though: nerves, anxieties and worries.

Nervousness is uncomfortable but not unexpected for viva times. Anxiety and worry suggest problems: rather than be distracted by them, name them and then see what you can do to overcome them. Ask for help, read the regulations for vivas or find out more of what you can expect. If any of your worries are directly related to your research or thesis then talk to your supervisor.

You can expect viva prep and the viva to have an element of difficulty. If you’re distracted you have to take steps to focus more.

Nathan

A Viva Prep Checklist

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Make sure you tick off the following as you get ready for your viva!

  1. Read your thesis carefully.
  2. Mark the first page of each chapter.
  3. Read the most recent two or three papers by each examiner.
  4. Check the regulations.
  5. Annotate your thesis.
  6. Spend time creating summaries to help your thinking.
  7. Find opportunities to rehearse.
  8. Ask for support when you need it.
  9. Look back over your PhD to build your confidence.
  10. Take time to rest!

All of these help. Numbers 9 and 10 are particularly helpful and also the most liable to be missed.

 

PS: Looking for more viva prep ideas and information? Then check out my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Different Ways

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As you prepare for your viva it might be helpful to consider the alternatives you didn’t choose.

  • Were there other papers you could have cited?
  • Are there other possible methods to the process you selected?
  • Can there be other explanations for what you’ve presented in your thesis?

When you find something that could be different then unpick the situation to help you explain it to your examiners. Ultimately you made a choice so you have to explain why you made it.

  • Were there alternatives? If so, why did you choose this?
  • If there were no alternatives at the time what made you realise the possibility later?
  • If you would keep your choice, why? If you would change your choice, why?
  • What did you learn through the process?

It’s uncommon for there to be only one way to do something during a PhD (although it can be that different ways arrive at the same ultimate outcome or result).

If there was another way then reflect, understand why and consider how you could explain the situation to your examiners.

 

PS: I’ll be talking about viva prep, viva expectations, examiners and lots more at my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. More details at the link – and you can save £10 on registration with code VSMARCH2026 before midnight tonight. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Prepared To Pass

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You can be ready to succeed at your viva without being perfect.

You don’t need to have read every paper or considered every idea. You can’t anticipate every question or comment your examiners will have. You don’t need to have done it all. You don’t need perfection.

You need enough. You need to know enough, have done enough and be enough.

You can’t be perfect. You can be prepared.

 

PS: I’m exploring the practicalities of viva prep and lots more at my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. More details at the link – and you can save £10 on registration with code VSMARCH2026 before Sunday 8th February 2026. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Creative Rehearsal

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A mock viva is one approach that you can take to rehearsing for your viva. It’s typically a good approach. Sitting down with your supervisor and responding to questions that are representative of what you’d find at the viva is a great practice.

It’s not the only way though:

  • Have a mini-viva: ask friends to use a resource to have a chat!
  • Go for coffee: if your friends know a little they can ask relevant questions!
  • Give a seminar: invite a group to ask questions after a short presentation!
  • Ask me anything: sit down in your department with a sign saying that you’re accepting all questions about your research for a few hours!

You can get creative with rehearsing for your viva. The closer your practice to the expected viva experience the better – but don’t undervalue the emotional help that doing something fun could have.

How else could you get creative with your viva prep?

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