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Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Three Easy Wins

Daily Post

I start most working days with “three easy wins” for my productivity: before I get stuck into the harder stuff and deeper thinking I do three things that help me feel like I’m already making progress.

A walk is often top of my list. I’ll check accounts and spreadsheets to see if I need to do anything. And I’ll sort out newsletters and spam that have arrived overnight.

Nothing strenuous: easy or simple tasks that help clear my head, free up thinking space or help me to move on to tougher work.

What could you do to give yourself three easy wins when you sit down to prepare for your viva? Here are some ideas!

  1. Remember and write down one success from your PhD research.
  2. Write “You can do this!” at the top of page 1 of your thesis.
  3. Google the regulations for vivas at your university.
  4. Ask a friend to meet you for coffee and talk.
  5. Find a good page in your thesis and stick a bookmark in.
  6. Decide on one thing you will do to celebrate your success.
  7. Note down one question you think you’ll get in the viva.
  8. Take two minutes to write out a short summary of one result in your thesis.
  9. Attach sticky notes to the start of each chapter in your thesis.
  10. Underline what you wrote for suggestion 2!!

There are big tasks that you can do to help you get ready for your viva. There are lots of little things you can do too that will add to how you feel. Start small each time and do things that build you up for your viva.

 

PS: Number 11 on the list could be “Check out and back 101 Steps To A Great Viva on Kickstarter!“

Nathan

Bit By Bit

Daily Post

Idea by idea. Paper by paper. Day by day.

There’s no other way to put your PhD together than keep showing up, good days and bad, and work your way through. Learn more, do more, achieve more and find your way to becoming a good and capable researcher in your field.

When the time comes, this approach is what helps you prepare for your viva too. There’s no single activity that flips the switch to “ready”.

And, really, it’s how you get through the viva too.

Question by question.

Chapter by chapter.

Response by response.

Minute by minute you demonstrate the capable researcher that you became bit by bit.

And that’s enough.

 

PS: I almost called this post “Step By Step” but thought that was too close to the title of 101 Steps To A Great Viva, still going strong on Kickstarter! The overall idea is still the same: it’s not one thing that makes you ready, but enough steps in the right direction can make a real difference. Check out 101 Steps To A Great Viva now and you can pledge support to be one of the first with a copy of the guide.

Nathan

My Two Questions

Daily Post

In the opening minutes of any viva session I ask two simple questions of the cohort:

When is your viva?

&

How do you feel?

Both of these questions, and their responses, are really helpful to me. I start to think about adapting the session I’ll present. I have a plan of course, but if I know that everyone has submitted their thesis then I know parts I don’t need to emphasise as much. If lots of people say they feel uncertain about their viva then I’ll find a few moments to talk about expectations.

My two questions help outside of viva prep sessions. Consider:

  • When is your viva? Whenever it is, you have time. If you have days then you have time to work towards being ready. If you have weeks you can invest that time in slow and steady preparation if you want to. If you have months before submission then you can carefully build your confidence.
  • How do you feel? Whatever you feel is not fixed. If you feel great then let’s cement that. If you feel uncertain then let’s help you with some information. If you feel unprepared you have time to work on that. If you feel nervous you’re not alone! Most candidates do and that’s OK.

Consider the time you have left and what you can use it for.

Consider how you feel and how you want to feel – and then decide what you will do as a result.

 

PS: One thing you could do is go to Kickstarter and back my campaign to print 101 Steps To A Great Viva! The campaign hit the target over the weekend so now I’ll definitely be producing the print run next month. If you want to make sure you get a copy – and possibly pick up some extra rewards for supporting the campaign – then please go and check it out.

Nathan

Your Thesis

Daily Post

Your thesis is proof that you did the work. It’s the best summary you are able to make of years of research you’ve done.

Your thesis is a talisman to hold on to. It’s one more thing you can look to for confidence in your capability and knowledge.

Your thesis is a resource to use in the viva. Read it in preparation and annotate it to make it more helpful..

Your thesis is one book, but can mean lots of things.

What’s the most helpful story you can tell yourself about your thesis?

Nathan

Risky

Daily Post

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

Five Questions

Daily Post

A little exercise that might help with viva prep and getting ready.

Take a sheet of paper and divide it into quarters, giving yourself space to write notes in response to the following questions:

  1. What were your greatest challenges doing your PhD?
  2. What would you change about how you did your research?
  3. How would you summarise your thesis’ contribution to knowledge?
  4. What changes did you make during your research process?

Read through your responses. Turn the page over and write: 5. So what have you learned during your PhD?

Respond to the question on the second page while reflecting on the previous four responses.

You’ll have lots of specific and personal learning from your PhD journey, but your response to the fifth question could be summarised as a lot.

 

PS: One more question! If you’re looking for more viva help, can you please take a look at and support my Kickstarter campaign, running until 31st May? 101 Steps To A Great Viva is a helpful little guide to getting ready and I’m crowdfunding a print run. Any support or sharing is greatly appreciated 🙂

Nathan

Prep Is A Workout

Daily Post

Viva prep is a series of tasks and activities that help you towards being ready for the specific challenge of your viva. From that perspective, I think it’s fair to think of it as a workout: you’re exercising specific mental muscles, getting in a good academic condition for the work you’ll do on the day responding to your examiners.

Viva prep is building on foundations you’ve created through your life and PhD journey; like many workout programmes it requires a little preparation itself, a little planning so that you space the work out.

(no pun intended)

Like a workout though, you have to actually do the work. You have to read your thesis, make notes and annotations, rehearse for being in the viva and more. And like a workout that work is personal to every candidate: every candidate has a unique set of needs they have to satisfy to reach the ready state they want, even if there are general principles that will help every candidate as they work towards being ready.

So: what are your needs? How are you going to workout in preparation for your viva?

Nathan

The Flow Of Your Thesis

Daily Post

Reading your thesis is an essential viva prep activity, but it’s not for the purpose of memorising a book. You don’t have to be ready to recall everything you’ve ever done or written in your viva.

You read your thesis after submission to get a good sense of the flow of information you’ve laid out. You read your thesis to have a feel for where you can find key sections and ideas, not to imprint them in your brain so that your thesis is redundant. At your viva you can use your thesis: it’s there as a resource!

Before your viva, read your thesis to get a good feel for the flow of ideas. At your viva, use what you know and remember to respond to questions.

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

Keep It Simple Smartypants!

Daily Post

To do research and write a thesis you have to be pretty smart. You must know lots and understand many complicated and complex facts. However, to get ready for your viva you don’t have to do anything especially complicated:

  • Make a plan of prep work.
  • Do the work.

That plan will involve reading, making notes, rehearsing for the viva and reflecting on your journey, but it doesn’t need lots of steps or interlocking to-do lists and flowcharts.

Just make a plan and do the work.

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