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Tag: viva preparations

Nathan

When You Have To Stop

Daily Post

There’s a moment coming when you will start your viva.

All of your preparations will stop. You will have to be ready.

What do you want that moment to be like? How would you like to feel? What would you need to know by then?

 

Whether your viva is a week away, a month from now or some date later this year take a little time to reflect on the questions above. You can’t directly control how ready you’ll feel but you can decide on and take steps that lead you in that general direction.

So what steps will you take? How do you want to feel when you have to stop?

Nathan

Time To Stop

Daily Post

Possible answers to a candidate’s question of “When should I stop getting ready for my viva?”

  • When you’ve ticked off everything on your viva prep to-do list.
  • When you’ve found answers to every question that’s been bothering you about the viva.
  • Ten or fifteen minutes before the start of the viva.
  • When you feel ready.
  • When your supervisor says you’re ready.
  • Will you ever be ready for your viva?

One of the above might satisfy a candidate. It might be that one of the above satisfies you!

But we need to go a little deeper. First of all, there’s no should when trying to figure out viva prep and getting ready. Knowing when to stop is probably helped by knowing what you need to know and what you need to do. Knowing when to stop is helped by not overloading your schedule with too much to do in too little time.

And maybe you’re simply ready when it’s time to stop.

 

PS: I’ll be sharing a lot more about viva prep and getting ready at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024 – one week today! For full details on the session and to register to attend take a look at the link. Thanks for reading.

Nathan

Refresh Your Memory

Daily Post

Read your thesis, at least once, before your viva. Once might be enough to help you recall the general flow of what you’ve set out and remember the most important details.

Write out a paragraph for each key project you’ve done, to refresh your memory of how you got started.

Read the most recent paper by each of your examiners and look at their staff pages to ensure you know a little about them.

Make a bullet-point list of your results and conclusions. Make another list of all your achievements from the course of your PhD.

You don’t need to have a photographic memory to succeed in the viva. Being able to recall key information easily can help though – and reminding yourself of your achievements can help ground you in the hard work you’ve done and the talent that has helped you to do it.