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Tag: viva rehearsal

Nathan

Three Words For The Viva

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Pause: you don’t need to rush to speak after a question. Take your time, check your thesis, sip some water and catch your breath. The viva is a test of how well you engage, not how quickly you answer.

Think: you don’t need to fire away with your first thought. Pausing gives you space to think deeply. Again, check your thesis, make a note or two if needed. Get your thoughts in order.

Respond: calm and careful, say what you need to say. Remember that not every question has an answer. You might be sharing an opinion, offering an idea, asking a question or even saying that you don’t know. The viva is a discussion, not an interview, not a Q&A.

Pause, think, respond. Don’t forget.

 

PS: this month’s Viva Survivors Select is subtitled The Focus Issue, because that’s what a summary helps you do: focus on what really matters in your research and thesis. The issue has twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new pieces, including an original reflective game that would be perfect for you to practice pausing, thinking and responding! You can find out more details here 🙂

Nathan

How Original!

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Or, original how?

What makes your work new? What makes it different to everything that came before?

It’s not enough to say that your thesis has something in it. It has to be a new something.

How do you explain the originality of your work? What words helps you to convey that to your reader or your audience? (and do the words change depending on who you’re talking to?)

If you’ve submitted then the words in your thesis are fixed. You can still explore how you can communicate and demonstrate what makes your research an original contribution. Make notes, rehearse with questions and of course think some more!

How is your thesis contribution original? How does that relate to what makes it significant?

Nathan

Certain & Right

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Do you feel that you need to be right in your viva? Do you need to have an answer for everything? The right answer?

I think that would feel like a lot of pressure. Needing to be right might also remove a lot of other opinions, opportunities and perspectives from a discussion.

 

Perhaps it’s better to strive for certainty. Take time in the viva to put your thoughts in order so that you are careful and certain in what you’re saying.

It’s far better to be clear in your responses than push to be right about everything.

Nathan

The Spotlight

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What do you think your examiners will most want to talk about in your viva? What do you think needs to be in the spotlight? What topics would you most want to talk about and why?

And more importantly, how comfortable do you feel talking about your work?

Reflecting on how you say things might help – word choices, key points and so on – but the real help comes from rehearsal. You need to find situations where you can practise. A mock viva will probably help but you could also try giving a seminar, going for coffee with friends or even just asking someone to listen.

Whatever you do you need to be comfortable and confident enough to discuss your work and your experience. To be ready for your viva you need to put both your work and yourself in the spotlight.

Nathan

Why You Rehearse

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An incomplete list of reasons why a PhD candidate would benefit from rehearsal before the viva.

To know how it might feel to be in the viva, minute to minute.

To get a sense of what you might do when you’re asked a question.

To get a sense of how you might feel and what you might do when you’re asked an unexpected question.

To practise what you might do when asked a question.

To practise talking about your work with a good audience.

To review how you did afterwards.

To explore your work.

To explore how you describe your work.

To ask questions about your work and how others see it.

To revise your plans for your viva prep.

To build your confidence for the viva.

To hopefully feel better about your viva.

To experience what it feels like to say “I don’t know.”

To demonstrate to yourself that you can do it.

 

Rehearsal isn’t limited to a mock viva. There are many other opportunities like having a chat, coffee with friends, giving a seminar or having a mini-viva.

And the list of reasons above is incomplete. Why else might you rehearse for your viva?

Nathan

Rocket Science

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I don’t know how common it is these days for someone to say “It’s not rocket science!”

The phrase used to indicate that a topic under discussion wasn’t all that tricky, compared to “rocket science” signifying ultra-difficult knowledge that not many would understand.

 

It occurs to me that someone reading this post might be thinking ahead to their viva and how they explain their topic. They might be thinking, “Actually – it IS rocket science!”

 

Whatever your field, depending on your audience, whenever you talk about your work you have to consider your words carefully. How do you engage someone with your topic? How do you explain the important parts? What do you leave out? Do you always need to share every detail? What do you have to start with? And what is the why of what you do?

These questions are useful when considering talking to a non-expert, but they apply when you talk to anyone about what you do.

They particularly apply at your viva. You might not consciously be considering them with every line of discussion but they’ll be in the background as you choose your words.

Rehearsal for your viva helps, no matter what you research. Whatever your topic, take time in your preparation to practise talking about what you do, responding to questions and finding the words to explore and explain your work.

Nathan

Over The Top!

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The viva is big, important and can feel a bit scary. You need to be prepared but that doesn’t mean you have to make heroic efforts to get ready.

  • Reading your thesis once is probably enough!
  • A mock viva and a few conversations is probably enough practice!
  • Reading a few papers and making a few summaries is all you need!

A little reading, a little thinking, a little practice… You don’t need to be over the top with your preparations to be ready for your viva.

If your viva feels big and important that’s because it is.

So are you and so is your work.

Nathan

The Sixth Activity

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There are six main types of activity that make up viva preparation.

Five of them are, in a strange way, quite similar. Candidates can prepare for their viva by:

  • Reading their thesis;
  • Annotating their thesis;
  • Creating summaries;
  • Reading recent publications;
  • Checking recent papers by their examiners.

These are quite different at first glance. They are all essential, helpful activities for viva prep – and also completely unlike what a candidate will do in the viva. That’s the strange similarity: they are essential for viva preparation but practically unlike what someone will do when they meet their examiners.

The sixth essential activity is finding opportunities to rehearse. Mock vivas, seminars, conversations with friend and more. Work that is much, much closer to the work you will do when you meet your examiners. Deliberate practice that helps you to be more comfortable for viva day.

The other five activities make a difference. They are essential, but they are not the same kind of actions that you will take in your viva.

Find opportunities to rehearse.

Nathan

Hold On

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If you feel confident in the days leading up to your viva then do what you can to hold on to that feeling. Remind yourself of what you’ve done to come so far. Remind yourself of the difference your work makes.

If you feel certain of what to expect from your viva then hold on to that certainty. Make notes for yourself of what others have told you. Write down what seems most relevant from the regulations.

If you feel ready to talk in your viva then hold on as much as possible. Rehearse for your viva. Read your thesis and write summaries. Keep going with your preparations to keep that feeling alive for yourself.

Hold on. There’s not long to go and not much to do before you finish your PhD.

Nathan

Friendly Questions

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Around submission time reach out to your friends and colleagues in your department.

For the particular friends who might know a little about your research, ask for time: can they listen to you talk about your work? Would they have an hour in their schedule to get coffee and give you a mini-viva? Or perhaps get a group together and listen to a seminar?

For friends and colleagues who have had their viva, ask for information: what was their viva like? What happened? How did they feel? Consider what you might need to know about to help you get a good sense of what vivas are like or to put your mind at ease. Ask for details.

Who do you know who could help you?

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