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Tag: viva rehearsal

Nathan

Spotlight

Daily Post

A part of my discomfort before my viva was due to general nervousness and lack of confidence in presenting and discussing my work. I knew my stuff but I wasn’t comfortable talking about it. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight!

A mock viva would have helped.

Talking about my research with friends would have helped.

Learning more about vivas would have helped.

If the viva spotlight seems at all scary to you then the best thing you can do is find a way to rehearse. The second best thing is to learn more of what to expect from that spotlight experience to prepare yourself.

Rehearsal is the key though: find and use opportunities to simulate the viva ahead of time.

Nathan

Scripted

Daily Post

There are a lot of questions that could be asked in a viva. There are lots of resources that share typical questions you could use to prepare for the viva. If you wanted, you could write down key points and perhaps try to memorise them. A mock viva could help you to get a sense of what the viva experience might be like too.

But none of them can give you a script to prepare for and follow.

Instead questions, if used well to prompt practice and discussion, can help you to stretch a little. Exercise your ability to respond to questions, to think on the spot, to dig into a topic and listen and reflect and talk. All of this can build your confidence for the viva much better than rehearsed lines for you to read out or recall.

You need rehearsal for the viva, but you don’t need a script.

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