Good Answers
Good answers don’t just appear on the day. Good answers to your examiners’ questions happen because you’ve done the work. Good answers happen because you know things. Good answers happen because you’re talented. I think great answers in the viva...
A Non-Trivial Pursuit
Viva candidates pretty much have all the answers. That’s not because the viva is easy or the questions are predictable or because candidates can somehow prepare for every possibility. The viva’s not a quiz game. Some questions in the viva...
Viva Survivors: Your Questions Answered
I’ve had a lot of fun delivering Getting Creative and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva in the last month, and been floored by the support people have given them and how valuable they’ve said they were. So I decided...
Why Examiners Ask
No questions, no viva, no PhD. That’s fundamental, but there are many reasons for particular questions in the viva. Your examiners might ask you that question because they need you to make something clearer. Maybe there is a typo and...
The Best Way To Say I Don’t Know
I don’t know could be your answer to a question in the viva, but it doesn’t have to be all of your answer. Say why. It can be as simple as “I didn’t do that” or “I didn’t read this.”...
Needles & Haystacks
We all know looking for a needle in a haystack is a fool’s errand. I understand why PhD candidates are interested in being well prepared for questions in the viva. Too often though the desire is expressed as wanting to...
Good Answers
Good answers don’t just appear on the day. Good answers to your examiners’ questions happen because you’ve done the work. Good answers happen because you know things. Good answers happen because you’re talented. I think great answers in the viva...
A Non-Trivial Pursuit
Viva candidates pretty much have all the answers. That’s not because the viva is easy or the questions are predictable or because candidates can somehow prepare for every possibility. The viva’s not a quiz game. Some questions in the viva...
First & Last
There’s a rule of thumb for the viva some examiners have mentioned to me: “The first question will be easy; the last question might not be.” There’s no trick to the first part of the statement. Examiners want the viva...
Toppling
In Jenga, whatever your intentions, you might knock the tower down at any moment. Your actions or a misplacement by the last player might make things so unstable that the tower can only fall. It’s tempting to think of the...
