How I survived my viva. Viva voce preparation and reflections.

The viva voce, or defence exam, is a challenge that PhD and, more recently, Masters students must face. It involves more than just answering questions from examiners; it's about demonstrating ownership of your project and showcasing your hard work. Therefore, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your project.

Additionally, since you have invested months (MA viva) or years (PhD viva) of your life into this project, you will likely want to discuss it in detail! Before you can proceed, it is advisable to prepare for the final exam. Below, I share my preparation journey and reflections post-viva (PhD).

Initially, after submitting my first draft, I took a break from my thesis and relaxed for a while. After two weeks, I researched typical viva questions on the internet, which I have listed below. Subsequently, I read my thesis, which I was not looking forward to. I was stressed about finding mistakes and presenting my arguments effectively. My internal critic was creating theories about the quality of my thesis. However, after reading the first draft cover to cover, I was relieved to find it interesting and well-structured.

I also annotated my thesis with small sticky notes to mark important sections and subsections, allowing for easier navigation during the exam.  

Next, I summarized each chapter and aimed for the individual summaries to include:

-           key points and results (in the case of analysis chapters)

-           key definitions

-           discussion points (main arguments and supporting information) important literature (papers) to note.

The summaries were in the form of notes and it was a useful exercise to review and remember more detailed information from my thesis.

I then began working on the viva questions (the list found on the internet earlier). Some of the questions I practiced answering orally to myself. I even recorded few of these answers and listened back to see how confident I sounded.

Notice that I don't mention my supervisory team, they were unavailable, so I scheduled my mock viva with two friends who were very nice to agree to drill me on the questions. If your supervisor is available, by all means, schedule a mock viva to practice the questions and get feedback on your performance. Your supervisor has the knowledge of your topic and is an academic that most probably has experience of being an examiner - their perspective will be very valuable.

I typed some answers to the more difficult questions about literature etc. just to be able to try to put it in writing and have a hard copy of the answers – notes that I ended up not taking to my viva exam.

Finally, a week before the exam, I re-read the whole thesis. This time, I tried to read the thesis from the perspective of my examiners. In particular, I was paying attention to any unclear or ambiguous explanations. I took some notes within the thesis using sticky notes, this proved to be super useful. For example, when reading my methodology chapter, I noticed that the concepts of validity and reliability were not fully explained so I used sticky notes to add this information. I was so relieved that I had added this information because I was asked to elaborate on these two concepts during the exam.

REFLECTIONS POST-VIVA

Would I have done the preparation differently, had I had the opportunity? I guess, the preparation itself gave me more confidence for the exam. I’d probably spend less time working on the summaries of the chapters and instead, I’d have another mock viva to practice answering the questions orally. Any form of preparation is necessary and should not be postponed till the very last week. I found it very helpful to have two days before the viva on trying to relax as much as possible and not overload myself with revisions.

I would definitely recommend preparing yourself with the list of questions that you can find here. These are the questions I used.

If you are preparing for your viva, GOOD LUCK! I’m sure that with the above steps, you will pass your viva confidently. Let me know in the comments below how it went!