Skip to content
phdguide

Viva Preparation Checklist

Everything to rehearse before your viva-voce / thesis defense.

Viva Preparation Checklist

Viva · PDF template

Know Your Thesis Cold

Summarise your study in 2 minutes.

State your contribution in one sentence.

Explain every methodological choice.

Anticipate Questions

Why this topic / gap?

Why this methodology and not alternatives?

What are the limitations?

How would you extend this research?

Defend the Details

Justify your sample size and sampling.

Interpret your key results and effect sizes.

Relate findings back to the literature.

Logistics

Printed/annotated copy of the thesis.

List of corrections you already noticed.

Practise a mock viva out loud.

Template provided by phdguide — academic support, mentoring, analysis, editing and structuring; not authorship. Your work stays compliant with university policies.

Need help applying this to your research?

Book a free consult and we'll tailor it to your topic, stage and university format.

Ethical, compliant guidance

We provide academic support, mentoring, analysis, editing and structuring — not authorship. Your work stays compliant with university policies.