How to Do a Mock Viva
A mock viva is the single most effective form of viva preparation. Reading your thesis again tells you what is in it. A mock viva tells you what happens when someone questions you on it.
What a mock viva should do
A mock viva has one purpose: to surface the gaps between what you know and what you can defend under questioning. Those are not the same thing. Candidates regularly know their thesis well and still struggle to answer follow-up questions on it, because follow-up requires real-time reasoning, not recall.
A good mock surfaces those gaps before your examiners do.
Who should run it
The ideal person is someone who understands the discipline but is not your supervisor. Supervisors know your work too well and often soften questions involuntarily. A colleague, a postdoc in a related field, or a more senior PhD candidate who has already passed their viva is a better choice.
If nobody is available, a structured self-mock using written questions read aloud is better than nothing. The act of speaking your answers — rather than thinking them — reveals weaknesses that silent rehearsal does not.
What to cover
Cover the full arc of a real viva. Start with the contribution question. Move through theoretical framework, methodology, findings, limitations, and implications. End with future directions and publishability.
Do not skip the questions you are afraid of. The questions that make you most anxious in preparation are the ones most likely to come up in the real examination. Fear is a useful diagnostic. Preparation is the response to it, not avoidance.
What to pay attention to
Note the questions your answers run out on. If your explanation of your methodology holds for two minutes and then becomes vague, the examiner will notice the same thinning.
Note the questions you answer with description rather than reasoning. "In chapter three I discuss..." is description. "I chose this method because it was the only design that could answer this specific question given these constraints" is reasoning. Examiners are testing reasoning.
Note the questions where your answer improves dramatically on the second attempt. Those are the areas where you know the material but have not yet found the words. Find the words before the viva.
How many mock sessions you need
One full mock viva is the minimum. Two is significantly better. The first session reveals the gaps. The second tests whether you have closed them.
In the final week, targeted practice on your known weak areas matters more than another full-length session. At that point, depth beats breadth.
PanelReady reads your thesis, constructs an examiner profile, and runs a full mock session with follow-up questions on your actual arguments. No colleague required.
Run a mock viva on your thesis →