I am Faryal, and I have spent the last ten years guiding students through dissertations, research projects, and statistics — the three things most likely to make a grown adult cry at a library desk. I have sat through hundreds of supervision meetings, read drafts at midnight, and talked students down from the ceiling the week before submission.
Somewhere along the way, I noticed a pattern. The students who struggled most were rarely the weakest. They were often the brightest — people with solid work who froze the moment an examiner asked them to explain it out loud. One PhD student I supervised knew her data better than anyone in her department, yet in her first mock viva she could barely finish a sentence. We practised for three weeks. In the real viva, she spoke for two hours and passed with minor corrections. The knowledge was always there. The fear was just standing in front of it.
That is why Confident Viva exists. I kept wishing there was a calm, honest place I could send my students — no hype, no scare tactics, no “ten secrets examiners don’t want you to know.” Just real guidance: how to breathe when your chest tightens, which questions actually come up, and how to practise until the strange feels familiar.
A quick note on what I am: a mentor and a coach. I am not a therapist, and this site is not therapy. If your anxiety feels bigger than exam nerves — if it is affecting your sleep, your appetite, your daily life — please talk to your university counselling service or a qualified professional. There is no shame in that, and it matters more than any viva.
If your viva is coming up and you feel sick just thinking about it, welcome. You are exactly who this site is for. Start with the guides, try a mock viva if you want one, and message me any time on WhatsApp.