VivaCoach Prep — quick start

A 2-minute guide to getting value from your defense practice. VivaCoach Prep reads your thesis, reconstructs your examining committee, and lets you rehearse the questions each examiner is likely to ask.

1

Add your thesis — or try a demo

Upload your thesis as a PDF and VivaCoach Prep pulls out your research questions, claims, and committee. Not ready to upload? Open a demo thesis first to see how everything works.

2

Find your way: Home and the Coverage Map

Home is your hub — it shows where you stand and the single best thing to do next. When you want the full picture, open the Coverage Map: the whole grid of every research question against every examiner, where each cell is "what would this examiner probe about this question." Think of it as zoom in (Home — your next step) vs. zoom out (Coverage Map — the whole territory). Use Switch thesis to change thesis or open a demo. Open any cell to practice — type your answer (Know it) or speak it aloud (Say it) — for coaching, a score, and to mark cells ready or flag them.

3

Run a mock viva

When you've worked through the grid, run a full mock viva — your whole committee, end to end, the way a real defense flows (opening "summarize your thesis," claim probes, big closing questions). Choose coached (scored as you go) or realistic (no scores until the end).

4

Read your debrief

After each session you get a debrief: your strongest and weakest moments, and the single thing to work on next. Come back, re-drill the weak cells, and watch your readiness climb.

Tell us what's working — your feedback is the whole point of the beta. There's a Feedback button at the bottom-left of every screen. Please use it whenever something helps, misses, or breaks — even a one-line note. You can also just reply to your invite email.

A note on honesty. The questions are examiner-specific anticipations — grounded in each examiner's work and your thesis — not a guarantee of the exact questions you'll get or how your defense will go. A high score doesn't guarantee a pass; treat it as one strong tool alongside your supervisor's advice.

Want the complete walkthrough? Read the full user guide →