I went to a viva course at my uni, and they gave me about 15 common viva questions, and the whole advice of the course was, ask your supervisor, and do exactly what he says.
I haven't yet organised a mock viva, am sure my supervisor will help me, but I want to get some ideas about questions, cause to be honest am not good at replying quickly, I stress too much (even forgetting things that i know).

I think books and guides help but, to a certain extent (it is not like the real experience). I read the books and they are helpful, but i think is the most useful help would be if I get real questions asked by real examiners (NOT THE FAMOUS COMMON QUESTIONS).
if you don't know the answer, there has to be some strategies for responding. if it is a very difficult question, am guessing it is better to admit and say I don't know I will do more research on that.
if it is a question about something that you should know but, you forgot about it, in that case I will panic really, cause it makes me feel guilty, what do you think is best answer?
am not very articulate in replying to things even in real life, I mean I don't know how to go around things, I just reply honestly, which i don't think can be applied for the viva defense. from my impression it is like a trial with lawyers defending someone even they don't believe the person is innocent ,)

A student told me they asked a lot about statistics and they were trying to find out if I knew about statistics, I think that is very good example, because I used a software and didn't know i need that detailed knowledge ( I knew what am doing but, apparently they want all the details), I know this is obvious question, but for some reason i forgot how important these things are!
Another question was what is the structure of a solution he used in an experiment (am doing Biochemistry)?
which is a bit too specific but, it gives you an idea what to expect.

another advice is to read through recent papers in the field.


ANY ADDITIONAL REAL VIVA QUESTIONS ASKED BY EXAMINERS IN REAL VIVA (SPECIALLY BIOCHEMISTRY :p) WILL BE REALLY APPRECIATED

I suppose this stuff may vary from subject to subject, and my -second hand - knowledge of the viva so far is from the humanities but I too went to a seminar about the viva at my uni a little while ago. The guy who gave the talk said that the examiners should not be out to get you. Your supervisors should have picked out people they know will be sympathetic to your work and, as in the case of one person I know here, they actually said when she walked in that the corrections she needed to make (a few typos only)would only take her an hour or so, but they were really interested in her subject and wanted her to talk about it with them. They also asked her at the end what she would like to happen as a result of her work. Which might be something you should consider (don't think they were after an invite to the wild celebrations though!).

However the guy also said that you should have prepared a 3 and a 5 min resume of your work, as they will almost certainly ask you to summarise it. You should have a copy of your thesis which matches theirs (that is the final version) Mark the start of all the chapters so you can find them easily. Be prepared to defend/justify your approach - that is make sure you can say why you eliminated certain possible approaches. check on the internet for any recent work in the same area - he said he always searches for information in the area, and may question the person about studies that do not appear in the thesis.:$. Mark all the typos etc. that you have discovered since submitting (!) so you can show them you have read the thing since handing it in.

You may of course have discussions about the materials you used, and about statistics - I'm hoping to keep that to a minimum, my excuse being that I need to compare the results with those produced by others who just used simple graphs and charts, but I expect I will have to delve a little more deeply into some statistical bits, which I will study when necessary, and if they ask why it is simple I will probably say that it will be more easily understood by those not au fait with statistical analysis!

Best thing to do is probably to make sure you know your stuff, and steer them away from areas you are not so sure about if you can!

note any strange results you obtained and be able to explain them - or, if you can't, offer a possible reason. Check any tables as they may ask why the results are as they are.

Take your time, when they ask a question, consider your answer before speaking, if you don't understand what they are getting at, tell them so and ask for clarification. The sip of water is a good thing to do, it gives you thinking time.

Hello Joyce,
thank you very much for the advices, it helped a lot. it made me remember few things i need to do.
by the way I have voted for you as a helpful user ;) :$

glad to be of help!