Successful Group Discussion (GD) Tips
GDs Judge Your
* Communication skills
* Interpersonal skills
* Negotiation and Convinving skills
* Assertive skills
* Empathy and consideration for others opinion
Skills to be honed for GD
* Self-control and patience
* Be friendly, warm and cooperative
* Speak intimately, informally
* Don't see others as adversaries
* Be receptive
* Appreciate the good points of others
* During heated arguments, be silent, then give a studied opinion and take control of the situation
Pay attention to
* What you speak
* When you speak
* How you speak
During the GD
* Try for sonsensus
* If there is a conflict, take control
* Give positive angle to the discussion
* Complement and consolidate
* Don't cry out or shout
Ending the GD
* Sum up the discussion with the observer's consent
* Add some points as your view
* Thank all
Post GD
* Shake hands
* Thank All
* Give oral but personal compliments to the participants
To flavour your participation in GDs, use the expressions like
* With your permission, may i supplement?
* May I intervene?
* May I add to that - May I Suggest?
* There is or can be another angle?
* While supporting what you said, may I add?
* with your permission, sir, may I sum up the discussion?
The Five-step formula for success in interview and GD
* Practice
* Dynamic listening
* Think before you answer
* Cite reasons,examples and anecfotes
* Make a confident ending
Let's go on to how GD is initiated and summarised
A group discussion can be categorically divided into three different phases:
i. Initiation/ Introduction
ii. Body of the group discussion
iii. Summarisation/ Conclusion
Let's stress on the initiation and summarisation:
Initiation Techniques
Initiating a GD is a high profit-high loss strategy.
When you initiate a GD, you not only grab the opportunity to speak, you also grab the attention of the examiner and your fellow candidates.
If you can make a favourable first impression with your content and communication skills after you initiate a GD, it will help you sail through
the discussion.
But if you initiate a GD and stammer/ stutter/ quote wrong facts and figures, the damage might be irreparable.
If you initiate a GD impeccably but don't speak much after that, it gives the impression that you started the GD for the sake of starting it or
getting those initial kitty of points earmarked for an initiator!
When you start a GD, you are responsible for putting it into the right perspective or framework. So initiate one only if you have indepth
knowledge about the topic at hand.
There are different techniques to initiate a GD and make a good first impression:
i. Quotes
ii. Definition
iii. Question
iv. Shock statement
v. Facts, figures and statistics
vi. Short story
vii. General statement
Quotes
Quotes are an effective way of initiating a GD.
If the topic of a GD is: Should the Censor Board be abolished?, you could start with a quote like, 'Hidden apples are always sweet'.
For a GD topic like, Customer is King, you could quote Sam (Wal-mart) Walton's famous saying, 'There is only one boss: the customer.
And he can fire everybody in the company -- from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.'
Definition
Start a GD by defining the topic or an important term in the topic.
For example, if the topic of the GD is Advertising is a Diplomatic Way of Telling a Lie, why not start the GD by defining advertising as, 'Any
paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services through mass media like newspapers, magazines,
television or radio by an identified sponsor'?
For a topic like The Malthusian Economic Prophecy is no longer relevant, you could start by explaining the definition of the Malthusian
Economic Prophecy.
Question
Asking a question is an impactful way of starting a GD.
It does not signify asking a question to any of the candidates in a GD so as to hamper the flow. It implies asking a question, and answering
it yourself.
Any question that might hamper the flow of a GD or insult a participant or play devil's advocate must be discouraged.
Questions that promote a flow of ideas are always appreciated.
For a topic like, Should India go to war with Pakistan, you could start by asking, 'What does war bring to the people of a nation? We have
had four clashes with Pakistan. The pertinent question is: what have we achieved?'
Shock statement
Initiating a GD with a shocking statement is the best way to grab immediate attention and put forth your point.
If a GD topic is, The Impact of Population on the Indian Economy, you could start with, 'At the centre of the Indian capital stands a
population clock that ticks away relentlessly. It tracks 33 births a minute, 2,000 an hour, 48,000 a day. Which calculates to about 12 million
every year. That is roughly the size of Australia. As a current political slogan puts it, 'Nothing's impossible when 1 billion Indians work
together'.'
Facts, figures and statistics
If you decide to initiate your GD with facts, figure and statistics, make sure to quote them accurately.
Approximation is allowed in macro level figures, but micro level figures need to be correct and accurate.
For example, you can say, approximately 70 per cent of the Indian population stays in rural areas (macro figures, approximation allowed).
But you cannot say 30 states of India instead of 28 (micro figures, no approximations).
Stating wrong facts works to your disadvantage.
For a GD topic like, China, a Rising Tiger, you could start with, 'In 1983, when China was still in its initial stages of reform and opening up,
China's real use of Foreign Direct Investment only stood at $636 million. China actually utilised $60 billion of FDI in 2004, which is almost
100 times that of its 1983 statistics."
Short story
Use a short story in a GD topic like, Attitude is Everything.
This can be initiated with, 'A child once asked a balloon vendor, who was selling helium gas-filled balloons, whether a blue-coloured
balloon will go as high in the sky as a green-coloured balloon. The balloon vendor told the child, it is not the colour of the balloon but what
is inside it that makes it go high.'
General statement
Use a general statement to put the GD in proper perspective.
For example, if the topic is, Should Sonia Gandhi be the prime minister of India?, you could start by saying, 'Before jumping to conclusions
like, 'Yes, Sonia Gandhi should be', or 'No, Sonia Gandhi should not be', let's first find out the qualities one needs to be a a good prime
minister of India. Then we can compare these qualities with those that Mrs Gandhi possesses. This will help us reach the conclusion in a
more objective and effective manner.'
Summarisation Techniques
Most GDs do not really have conclusions. A conclusion is where the whole group decides in favour or against the topic.
But every GD is summarised. You can summarise what the group has discussed in the GD in a nutshell.
Keep the following points in mind while summarising a discussion:
1. Avoid raising new points.
2. Avoid stating only your viewpoint.
3. Avoid dwelling only on one aspect of the GD.
4. Keep it brief and concise.
5. It must incorporate all the important points that came out during the GD.
6. If the examiner asks you to summarise a GD, it means the GD has come to an end. Do not add anything once the GD has been
summarised.
Last but not the least
1. Be as natural as possible. Do not try and be someone you are not. Be yourself.
2. A group discussion is your chance to be more vocal. The evaluator wants to hear you speak.
3. Take time to organize your thoughts. Think of what you are going to say.
4. Seek clarification if you have any doubts regarding the subject.
5. Don't start speaking until you have clearly understood and analyzed the subject.
6. Work out various strategies to help you make an entry: initiate the discussion or agree with someone else's point and then move
onto express your views.
7. Opening the discussion is not the only way of gaining attention and recognition. If you do not give valuable insights during the
discussion, all your efforts of initiating the discussion will be in vain.
8. Your body language says a lot about you - your gestures and mannerisms are more likely to reflect your attitude than what you say.
9. Language skills are important only to the effect as to how you get your points across clearly and fluently.
10. Be assertive not dominating; try to maintain a balanced tone in your discussion and analysis.
11. Don't lose your cool if anyone says anything you object to. The key is to stay objective: Don't take the discussion personally.
12. Always be polite: Try to avoid using extreme phrases like: `I strongly object' or `I disagree'. Instead try phrases like: `I would like to
share my views on…' or `One difference between your point and mine…' or "I beg to differ with you"
13. Brush up on your leadership skills; motivate the other members of the team to speak (this surely does not mean that the only thing
that you do in the GD is to say "let us hear what the young lady with the blue scarf has to say," or "Raghu, let us hear your views" -
Essentially be subtle), and listen to their views. Be receptive to others' opinions and do not be abrasive or aggressive.
14. If you have a group of like-minded friends, you can have a mock group discussion where you can learn from each other through
giving and receiving feedback.
Apart from the above points, the panel will also judge team members for their alertness and presence of mind, problem-solving abilities,
ability to work as a team without alienating certain members, and creativity.
Don't be disheartened if you did not do well in your first group discussion. The best possible preparation for a group discussion is to learn
from your past mistakes..
