Tips to Prepare for Group Discussions

Tips to Prepare for Group Discussions

Group Discussion is an activity conducted to discover the abilities of candidates on the basis of behavioral traits in a group. GDs provide the judges an opportunity to judge the social skills, problem solving ability & presence of mind of a candidate, while he/ she presents the ideas in a persuasive manner.

Why are GDs conducted?

- Group discussion portrays the knowledge of the individual by expressing one's beliefs and ideologies in the negotiations held over a topic.

- It inculcates the ability to build up the strategic views of other's opinions over the same topic.

- Your initiative, participation and contribution for a team-work are the focused areas of GD. It helps in finding out, how one can function better as a part of team.

5 things to step up your GD Preparation:

1) Improve your general knowledge: There is no substitute for the general knowledge during GD. Develop the voracity for reading in order to gather and collect the copious information on several topics.

- Make good use of sources like Newspapers, Magazines & Books, Social Media & News Portal.

- Take notes of important things. They will help you revise the topic.

- Based on what you have read, develop your own logical views about the topic.

- If you are short of views on a given topic, prefer to listen to others rather than initiating the discussion.

2) Improve Communication/Soft Skills: In any kind of profession, listening and speaking are the fundamental tools of communication stage.

- Communicating doesn’t mean just speaking. Good communication skills need you to possess excellent listening skills. Develop a habit of listening to others views.

- Read and step up your vocabulary. Using right words at the right place is half the battle won while discussing a topic.

- Discussion with friends, colleagues, family members on daily basis on social, political or general topics will help you build up your self-confidence.

- Sequence and continuity play an important role in keeping a discussion interesting. Make a logical sequence of points you plan to speak up.

- Also, take a short note of what others speak. This will help you support or counter them with your arguments.

3) Work upon your inter-personal skills: A candidate's behaviour, attitude and influence over the entire team are examined through GD. Certain things that you can include in your behavior are -

- Disagree politely. Use of phrases like “I value what you say but I beg to differ here …..” or “I possess a slightly different opinion on this…..”

- Avoid being aggressive & rude to your fellow speakers.

4) Raise your leadership quotient:

- Help in getting others a chance to speak. A useful phrase for this could be like, “Miss X has been trying to make a point, let’s listen to what she has to say about this”

- Politely stop letting anyone get rude to other speakers.

5) Work upon your body language: “Actions speak louder than words” is a phrase which holds very true in Group discussion. Your body language in a GD should convey enthusiasm & interest while being polite. Here are some body gestures that can help you succeed in a GD:

- Tapping a pen on table or shaking your legs conveys nervousness. Avoid doing that.

- While looking into the eyes communicates confidence, staring at others is impolite.

- Raising your voice, pointing fingers at fellow speakers is considered impolite.