Group discussion is a vital toipic for Interview purpose, and also for self development.

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2. Subhash chandra

3.  Group discussion is a new trend that has come up in
order to evaluate student personality. A group of
participants are made to discuss on a topic or subject for a
limited time and then assessed accordingly. It is a chance
for you to be more vocal. A GD is a methodology used by
an organization to gauge whether the candidate has certain
personality traits and/or skills that it desires in its
members.
In this methodology, the group
of candidates is given a topic or a situation, given a few
minutes to think about the same, and then asked to discuss
the topic among themselves for 15-20 minutes.
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4.  Communication skills
 Interpersonal Skills
 Leadership Skills
 Motivational Skills
 Team Building Skills
 Analytical /Logical Skills
 Reasoning ability
 Different Thinking
 Initiative
 Assertiveness
 Flexibility
 Creativity
 Ability to think on ones feet
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5.  A group discussion will in addition test your following
qualities:
 How receptive are you?
 Your analytical reasoning
 How articulate are you?
 How you validate your opinions with facts?
 Are you arrogant in insisting your thoughts?
 Personality traits
 Interpersonal skills
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6.  The reason why institutes put you through a Group
discussion and an interview, after testing your
technical and conceptual skills in an exam, is to
get to know you as a person and gauge how well
you will fit in their institute. GD evaluates how
you can function as a part of a team. As a manager
or as a member of an organization you will always
be working in teams. Therefore how you interact
in a team becomes an important criterion for your
selection. Managers have to work in a team and
get best results out of teamwork. That is the reason
why management institutes include GD as a
component of the selection procedure.
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7.  Interactive Skills (how good you are at communication with other people)
 Be confident: If you aren't confident with yourself, you'll be scared of
sharing your opinions. You need to trust yourself and others and you need to
feel confident in your thoughts.
 Behavior (how open-minded are you in accepting views contrary to your
own)
 Participation (how good an active speaker you are & your attention to the
discussion)
 Conquer misunderstandings: Even though you are mainly talking, and
announcing whatever comes to your to debate over; it doesn't stop from
heated words spilling. So take in all in stride and try to form a question
about why such an argument bursts out from something misunderstood.
 Contribution (how much importance do you give to the group objective as
well as your own)
 Decision: Ranging arithmetic, charities, healthy eating, politics, sports, and
virtue or value in today's products. Mainly, you got to wonder if that topic is
worth talking about, for politics, it varies; there is the government, and what
they control.
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8. 1. Form a group of three to five students or more- in case
if you can’t find a good number, discuss with one of
your friends any recent topic under debate.
2. While discussing keep the following things in mind
that will help you in the GD.
3. Know the world around you: It is very important that
you have a sound knowledge on the happenings across
the globe. If you goof up with the facts in the GD, the
probability of your elimination is high.
4. Read opinion pieces: Do not just read every day news,
but more opinions and columns by guest authors. This
will help you understand the different dimensions
wound around any issue.
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9. 5. Think laterally! : Do not state the obvious. Try to take
the discussion further by giving it a new flip. Make
sure you are not veering away from the topic.
6. Be receptive: Do not dominate the fellow participants.
Pay your attention to what they say and if you
support/deny what they say, politely enter into the
argument but not abruptly.
7. Facts and figures: Provide facts and figures when
necessary and use them to support your argument.
8. Don’t speak for the sake of speaking: This can be
related with the previous point. Speak relevantly. Do
not speak to show that you know the facts, figures and
everything about the topic.
9. Be assertive; build consensus: Remember you are not
to win over with your aggressive speech. Understand
the difference between being aggressive and assertive.
Conclude your speech with a harmonious note.
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10. 10. Be crisp and confident: Do not beat around the bush. Do not worry if
your subject knowledge on the given topic is very shallow. Put your
thoughts across and listen to what others speak.
11. Be as natural as possible. Do not try to be someone you are not. Be
yourself. In an attempt to be someone else, your opinions will not be
portrayed.
12. Sit with a straight and confident posture.
13. Be assertive yet humble. You need to stick to your values and beliefs,
but learn to respect the values and opinions of others too.
14. Grab the opportunity to speak first: i.e. to start the group discussion
with your opinion. It generally leaves a good impression on the
evaluator, but take the move only if you have complete knowledge of
the subject.
15. Do not repeat a point, or be lengthy or irrelevant. Also intervene, if
someone else is going on an irrelevant track.
16. Make an eye contact with all the participants. It creates more room
for conversation
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11. 17. Be an active and dynamic participant. The examiner
wants to hear you speak. So do put forth your views.
18. Be positive and prepare your thoughts well but do not
be over-confident.
19. Think well before you speak. You are being heard and
judged upon.
20. When raising an objection to a point kept by another
speaker, back it up with a solid reason to get the point
across.
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12.  Verbal Communication
 Non-verbal behavior
 Confirmation to norms
 Decision making ability
 Cooperation
 You should try to be as true as possible to these
aspects.
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13.  It helps to shed away the shyness
of a candidate and brings his
viewpoint amidst all.
 It stimulates to think in a
different, new way.
 It helps the candidate in
understanding his/ her own
strengths and weaknesses.
 It acts as an aid in expansion of
the knowledge of the participant.
 It helps to analyse the social or
economic issues more logically.13

14.  Don’t start with the phrase – Myself XYZ – there’s no
better way to put the panel off.
 Getting into details about siblings and cousins – especially
the one who seem to have done well. Panelists want to
know about you, not about your extended family.
 Don’t cite – ‘making friends’ or ‘meeting new people’– as
a hobby. Wonder how one pursues a hobby like ‘meeting
new people’!
 Don’t say things like – I studied this in my first year – as
an excuse for not knowing more basic stuff related to their
subject of study. The panel members study this about 20
years back – they still remember about it.
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