A group discussion (GD) is a methodology used by organizations to evaluate candidates' personality traits and skills. In a GD, candidates are given a topic to discuss in a group for 15-20 minutes. GDs test a candidate's ability to work in a team, communication skills, reasoning ability, leadership skills, initiative, assertiveness, flexibility, creativity, and thinking on their feet. To succeed, candidates should take leadership roles, keep an open mind, speak with a moderate tone, avoid getting emotional, focus on body language, and listen well. Candidates should not constantly object to others, take a pessimistic approach, insult others, share irrelevant stories, or seek attention. The goal of a GD is to see

1. Communication Skills
Group Discussion- Methodology
Subject: Communication Skills
Teacher: Ms Shweta Sharma
Presented By: Sheetal Malhotra, Kriti Sundriyal, Jayati Yaksh,
Aahna Sharma and Rohit Joshi.
Course: MJMC-1, Sem II, 2012-14

2. What is a Group Discussion?
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 it among themselves for 15-20 minutes.

3. Why a Group Discussion?
The reason why institutes put the
candidates 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.
The Group discussion tests how you
function as a part of a team.

4. What is tested?
1. Ability to work in a team
2. Communication skills
3. Reasoning ability
4. Leadership skills
5. Initiative
6. Assertiveness
7. Flexibility
8. Creativity
9. Ability to think on ones feet

5. What To Do?
1. Take leadership responsibilities
2. Keep an open mind
3. Maintain a moderate tone of voice
4. Don’t get emotional
5. Sit upright and concentrate on your body
language
6. Be a good listener

6. What Not To Do
1. Avoid constant objections to other people’s
arguments
2. Say no to a pessimistic approach
3. Don’t insult other people, criticize in a
decent manner
4. Dump your jealousy or animosity
5. No irrelevant stories/personal experiences
6. Don’t be an attention seeker

7. KEY TO SUCCESS
The GD is to check how you (i)
behave, participate and
contribute in a group, (ii) how
much importance do you give
to the group objective as well
as your own, (iii) how well do
you listen to viewpoints of
others and; (iv) how open-
minded you are in accepting
views contrary to your own.
The aspects which make up a
GD are verbal communication,
non-verbal behavior,
conformation to norms,
decision-making ability and
cooperation. You should try to
be as true as possible to these
aspects.