Group Discussion Tips

In this arti­cle we would look at few last min­utes tips for Group Dis­cus­sion prepa­ra­tion. Let us deal down to the points straight away.

The panel should notice you

Some of the points that stand out under this category

• Make sure that you are audi­ble. If the group hears and acknowl­edges your point, so will the reviewer.
• Be assertive and show your lead­er­ship skills. Prob­a­bly noth­ing else brings you to fore­ground much more than a proper inter­jec­tion and putting the dis­cus­sion back into track.
• Speak Up. Some­times GD can turn out to be hos­tile; often can­di­dates com­plain that they don’t get enough chances to speak. Remem­ber it’s your GD, you are being judged. So no point in keep­ing mum.

Mean­ing­ful Con­tri­bu­tion to Discussion

To grab reviewer’s atten­tion, you need to have a good under­stand­ing of the topic. You can’t fool around with review­ers will ill logic. You should be able to think log­i­cally and hence put forth you ideas cohe­sively. Your inter­jec­tions are more valu­able than your speech. Qual­ity always wins over quan­tity. Also, you should judge the pulse of the room. Your words should drive home their impact.

Con­sen­sus

Your points are likely to derive its set of approvers as well as detrac­tors. The force of your argu­ment lies in the fact that you can win over your detrac­tors by log­i­cal rea­son­ing. Build­ing con­sen­sus is needed because we are work­ing in a team. A divided group con­sen­sus is as good as hav­ing no meet­ing at all.

To achieve the above-said points, we need to focus on the fol­low­ing points.

1. a) Be Your­self. You can only act as your­self. All oth­ers acts fail, or at least these exer­cises are attempt­ing to fail such acts. It is eas­ier con­vers­ing being you.

1. b) Take time to orga­nize your thoughts. Dur­ing the dis­cus­sion there will a lot many points. You might be nod­ding your head to many of them. But do not pitch in to say any­thing as soon as it is put on table. Think of the pros and cons. Take time to orga­nize your thoughts and put them across once you are confident.

1. c) The panel is lis­ten­ing to you always. Do not try to con­vince them or look for an acknowl­edg­ment. It is the group which mat­ters here-stick to them.

1. d) Seek clar­i­fi­ca­tions if you have any doubts regard­ing the sub­ject, before the dis­cus­sion commences.

1. e) First, impres­sions speak a lot about you. So make sure to show the right ges­tures, the right words and more impor­tantly the right spirits.

1. f) Never try to show your dom­i­nance. Be assertive, speak your­self and let oth­ers speak as well.

1. g) Don’t lose your tem­per. Remem­ber every­one is a par­tic­i­pant there. They are putting across their point. Be log­i­cal and break down your answer to accept­able chunks. This will help you in confrontations

1. h) Show your lead­er­ship skills. Build­ing a con­sen­sus needs lead­er­ship skills. Steers the dis­cus­sion in right track also try to make all par­tic­i­pants speak-this would help in con­sen­sus building.

1. i) Any out­ra­geous act is sure to seize inter­est but least expects them to sus­tain that interest.

I hope this series of arti­cles on GD helped you up your ante for real-life bat­tles. Best of luck!