Group Discussion

The skills that are usually assessed in a Group Discussion are:

• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Motivational Skills
• Team Building Skills
• Tolerance
• Clarity over Ambiguity
• Divergent Thinking
• Listening skills
• Presentation Skills
• Analytical / Logical skills

Here are some tips for effective participation in a GD:

• Understand – Understand the topic before attempting to contribute.
• Speak – Try and get a chance to speak. If you can’t get a chance to speak make your chance.
• Initiate – Take the initiative to begin the discussion, if possible.
• Structure – Structure arguments logically – justify your stand.
• Summaries– Summaries the discussion effectively
• Involve- Take active part throughout the GD.
• Assert- Be assertive.
• Articulate- Work continuously towards articulating your ideas into meaningful sentences to make the best impact. Be clear in your speech.
• Emphasize- Use non-verbal communication to emphasize points.
• Listen- Be an attentive listener.
• Quality, not quantity matters- it’s not ‘how much’ you say, but ‘what’ you say that’s important.

Do’s and Don’ts

• Group strength is usually 8 to 12 members
• When the group discussion topic is announced and if you do not get the topic properly, just request to repeat the topic. Do not show surprises.
• Correctly saying what you want to say- speaking effectively and efficiently is very important.
• General Principles
• Be a good listener
• Do not use high vocabulary
• Never use technical language while speaking
• Not knowing is not a problem, do not try to bluff

Things to avoid

• Do not criticize on religion
• Do not get personal with anyone
• Do not criticize foreign policy of India
• Never ever try to bluff