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
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