Group Discussion(GD)

What is 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.
Personality traits the GD is trying to gauge may
include:-
•Ability to work in a team
•Communication skills
•Reasoning ability
•Leadership skills
•Initiative
•Assertiveness
•Flexibility
•Creativity
•Listening
Why GD?
Institutes perspective-

The reasons why institutes put you through a

group discussion and an interview, after
testing your technical and conceptual skills
in an exam.

Now to know you as a person and gauge

how well you will fit in their institute.
Why GD?
Company’s perspective-
companies conduct group discussion after the
written test so as to check on your-
 Interactive skills
 How good you are at communicating with other people.
 How you behave,participate and contribute in a group.
 How much importance do you give to the group objective
as well as your own.
 How well do you listen to viewpoints of others
 How open-minded are you 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.
Preparation for GD?
GD reflects the inherent qualities of an
individual.
 reading: this is the first and the most crucial
step in preparation.
 mocks: create an informal GD group and
meet regularly to discuss and exchange
feedback.
During the GD:
Penelists assess on:
 Leadership skills-ability to take leadership roles and
be able to lead,inspire and carry the team along to
help them achieve the group’s objectives.
 Communication skills-candidates will be assessed in
terms of clarity of thought,expression and aptness of
language.
 Interpersonal skills-people skills are an important
aspect of any job.
 Persuasive skills-the ability to analyze and persuade.

GD is a test of your ability to think, your analytical

capabilites and your ability to make your point in a
team based environment.
Skills that reflects:
 Clarity of thought
 Group working skill(especially during a group
task of case study discussion)
 Conflicts handling
 Listening and probing skills
 Knowledge about the subject and individual
point of vied
 Ability to create a consensus
 Openess and flexibility towards new ideas
 Data based approach to decision making
My chance to speak
How do I take my chance to speak:

 trying to interrupt others while speaking would

only harm your chances.
 Maintain an eye-contact with the speaker. This
would show your listening skills
 Would help you gauge from his eye-movement
and pitch of voice that he is about to close his
inputs.
 You can quickly take if from there.
 Try and link your inputs with what he has spoken
whether you are adding to or opposing his
arguments.
+ve task roles in GD
 Initiator
 Information seeker
 Information giver
 Procedure facilitator
 Opinion seeker
 Opinion giver
 Clarifier
 Social supporter
 Harmonizer
 Tension reliever
 Energizer
 Compromiser
 Gatekeeper
 summarizer
-ve roles inGD
 Disgruntled non-participant
 Attacker
 Dominator
 Patronizer
 clown
GD tips
 Initiation techniques
 Body of the discussion
 Summarization/conclusion
Initiation techniques
 When you initiate a GD,you not only grab the
oppurtunity to speak, you also grab the
attention of the examiner and your fellow
candidates.
 If you can make a favorable first impression
with your content and communication skills
after you initiate a GD,it will help you sail
through the discussion.
 But if you initiate a GD and
stammer/stutter/quote wrong facts and
figures,the damage might be irreparable.
Body of the GD
 Techniques to initiate a GD
II. Quotes
III. Definition
IV. Question
V. Shock statement
VI. Facts,figures and statistics
VII.Short story
VIII.General statement
Summarization/conclusion
 Most GD doesn’t really have conclusions. A
conclusion is where the whole group decides
in favor or against the topic.

 But every GD is summarized. You can

summaries what the group has discussed in
the GD in a nutshell.
While summarizing a
discussion:
 Avoid raising new points.
 Avoid stating only your viewpoint.
 Avoid dwelling only on one aspect of the GD.
 Keep it brief and concise.
 It must incorporate all the important points
that came out during the GD.
 If the examiner asks you to summaries a GD,
it means the GD has come to an end.
 Do not add anything once the GD has been
summarized.
Types of GD
 GD’s can be topic-based or case-based.
1. factual topics
2. controversial topics
3. abstract topics
 Case-based GD

the case study tries to simulates a real-

life situation.
Why do we have GD?
 It helps you to understand a subject more
deeply.
 It improves your ability to think critically.
 It helps in solving a particular problem.
 It helps the group to make a particular
decision.
 It gives you the chance to hear other’s ideas.
 It improves your listening skills.
 It increases your confidence in speaking.
 It can change your attitudes.
Improving GD skills
 Observe
how do other students make critical comments?
how do they ask questions?
how do they disagree with or support arguments?
what special phrases do they use to show
politeness even when they are voicing
disagreement?
how do they signal to interrupt, ask a question or
make a point/
 practice
start practicing your discussion skills in an
informal setting or with a small group.
 participate
take every oppurtunity to take part in
social/informal discussions
Dicussion etiquette
Do
 Speak pleasantly and politely to the group
 Respect the contribution of every speaker.
 Remember that a discussion is not an argument.
Learn to disagree politely.
 Think about your contribution before you speak.
How best can your answer the question/contribute to
the topic?
 Try to stick to the discussion topic. Don’t introduce
irrelevant information.
 Be aware of your body language when you are
speaking.
 Agree with and acknowledge what you find
interesting.
Discussion etiquette
Don’t
 Lose your temper. A discussion is not an
argument.
 Shout. Use a moderate tone and medium pitch.
 Use too many gestures when you speak.
Gestures like finge pointing and table thumping
can appear aggressive.
 Dominate the discussion. Confident speakers
should allow quieter a chance to contribute.
 Draw too much on personal experience or
anecdote.
 Interrupt. Wait for a speaker to finish what they
are saying before you speak.
Leading a discussion
 You may be in a seminar group that requires you
to lead a group discussion,or lead a discussion
after an oral presentation. You can demonstrate
leadership by:

 introducing yourself and the members of the

group
 stating the purpose of the discussion
 inviting quiet group members to speak
 being objective
 summarizing the discussion
Chairing a group discussion
 When chairing a discussion group you must
communicate in a positive way to assist the speakers
in accomplishing their objective.
the following four leadership skills you can use
to influence other people positively and help your
group achieve its purpose. These skills include:
 introducing the topic and purpose of the
discussion,
 making sure all members have approximately the
same time
 thanking group members for their contribution
 being objective in summarizing the group’s
discussion and achievements
How to face GD
A group discussion

 Communication skills
 Knowledge and ideas regarding a given
subject
 Capability to co-ordinate and lead
 Exchange of thoughts
 Addressing the group as a whole
 Thorough preparation
Communication skills
 The first aspect is one’s power of expression.
 You should be precise and clear
 Listen is also what evaluators judge
 You should be able to convey your thoughts
satisfactorily and convincingly before a group
of people.
Knowledge and ideas
 Knowledge of the subject under discussion
and clarity of ideas are important

 comes from consistent reading

 knowledge makes one confident and
enthusiastic
 that makes one sound convincing and
confident.
 that’s the key to crack GD
Leadership &coordinating
The basic aim of a group discussion is to:
 Judge a candidate’s leadership
qualities.
 The examiner becomes a silent
spectator.
 A candidate should display
tactfulness,skill,understanding and
knowledge on varied topics, interprise,
forcefulness and other leadership
qualities
 Motivate and influence other candidate
Exchange of thoughts
 GD is an exchange of thoughts and ideas
among members
 GD is held for selecting personnel in
organisation where there is a high level of
competition
 GD purpose is to get an idea about candidate
in a short time &make assessment about
the candidates skills on
 team membership
 leadership skills
 listening and articulation skills
Addressing group as a
whole
 Address the person farthest from you. If he
can hear you everyone else too can.
 Attend the group dicussion in formal dress.
 The language used should also be formal,
not the language used in normal
conversations.
for instance,wordsand phrases like
“yar”,”chalta hai”,”CP”, “I dunno”, etc are
put.
Thorough preparation
 Only 460 candidate make it to the final list
from 2.75 lac civil service aspirants each
year.

READING VARIOUS TOPICS &

KNOWLEDGE ON THEM IS THE
KEY TO SUCCESS
GD mistakes
 Emotional outburst
anger
 Quality vs quantity
maximum talk
 Egotism showing off(SELFISHNESS)
fake figures/information
 Get noticed- but for the right reasons
want to be the first
 Managing one’s insecurities
nervousness
 •

• THANK YOU