Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Group Discussion
Group Discussion
Group Discussion
Ritika Dhameja
What is a GD?
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How is it conducted?
• A typical GD comprises of a small group of candidates
i.e. 5 to 10 students
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Types of GD
• Factual Topics
• Abstract Topics
• Controversial Topics
• Case Study based
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Benefits?
• Stimulation of thinking in a new way
• Expansion of knowledge
• Understanding your strength and weakness
• Your true personality is revealed and qualities of
leadership crystallize
• Language skills
• Academic knowledge
• Leadership skills
• People handling skills
• Team work/ Team spirit
• General knowledge
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Pre-requisites of a GD
• Planning and preparation
• Knowledge
• Communication skills/ power of speech
• Presentation
• Body Language and personal appearance
• Being calm and cool
• Listening skills
• Co-operation
• Alertness & presence of mind
• Out of the box thinking
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Pre-requisites of a GD
• Tone of talking
• Pitch of talking
• Articulation
• Fluency
• Modulation
• Good delivery
• Flow of thought
• It isn’t sufficient to have ideas. They have to be expressed
effectively.
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Skills assessed in GD
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Motivational Skills
• Team Building Skills
• Tolerance
• Academic Skills
• Out of the box thinking
• Listening skills
• Presentation Skills
• Analytical / Logical skills
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What is judged?
• How good you are at communication with others.
• How you behave and interact with group.
• How open minded are you.
• Your listening skill.
• How you put forward your views.
• Your leadership and decision making skills.
• Your analysis skill and subject knowledge.
• Problem solving and critical thinking skill.
• Your attitude and confidence.
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Tips for effective participation
• 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.
• Summarize- Summarize the discussion effectively
• Involve- Take active part throughout the GD.
• Articulate- Work continuously towards articulating your ideas into
meaningful sentences to make the best impact. Be clear in your
speech.
• Listen- Be an attentive listener.
• Quality, not quantity matters- it's not ‘how much' you say, but
‘what' you say that's important.
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Good way
• Consistent participation
• Keenness in listening and observing
• Time sharing and orderly conduct
• Ability to handle turbulent situations
• Ability to cut excessively exuberant participants down to size
• Ability to dominate the proceedings without bullying others
• Avoiding personal comments
• Ask open-ended questions
• Validate with examples
• Express your argument with few facts, cases, %
• Accept criticism politely
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Do’s
1. Be a good listener
2. Do not use high vocabulary
3. Never use technical language while speaking
4. Not knowing is not a problem , do not try to bluff
5. Talk appropriate to the issue
6. Make original points & support them by substantial
reasoning
7. Listen to the other participants actively &carefully
8. Whatever you say must be with a logical flow
9. Make only accurate statements
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Do’s
• 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
• 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
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Do’s
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Don’ts
1. Do not criticize on religion
2. Do not get personal with anyone
3. Never ever try to bluff
4. Do not be shy /nervous / keep yourself isolated from G.D
5. Interrupt another participant before his argument is over
6. Do not Change opinions
7. Don’t make fun of any participant even if his arguments
are funny
8. Do not Get irritated
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Don’ts
• Don’t lose your temper. A discussion is not an
argument.
• Don’t shout. Use a moderate tone and medium pitch.
• Don’t use too many gestures when you speak.
Gestures like finger pointing and table thumping
can appear aggressive.
• Don’t dominate the discussion. Confident speakers
should allow quieter students a chance to contribute.
• Don’t interrupt. Wait for a speaker to finish what
they are saying before you speak.
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Don’ts
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How to be a part of the GD
1) Keep eye contact while speaking:
Do not look at the evaluators only. Keep eye contact with every team
member while speaking.
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How to be a part of the GD
4) Speak clearly:
Speak politely and clearly. Use simple and understandable words
while speaking. Don’t be too aggressive if you are disagreeing with
someone. Express your feelings calmly and politely.
6) Positive attitude:
Be confident. Do not try to dominate anyone. Keep positive body
language. Show interest in discussion.
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How to be a part of the GD
7) Speak sensibly:
Do not speak just to increase your speaking time. Don’t worry even if you
speak less. Your thoughts should be sensible and relevant instead of
irrelevant speech.
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Play the role of a moderator
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How to summarize?
• 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.
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Summary/ Conclusion
• Begin with, “In a nutshell..” or “To summarize…”
• State group opinions not just your opinion
• Incorporate all the major points
• Keep it brief
• If a consensus than conclude with one
• If mixed opinions then take a poll by a raise of
hands/yes-no & conclude
• End GD after summary
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Use statements like
• “I agree with my friend that…”
• “I’d like to add a point to what my friend said...”
• “ I would further like to add something to….”
• “Sorry, but I beg to differ…”
• “In my opinion…”
• “According to (state source/facts/stats)…”
• “I think we are diverting away from the subject…”
• “Please allow our friend ___who has been trying to say
something a chance”
• “ I request ____ to give his/her opinion on…”
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THANK YOU
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