Group Discussions 12/21/2023

Group discussion is an important activity in

academic, business and administrative spheres.

It is a systematic and purposeful interactive oral

process. Here the exchange of ideas, thoughts and
feelings take place through oral communication.
The exchange of ideas takes place in a systematic
and structured way.

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8-12 participants
Duration: 20-30 minutes
The participants sit facing each other almost
in a semi-circle and express their views on
the given topic/issue/problem.

There are four major areas of evaluation in

selection during GDs:

 Subject Knowledge,
 Communication skills,
 Leadership skills and
 Team management.

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Subject Knowledge:

Participants must possess a thorough understanding of the

topic on which they are supposed to speak.
You must prepare yourself to talk on a wide range of
subjects. Be abreast of the current events, national and
international affairs, burning social and economical topics,
scientific and environmental issues, key newspapers’
controversial topics and any experience that may be expected
of an educated person.
As a member of the group, you are expected to contribute
substantially to the discussion.
The originality of your ideas, your knowledge and initiative
and your approach to the topic or case contribute to your
success in the group discussion.

The best way to equip yourself is to read daily

newspapers, good magazines, national and
international journals and also watch new
bulletins and informative programmes on the
television. Internet is the greatest boon which
provides you with everything you are looking
for.
The World Wide Web is a vast database of
current authentic materials that present
information in multimedia form and reacts
instantly to a user’s input.

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The greater your knowledge of the subject, the

more enthusiastic and confident you will be
during the discussion. Once you have understood
the topic or issue, you should be able to generate
ideas as well as organize them so that you
present it well. You will have the ability to
analyze facts or information in a systematic way.
A person putting forward new ideas that may
work will be accepted as the natural leader of the
group.
The panel will observe the ideas put forward,
their originality, the depth of analysis and their
relevance to the topic.

Oral Communication Skills

If subject knowledge is important,

communication skills are more important as
without expression, the knowledge is of no use.
As the exchange of ideas in a group discussion
takes place through speech, one of the pre-
requisites of success in a GD is the ability to
speak clearly, confidently and convincingly.
Good communication skills include active
listening, clarity of thoughts and expressions, apt
language and proper non verbal clues.

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Listening Skills
One of the weaknesses of most human beings is
that we love to listen to our own voice rather
than listen to others.
Listening is as important as speaking in a GD,
unless you listen, you cannot contribute to the
stated purpose of communication.
It is extremely important to listen very carefully,
only then you will be able to pick up the thread
of discussion and continue. Only active
participation as a listener in a group makes a
person a good leader.

Clarity of thought and expression:

Clarity is the art of making yourself clear to the
audience.
Only when your expressions are clear, you can
convince your team and the panel. More than
words, it is the tone in which they are spoken
that conveys the message. You should not be too
loud or too soft.
A lively and cheerful voice with appropriate
modulations will attract the audience.
Proper articulation of words, achieved through
phonetic accuracy is very essential slang, and
artificial accents are to be avoided.

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Apt Language:
The flow of language must be smooth. Use
simple language and avoid long winding
sentences.
Appropriateness of language demands that
there should be no errors of grammar.
Do not use unfamiliar phrases and flowery
language.
Be precise. Be polite and Be courteous.

Proper non verbal clues:

Non verbal clues include eye contact, body movements,
gestures and facial expressions.
The panel very keenly watches the non verbal behavior
of the team.
They generally evaluate the body language cues of the
team to determine personality factors such as
nervousness, co-operation, frustration, weakness,
insecurity, self confidence, defensiveness, etc.
A candidate who appears professional is more likely to
be noticed by the panel.
A confident posture, appropriate facial expressions and
meaningful eye contact with the team will create a good
expression.

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Team behavior
Your group behavior is reflected in your ability to
interact with the other members of the group.
You must be mature enough to not lose your
temper even if you are proved wrong. You must
be patient and balanced.
Your success in a GD depends on how well you
play the role of initiator, information seeker,
information giver, procedure facilitator, opinion
seeker, opinion giver, clarifier, summarizer,
social-supporter, tension reliever, compromiser,
attacker, humorist and dominator.

The selection panel notes the differences in the

amount of participation of the members.
They observe the silent spectators, the ever
dominating but not contributing much, member
who participates actively exhibiting his
knowledge and the moderate ones. Your ability
lies in analyzing the problem well and making
others to endorse your view.
Finally while appreciating others point of view,
you should effectively present yours without
contradicting other’s opinions. Your ability in
convincing the team is your success

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Leadership Skills

The success of any team depends to a larger

extent on its leader.

The panel evaluates a candidate’s personal

skills which allow him to prove himself as a
natural leader in the GD. Though there is no
appointed leader in a GD, a leader emerges.

Assertiveness, emotional stability, objectivity, self

confidence, decision making, discretion,
initiative, good communication skills, patience,
persuasiveness and adaptability are some of the
leadership qualities that are immensely useful in
proving oneself as a natural leader in GD.
A good leader should neither be very
authoritative nor submissive but must be
democratic. Such leaders see to it that all the
members in the team participate and when there
is a problem, try to deal with it amicably. Leaders
should know how to deal with the ‘bull dozers’,
who make noise but do not have any logic.

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Phases in a GD
Initiation/Introduction
• State the topic
• General statement
• Quotes
• Definitions
• History
• Short Story

The central part of group discussion

• Data, Facts, Figures
• Express your ideas, opinions, arguments,
analysis, thoughts, plans, strategic plans,
action plan concerns etc.

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Summarization/Conclusion
• Keep it brief and concise
• It must incorporate all the important points
discussed in the GD.
• Do not add anything
extra while summarizing
Avoid raising new points
Avoid stating your viewpoints
Avoid dwelling on one aspect of the GD
Begin with… “In a nutshell..”, “To summarize..”

Expectations of the Panel

You should have the following qualities:

Team player
Reasoning
Leadership
Flexible
Assertiveness
Initiative
Creativity (out of the box thinking)
Inspiring ability
Listening
Awareness

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Benefits
 Expansion of Knowledge
• General Knowledge
• Academic Knowledge
 Language Skills
 People handling Skills
 Leadership Skills
 Team work/Team Spirit
 Stimulation of thinking in a new way
 Understating your personality
 Understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

Pre-Requisites of a GD
Knowledge
Planning and Preparation
Presentation
Body language and
Personal Appearance
Communication skills
Listening skills
Alertness/Presence of Mind
Co-operation
Out of the box thinking

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Pre-Requisites of a GD
It is not sufficient to have ideas, they need to
be expressed efficiently.
 Clarity and flow of thoughts
 Clarity of expression
 Tone
 Pitch
 Articulation
 Modulation Fluency
 Vocabulary

Tips for effective participation in GD

UNDERSTAND- the topic before attempting to

contribute.
SPEAK-try to get a chance to speak.
Speak clearly, specifically, concisely
And politely.
INITIATE-if possible
STRUCTURE-arguments logically and
Then justify them.
SUMMARIZE-effectively.

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Tips for effective participation in GD

INVOLVE-take active part throughout the GD.

ARTICULATE- sounds properly for clarity and
Emphasis.
LISTEN- attentively and carefully.
QUALITY VS. QUANTITY-How much or what?

Do’s
o Talk appropriately as per the topic, issue or
problem.
o Make original points and support them with
substantial reasoning.
o Logical flow of points.
o Make accurate statements.
o Listen to the subject carefully.
o Think about your contribution.

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o Put down your thoughts on a paper

o Initiate the discussion if you know the subject well
o Listen to others if you don’t know the subject
o Support you point with some facts and figures
o Make short contribution of 25-30 seconds 3-4
times
o Give others a chance to speak.

Don’ts
o Initiate the discussion if you do not have
sufficient knowledge about the given topic.
o Over speak, intervene and snatch other’s chance
to speak.
o Argue and shout, interrupt, dominate, criticize,
lose your temper during the GD.
o Look at the evaluators
or a particular group member
o Talk irrelevant things and
distract everyone from
the discussion.

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Don’ts
o Pose negative body gestures like touching the
nose, leaning back on the chair, knocking the
table with a pen etc.
o Mention erratic statistics.
o Display low self confidence
with shaky voice and trembling hands.
o Try to dominate
the discussion
o Put others in an embarrassing
situation by asking them to speak
if they don’t want.

TOPICS
GD topics can be classified into 3, they are as below:
Factual Topics
Controversial Topics
Abstract Topic
Factual Topics:
Factual topics are about practical things, which an ordinary person is
aware of in his day-to-day life. Typically these are about socio-
economic topics. These can be current, i.e. they may have been in
the news lately, or could be unbound by time.
A factual topic for discussion gives a candidate a chance to prove
that he is aware of and sensitive to his environment.
Examples: The education policy of India, Tourism in India, State of
the aged in the nation.

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Controversial Topics:
Controversial topics are the ones that are
argumentative in nature.
They are meant to generate controversy.
In GDs where these topics are given for discussion,
the noise level is usually high, there may be tempers
flying.
The idea behind giving a topic like this is to see how
much maturity the candidate is displaying by keeping
his temper in check, by rationally and logically
arguing his point of view without getting personal
and emotional.
Examples: Reservations should be removed, Women
make better managers

 CASE-BASED GDs
The case study tries to simulate a real-life
situation.
Information about the situation will be given
to you and you would be asked as a group to
resolve the situation. In the case study there
are no incorrect answers or perfect solutions.
The objective in the case study is to get you
to think about the situation from various
angles.

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Abstract GD topics:

Abstract topics are about intangible things. These topics are not
given often for discussion, but their possibility cannot be ruled
out. These topics test your lateral thinking and creativity.

There is no definite framework of the topic, and hence no

definite direction to take in the discussion. Instead, the
participants are required to interpret the topic in their own ways
and demonstrate innovative thinking in doing so.
Abstract topics are those where the interpretation of the
statement itself can vary from person to person.

Examples: A is an alphabet, Twinkle twinkle little star, The

number 10

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