8 things you should NOT do in a Group Discussion
Group Discussion, abbreviated as GD is a form of many-on-many
discussion. It has become an inseparable part of admissions to management
institutes and your selection in campus interviews. GD is held to identify
certain traits that the companies and the institutes like to see in their
employees and students. Let’s take a look at the traits which the evaluators
look out for in a candidate during the GD.
Knowledge
Whatever you do in a GD, your knowledge about the subject can’t be replaced by
anything else. You are required to talk in A GD but a talk that doesn’t contain
substantial value doesn’t hold any meaning. Be a voracious reader to increase
your knowledge on various subjects. T.V., Newspapers, magazines, News portals
etc. could be your good sources of knowledge.
Alertness and presence of mind
In a GD you are required to carefully listen to the other person’s thoughts and
keep an argument, example or a supportive statement, fact, example ready to
participate in the discussion. Here comes into picture your alertness and
ability to think & act immediately. As you participate in a GD, make sure
that you sit with an attentive mind and keep taking down the relevant points
put forward by others.
Communication
You have a lot of good points to put across but if you can’t communicate them
clearly, you won’t stand a chance to impress the evaluators. Practice to
communicate in a clear and effective way.
Confidence
Your self confidence adds a lot of value to your candidature. Look at every
group member as you speak, avoid too much hand movement and looking at
evaluators.
Leadership and team skills
Your participation in a GD clearly establishes not only your Leadership skills
but also your capability to work in a team. To meet the objectives, a good
leader has to be a team player.
Goal Orientation
As so many people participate in a GD the chances of discussion moving from the
subject are high. Your focus on goal can get you some extra points.
Now, as you are being evaluated for the above discussed traits, you must the
things that can work to your disadvantage and might cost you the selection.
Following are the things that you must avoid to do as being a part of the GD:
Initiating the discussion without proper subject knowledge
Though initiating the discussion helps you get immediate attention of the
evaluators but if you start the discussion with irrelevant details, it works to
your disadvantage. Start first only if you know the subject well otherwise wait
for others to start and get a feel of the subject before entering into the
discussion.
Snatching other’s chance to speak
Give other group members a chance to speak. Talking more won’t get you through
the GD In fact it will give the evaluators a feeling that you are not a team
player. Making short and relevant contributions of 20-30 seconds 3-4 times in
the discussion is enough. Give other members also a chance to speak.
Interrupting others
Let the other person finish off his comment before you speak. Interrupting
others is counted as a negative trait. Remember, it is a discussion not a
debate. Don’t jump at the conclusions. Listen carefully to the other person
before putting your point across.
Dialogue
In a GD you are expected to communicate with all the members of the group. Do
not keep looking at one person while talking. Establish eye contact with all
the members of the group. It is a many-on-many discussion not one-on-one.
Shouting or dominating
Keep you emotions under control. Do not try to dominate the group or let your
emotions rule you. Sometimes it might happen that a group member might say
something which hurts your emotions for example a comment on your race or
religion, make sure that you do not get into an argument. Your focus should be
to effectively meet the goals of GD topic.
Show off
You have to put across your knowledge on the subject during the GD but you have
to be very careful about the thin demarcation between showing off and knowledge
sharing. For e.g. Using statistics and facts during the GD is a good thing to
do but you must not over do it to nauseate the group members.
Low Self Confidence or Insecurities
As we have seen earlier, one of the traits evaluated during GD is your self
confidence. Do not hesitate to speak confidently. You might be short of ideas
or knowledge on the subject. Listen to others and put across your thoughts in a
clear and audible voice. Make sure that you make eye contact with all the group
members.
Slang and negative gestures
GD is a formal discussion. Avoid informal words and negative gestures. For e.g.
avoid words like gonna, wanna, ya etc. Similarly avoid gestures like pointing
fingers, knocking the desk with the pen.
If you ensure that you do not commit these mistakes during the GD, you will not
have to worry about the negative marks and your chances of getting through it
also become bright.
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