Group Discussion

Topics:

1. The importance of Group discussion

2. Collaborative skills require fragmentation of Group discussion

3. Various forms of breakdown of Group discussion,

4. Tips to perform well in GD

5. Sample GD

Objective:

 Provide students with a way to train themselves in a variety of interpersonal

skills.
 Preparing students for Group Discussion after a written test of employment or
admission to educational institutions.
 Creating new ideas or new ways to solve a problem.
 Finding a solution to an issue.

Introduction

How to Prepare for Group Discussion (GD) can be a very straightforward question
that arises in aspirants mind whether aspirants have just taken a written test for any
company or are preparing for the upcoming admission process. GD is a highly
neglected and important step in ensuring success in the aspirant's journey. Since GD
is a test of your working skills and personality, it will be helpful to start preparing for
GD first.

What is Group discussion & its purpose?

Before the arrival of your GD preparation, it would be a wise decision to understand

what Group discussion is all about. GD is a discussion within a group of people
within the organization or outside the organization to develop a better view of
problems by presenting a variety of perspectives. Once the results of the written test
have been released, candidates are selected from the 'Group Discussion and
Personal Interview' (GDPI) round. They were told the date and time they had been
assigned. One day, a group of nominees was organized into a group of 7-12 people
in a room around the table. The group is then given a topic to consider and discuss
at a later time. The discussion takes place under the supervision of 1 or 2 panellists
or presidents who judge each individual who will be subject to predetermined limits
such as personality traits, team skills, and general appreciation. Depending on the
way they work, individually and within the group, points are distributed and baptismal
candidates are added to the additional list for further discussion.

1. The Importance of Group discussion

Real time demonstration of behavioural skills is the basic rationale behind the
inclusion of group discussion as one of the selection techniques. None of the other
techniques test the candidate’s managerial skills like communication skills,
knowledge and ideas regarding a given subject, capability to coordinate and lead,
etc. as well as a group discussion includes involvement of strangers in the
discussion, lower familiarity with the GD topic and limited preparation time makes the
job easier for the selection panel while making things difficult for the candidates.

A group discussion, by definition involves speaking before a group of people. This

puts in some aspects of public speaking i.e. speaking and content. However, due to
its interactive nature, a group discussion also involves listening to other people’s
ideas. A typical group discussion has 8-12 participants and lasts for 15 to 20
minutes. It means each participant gets an average of around 2 minutes to talk; the
rest of the time is spent listening.

2. Collaborative skills require-fragmentation of Group discussion

In a group discussion, a candidate should be able to convey his/her thoughts

satisfactorily and convincingly before a group of people. Knowledge on a given
subject, precision and clarity of thought are the things that are evaluated. One should
speak only as much as necessary and try to avoid irrelevant talks and being
verbose.

“Always remember Group discussion is not selection round it’s a rejection

round”

Here is a list of a few interpersonal skills which play a vital role while cracking GD.

 Communication skill
 Teamwork
 Leadership
 Confidence
 Knowledge
 Creative thinking
 Listening skill

3. Various forms of breakdown of Group discussion (Approaches)

Purpose of a group discussion is beyond simply judging the aspirant's knowledge.

The underlying reason why a GD is conducted is to assess the aspirant as a team
member. Therefore, an aspirant's performance matters while presenting themselves
in GD.

Always the topic coming in front of you will not necessarily be familiar to you, in this
kind of situation instead of being nervous here we are discussing some approaches
which will be helpful for aspirants to perform in gd.

3.1 Stakeholder approach:

Let’s assume the topic given to you is: ‘Road accidents’

How do you tackle this topic?

The one answer to this question is that you have previous knowledge of the subject
and you have an opinion on it. In that case, the problem does not exist. But if this is
not the case, how can you speak about it? Well, you the ‘Stakeholder’s Approach’.
for this, just do follow the following step:

Step-1: Identify different stakeholders/parties involved in the Group discussion. In

the current topic, we have the following stakeholders:

Violation of
rules
Violation of
rules
Drunk & Pedestrians
Driver
Drive use of mobile
phones
Use of
mobile
phones

vehicle
Traffic police manufacturere
s

Road Road Emergency

RTO
accidents Accidents services

PWD Road
Contractors

Step 2: Identify the views of each stakeholder on the issue, or the possible views
(points for the motion, against the motion, opinions, hypothesis etc.) so at the end
you have this many points on which you can share your views.

3.2 SPELT approach:

SPELT is an acronym for Social, Political, Economic, Legal, Technical.

This is an extension of our first method, the only difference being that it specifies the
five lenses you need to use while analysing the problem. The five are described as
below:

 Social: how does the topic affect the community?

 Politics: What is the role of government / administration and what is their
opinion?
 Economics: What is the economic impact of either side accepted in this debate?
 Legal: What legal aspects are involved?
 Technology: Are there any technical issues?
  Let’s consider topic for group discussion is ‘RED’

If you look closely, the above article fits perfectly with these methods and you can
make a lot of points for yourself.

Social Colour of love, danger, Red light areas, Love, blood, AIDS, Red
carpet, Red bindi, Red cross

Political Communism, Flags, sirens

Economica Poverty, Stock market

l

Legal Stop, Post box, Ambulance

Technolog Longest wavelength

y

In addition to this you can add Environmental, cultural angle to it. If you sum up this
at the end you will get so many points to speak upon.

3.3 Keyword approach:

This is the third approach you can adopt while preparing the content for GD: focusing
on keywords in a topic. For example, the topic is ‘Hunger in India’.

When we heard this topic few points which can strike inside our mind are:

 Unemployment
 Illiteracy
 Agriculture practices
 Green revolution
 Overpopulation
 Hoarding of food
 Corruption
 Global warming
Identify your opinion for the above. Each opinion you choose is actually one point for
the discussions.

4. Tips to perform well in GD

4.1 Points to remember

4.1.1. Initiating the discussion:

Many people think that Initiation in Gd is very important to make your first
Impression. Many of you would have considered it as DO. But the answer is
‘Neither do nor don’t’ Initiating discussion indeed has additional points. But this
is applicable only if you are well-versed in the topic given. Initiating the
discussion for the sake of it attracts negative impressions. So, initiate the topic if
and only if you are very confident about the topic.

4.1.2. Making short contribution of 25-30 seconds for 3-4 minutes:

This is Do.by keeping our contribution short (25-30 sec), we attract more
attention and doing this for 3-4 times in a GD projects you as an active
participant.

4.1.3. Do not support your points with the facts and figures if you are not clear
with it.

This is don’t. Never make up facts. Presenting faulty data can project you as a
‘desperate’ to get through the GD. This is not welcome by the GD evaluator.

4.1.4. Summarize the discussion when the group has not reached a
conclusion:

This is a do. Just like initiating, summarizing too has added points. But,
ensure that you cover the views of every member in the group. Also, do not
forget to KISS (keep it short & simple). Frame a one line conclusion by
yourself, if possible.

4.1.5. Listen to other if you do not know the subject:

This is a do. By listening to others, we can understand the topic better. Many
a time, we can save ourselves in a GD by responding to what other people
have spoken thus far.

4.2. Group discussion tips:

4.2.1. Keep it short and simple.

In a group discussion, if you speak in a long-winded manner, other

participants will not be present respectfully. Definitely they will lose their
control and will start interrupting therefore keep your talk as short as possible.
4.2.2. Make proper eye contact with everyone.

Do not forget it’s a group discussion so while speaking do not forget to make
eye contact with everyone so you will look more representative and will be
able to grab others attention. Do not look at the moderator (the person who is
observing your GD) because he/she is only an observer; they are not part of
GD.

4.2.3. Attire & body language

Do not forget to make your first and long-lasting Impression which Indirectly
depends on your clothing sense. Always wear formal dress whenever going
for any selection process.

As we all have heard since childhood ‘our action speaks more than words’ is
always applicable in public speaking. Your body language shows your interest
in gd. So, try to maintain formal gestures & postures accordingly.

4.2.4 Do not take anything too seriously & personally.

It is group discussion so everyone is having rite to present their opinion on the

topic. We all are having different mindset influenced by so many factors like
our upbringings, Circumstances, Intellectuals and so on and so forth.
Therefore, try to respect everyone’s opinion if you’re not agree with
something, defend the opinion with correct facts.

4.2.5. Avoid Extended vocabulary

Discussion always comes with understanding of the matter and the aim has to
be a conclusion which is accepted by the majority of the participants.
Therefore, do not use extended vocabulary which people cannot understand.
Use simple words to express your opinion.

5. Sample

Here we will try to discuss some topics with the help of the approaches
which are listed above.

5.1. Topic-1

Effect of Modern Cinema

Social: Modern cinema is a reflection of society. It exposes what a society is and

how various elements that constitute the society act. The hero of the cinema
represents the positive stakeholders of the society while the villains portray the
negative stakeholders.

Political: People enter politics through cinema. This has become a trend,
especially in south India. All five chief ministers who have governed Tamilnadu
since 1967 have been associated with cinema. There are still people contesting
in elections who once faced the camera from front or behind.
 Economic: Nowadays, the money spent on producing eye-treating movies are
ridiculously high. The producers of such high budget movies base huge
confidence in their audience. This shows that the audience is addicted to the
cinema to a greater extent than imaginable.

Legal: Modern cinema presents itself with a lot of controversies. WE have a lot of
movies like 'Vishwaroop' that are often screwed by censor boards for hurting
religious sentiments.

Technical: Modern cinema doesn't stop itself with two-dimension. Even 3D has
become an outdated word as we are seeing the advent of 7D cinemas. At this
pace, we might even end up enjoying ourselves being a part of the virtually
simulated movie in the future.

5.2. Topic-2

Is India Secular?

Stakeholder 1: The Government From the government's perspective, India is a

secular body. The government has reserved equal rights for all religions in the
country. There is no national religion and everyone is allowed to follow the
religion of their choice — even if it is atheism.

Stakeholder 2: People of India is still a secular country in people's eyes. They

are not forced to follow a particular religion and the government has always
reacted sensitively to issues pertaining to religious sentiments. Publishing a book,
making a movie, etc. that hurt religious sentiments are dealt with an iron hand by
the government.

Stakeholder 3: Religious Bodies The religious bodies do not feel that India is
secular. The Hindu religious body accepts the country to be secular if the
allowances given by the government to citizens of other religions are canceled.
The vice versa is true too.

5.3. Topic-3

Bleed Blue

The approach to be used is the keyword approach.

The keyword here is 'Blue'. This blue can represent many things:

• The Indian Jersey — Bleed Blue was the slogan coined by Pepsi to smartly
position their beverage as the 'soft drink for cricket lovers'. This campaign gets
intense, especially during the world cups.

• The ocean: The Ocean is bleeding because of oil spills and water pollution. It is
high time we stop ruining mother Earth for our selfish needs. Killing aquatic life
can create an imbalance in the ecosystem. s

5.4. Topic-4
Capital Punishments

The best approach to be used is SPELT.

Social: Capital Punishment, though the most effective punishment, was not
welcome so well by society. There are human rights societies that still frown upon
courts' decision to give capital punishments.

Political: Political leaders can gain a lot by encouraging capital punishments.

Everyone wants Ajmal Kasab dead and every girl wants the offenders in
`Nirbhaya' case hanged. Politicians generally try to capitalize on this to make the
judgement happen.

Economic: Capital punishments save a lot of resources for the government. The
cost of surviving an offending life-sentence prisoner can very well be put to better
use for educating an underprivileged kid.

Legal: On legal terms, capital punishments are the hardest judgements to make.
The Indian judicial system is built upon the saying 'It is tolerable for a criminal to
go unpunished but it is intolerable for a clean-hand to be punished. Hence, giving
capital punishment to a criminal requires the court and the judge to prove 100%
that the criminal is the offender and he deserves capital punishment.

Technical: Technically, capital punishments should be given only with the

consent of the Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India. Once the judgement is
given, the only person to appeal for the convicted criminal is the President of the
country. He can appeal on the grounds of 'Mercy'.

References

1. Sanjay Kumar, Pushpa Lata. Communication skills. Oxford higher education.

2. P. Subba Rao, B. Anita Kumar, C. Hima Bindu. Technical Communication
Skill. CENGAGE Learning.