Things should be AVOID in Group Discussion

In today scenario, Group Discussion is a one of the most important element when you go for any job even in CA Articleship. Due to lack of awareness most of the students didn't perform well and miss the opportunity of selection. Group Discussion essentially an interactive oral process. The group members need to listen to each other and use voice and gesture effectively,use clear language and persuasive style. In this post, I'm give you some points with visual aids which you should have to avoid in Group Discussion to clear the Round.

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NOT SPEAKING AT ALL

• This is the gravest crime you can commit in a GD. No matter how alien the topic is, or how noisy & turbulent the group, you need to speak and you need to be heard.
• Learn more about the topic as it gets discussed; seize the smallest opening in the discussion to make your entry; use the opportunity to make your point(s).
• Listen carefully to everyone & whenever they take break while speaking then start speaking your point by saying “sorry to interrupt in between but I would like to add…”
• If you will not speak anything, you will get no points.

LOOKING AT THE MODERATOR WHILE SPEAKING 

• You are there in the GD to discuss with the group members & not the moderator. You are a part of the group and you need to look at your group members while addressing them. 
• Gazing at the floor, ceiling or the moderator are all invalid options.
• Moderator is just like a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ and is observing the group.
• Frequent glances in the direction of the moderator reflect a sense of insecurity. It sends the message as if you seek support from him.

GETTING EMOTIONAL

• The GD gets quite stressful at times as it is an artificially construed situation.
• Be ready to accept comments made by others in the group that may be outrageous & totally unacceptable.
  
• If other members manage to provoke you & get you excited and emotional, they would have scored a couple of decisive points against you.
• The best & the mature way to handle the situation is to control your emotions and respond on the basis of facts and sound logical constructs. Do not lose your temper and be polite and graceful.
• For example: While discussing about the topic “Love marriage vs. Arrange Marriage”, you being in support of love marriage might not accept others views saying real filth about it, like love = sex = dhokha.

COMPROMISING CONTENT FOR FORM

• During the GDs, what you say is the first & foremost important component of your performance.
• Then comes the next component, i.e. how you say what you say, but it comes into play, once your speech is strong in its content.
• Students strongly focus on their way of speaking and the accent, etc. But the key to win a GD is the relevant & sufficient content that you are speaking.

MAKING SWEEPING STATEMENT

• Sweeping statements are the statements which are indiscriminate or without any reservations.
• In other words Sweeping statements are strong, one-sided views of the world that lack any factual support.
  
• Most students make these kinds of statements reason being, they sound good to them & seem informative. But keep in mind that an assertion is of no good unless you can back it up with facts and/or logical reasoning.
• Please don’t give vague statements, it’s next to bullshit. Whatever you speak, be firm at it, no means of ambiguity.
• For example: While discussing about the topic “Education system” you just say “Indian education system is not good”. Now this is a vague line. You should have relevant facts in order to make others believe your opinion.

DEVIATING FROM THE TOPIC

• Though it’s good to broaden the scale & scope of the discussion, but at the same time you need to ensure that you are not moving too far from the topic.
• Instead of coming to a relevant conclusion you will end up discussing the issue on the parallel grounds. Now here you can play your role in order to win the game & as a good team player you must bring the conversation back on the track.
• For example: instead of discussing on the Topic of “Indian Economy” you guys ended up discussing all about the elections & its impact on the “Indian Economy”.

SPEAKING FAST

• Speaking English fluently never meant that you have to speak it at the breakneck speed.
  
• Generally students have this mindset that during a GD speaking very fast would enable them to say more in the limited time that they are likely to get. To them the answer is “Wrong assumption.”
• People who speak very fast lose track of what they are saying, and ultimately lose their audience.
• Try speaking slowly and deliberately & making your every word count.

UNDER ESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE  OF BODY LANGUAGE 

• “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” Peter F. Drucker.
• The way you sit, use your personal space; establish eye-contact and ‘appear’ to people says a lot more about you than you would believe.
  
• If you’re saying East then your body shall not reflect West.
• Use positive body language: Your body language should not demonstrate dominance or low self confidence. Show your interest in the discussion through your gestures like bending forward a bit, nodding your head, using hands while explaining.

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GIVING YOUR OPINION WHEN ASKED TO SUMMARIZE

• This is the Blunder that most students commit unknowingly. Students believe that they should harness this opportunity of concluding the discussion by stating all their view points.
• While the HR is asking to give a summary about the discussion, students start raising their points of view about the subject.
• Avoid this & take the group through the discussion journey, covering all the significant points made during the discussion.

BEING OVER POLITE AND OVER SMILING

• To say in the simplest manner about the key to win GD is “Be Yourself”, that’s it.
• Over-polite behavior might be looked upon with suspicion. An artificial fixed smile with lots of nodding and shaking of the head will surely not win hearts instead it might end up irritating others.
• Another mistake that students do is trying to act funny. The advice here is : Make sure people are laughing with you & not at you.
• If you are naturally a witty person, go ahead and demonstrate that skill but if not, then you better be “Yourself”.

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About NISHANT JAIN

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