Group Discussion is one of the crucial methods to shortlist candidates for admission and campus placement. Students who prepare for group discussion often find it tough to understand and plan to crack for the job and the career.
Hiring managers want to observe communication skills, problem-solving skills, response to tense situations, negotiation skills etc., through Group Discussion or GD.
To help out with confusion and pressure to perform best at group discussion, let’s go through twelve effective tips for group discussion in the following paragraphs.
Body Language and Dress
The first impression speaks a lot about a person. Always wear formal professional looking clothes and accessories. Women should not wear heavy jewellery; cake make-up, and Men should not wear flashy clothes.
Posture and gesture make a huge impact in front of panelists, fellow group members and even at the time of face-to-face interview. So always sit straight and look into the panelist’s eye at the time of speaking and listening.
Looking into eyes while speaking and listening shows confidence in words and alertness.
Be Courteous
The principal function of group discussion for hiring managers is to check the team spirit of the individual. To show your team spirit, never use negative words such as “I don’t like your point” or “I don’t think so”. It does not go well with your evaluation.
You can use a milder way to say such as “Taking a cue from your point” or “we can consider this from another perspective”.
The point is to show that you are a team member, not someone who always downsizes others or negatively thinks. Show your team spirit.
Be confident and bring fresh ideas
Employers observe candidates how they are performing in tense situations during group discussion. It is because communication plays a crucial role in all client servicing, operations and other business work.
Management wants someone who can handle pressure and communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders such as clients, vendors, management, and co-workers.
So, if you feel stuck in GD, don’t panic, give yourself some time, think, and come up with a new perspective to put forward your idea. Be confident and bring out an innovative way to handle situations. This is a chance to prove your mettle.
Relevant points
Bringing new ideas is good, but ideas should be relevant to the given topic. Don’t say anything about which you are not sure or incomplete information. This can cause a double problem. Expect employer knows everything; if he observes that you are making no sense, it will badly impact your candidature.
Second: Every member in the group is equally educated and informed about contemporary issues. They will understand you are diverting the topic and might counter you for coming with an unrelated topic.
Be relevant and to the point for better performance in Group Discussion
Don't hesitate to initiate
If you are confident about the topic and know about it, don’t be afraid to initiate the conversation. Be a leader and start the group discussion. It will benefit from furnishing you with ideas, perspective and guiding the discussion in your desired way.
A well-planned beginning with valid points will leave a great impression on group members and panelists.
Facts and Figures
If you could support your ideas with relevant facts and figures in the group discussion, you can get great evaluation points from the panel. Employers will notice your confidence, facts, and your chances of selection improve.
Remember to use data with proven sources; otherwise, this could be worse for the performance.
To do so, read extensively contemporary events, current affairs, general knowledge, watch news, debates, etc. Most of the topics come from the socio-political category, so focus on topics related to this field.
Improve your knowledge and use it in group discussion to outshine others.
Mock Group Discussion
Do mock group discussion with friends or someone who has gone through the Group Discussion phase earlier (not necessarily from college). These are the persons who do not mingle words to criticize you because you need unbiased feedback to perform better at GD.
Practice with them, note down weak points and improvise on them. Talk to the mirror and observe how you are performing.
This is one of the most fundamental and effective ways to prepare for any discussion, debate, interview etc.
Don's follow anybody blindly
One of the blunders job aspirants do is randomly join any coaching, register for online classes and hear from ex-students. One formula does not work on everybody, so don’t just go blindly for these coaching institutes and career gurus.
They prepare for group discussion with general knowledge preparation and mock group discussion, based on a set of parameters that might not work at your group discussion. So, prepare your strategy and apply them to planning or read these tips for Group Discussion.
These tips will help you in making an informed plan and help you in excel group discussion smartly.
Use Digital Mediums Effectively
The Internet is the place for billions of pages containing information on almost everything. Use the web smartly for your goal. Browse for leading group discussion training video tutorials, mock GD recordings, interviews of leading personalities with shared experiences, GD preparation materials, trending topics and stuff like that.
Read and watch all the content. This will clarify the concept and formulate the strategy for group discussion.
Conclusion
Employers and Colleges observe several soft skills through Group Discussion, and these tips for group discussion will help in honing those skills. Superior skills to look out for in GD are listening skills, problem-solving skills, negotiation skills, knowledge of contemporary and socio-political topics, time management, speaking abilities etc.
So, read all these passages to make your plan and attend group discussion with complete preparations, confidence, positive persona, professional attire. Always maintain balance in between Words and gesture & posture. Be a team member and never try to dominate any group member.
