What is GD/ or Group Discussion?

Group Discussion is a tool of evaluation; it is the criteria to gauge a person for his/her personality traits, skills, behavioral skills and attitude, etc. This also shows the reasoning ability of the candidate.

To achieve a high leveled thinking, the group must focus on specific aim. The Group Discussion is not only to check the abilities but also the behavior of candidate that how he/she will deal with a group while discussion currently going on. This also highlights the ability of person that how mush a good leader he could be while the discussion Initiated.


The candidate must develop the skills of its own, because there is no one can initiate a person’s skills from outside. Just develop the environment of such that a person practicing develops his/her skills. Try to continuously talk on a topic by randomly choosing in practice. Start listening some group discussions session videos and start preparing of it accordingly. When the Group Discussion initiated and a topic given to the group, you can think of taking any of the side for discussion. Just decide the role you can play, think about the topic and recall the points you know about that topic. You would be given some time to think and note down some points before the actually GD would start. (Instructions regarding the same would be explicitly mentioned by the Panel before).

The group keeps you around the core issue while the discussion. Your main aim in the GD must be to create an impression in the minds of the panel members. You can achieve this through various tactics but it is preferable that you use civilized methods. It is a chance to participant to be more vocal with others. The quality of what you said is more valuable than the quantity you talk. Every time ensure that the group is listening to you.

Read a lot about various topic and make yourself comfortable about the latest issues Plus, listening skills are vital. Make clarity to the topic, try to remember important facts and figures and form some opinions with justification. If you are differing with someone else do it civilly. Disagreement should not be with person it will be with points. To accomplish your successful group discussion you must be able to work well with others, with good listening skills.

Common Misconceptions/ Strong NO to GD

·   You should start the GD to score well/ Speak the most in a GD

·   Shout and make yourself heard & clear/ Disrespecting others

·   You should have Excellent communication skills

·   Using Casual/Slang language (Words like guys, gals, dude, etc.)

·   Wrong figures/Stats & excessive flattery or exaggeration.

·   Facial expressions/ showing disrespect

·   Getting Personal & emotional with another candidate

·   Abusive language/ pointing fingers, targeting one person.

Some GD Strategies:

If you are well versed with the topic – then lucky you – make good of it to the max. The strategy of starting the GD is like a double edged sword – if not used wisely, you can hurt yourself. Start the GD only if you are sure & confident about it. Be sure to speak relevant to the topic points. Preferably, do not take a stance at the very beginning of the GD (So that if you realize you were wrong, you can make amends).If you believe in starting the GD and are confident, try to be general and introduce the topic briefly without killing time. For Example: Need of Formal Management Education to succeed in Business– Introduce by explaining formal education, management and success in business. That should be a good neutral start highlighting some leadership skills in you as you took the initiative to start and also gave a sense of DIRECTION to the GD. A word of caution – You won’t get selected just because you spoke the most. So see to it that you do not beat round the bush and waste time. Make short, precise & RELEVANT (I repeat RELEVANT) points. Kindly do not vomit out all the content that you may have gathered & crammed as part of your GD preparation.

A 15 minutes GD with say 8 participants can safely be assumed to be 2 minutes of speaking time per candidate. So you can break these 2 minutes into 3-5 parts and speak your points accordingly with decent intervals between them. It shouldn't look like you did all the talking at the start and then you are nowhere seen in the GD. Try to maintain a thorough balance. But do not exceed say a total of 2.5-3 minutes of contribution as then you can be interpreted as dominating in nature.

If you are not so well versed or have absolutely no idea about the topic wait for some people to start and then join the GD. See to it that you are not too late, try to generate some points and content RELEVANT to the given topic which you may not be that well versed with. At the same time, you can wait for others to start on the topic, to get some leads and then take it further. Also do put in your points at the earliest if you think they are good ones as you don’t want to see the same points being put up by someone else before others do and alas, your good points are all used up.

Try to add value to the GD by adding new points and giving the GD a new direction. You will surely score brownie points for this and create an impression in front of the panel members. Maintain eye contact while listening to other speakers. It’s very important as it shows that you are a good listener and you are respecting the other speaker. Nod your head while listening to show that you are listening. (Should come naturally – Do not make it artificial). You need not shout in a GD. You may need to raise your pitch to make yourself heard. Once the commotion settles, you can come back to your normal tone.

More than awesome communication skills, RELEVANT content is the need. As I said, 2 minutes of speaking is enough a chance. What matters is how you use those 2 minutes to create an impression (Impression is made through good relevant points)

Try to butt into a GD by saying “Adding to what speaker no 2 said - , agreeing to - , Taking the point speaker 2 made - , etc.” If you disagree with some point / speaker, do so in a polite manner like “I am sorry I have a different opinion - , I beg to differ - , But - , etc.” Give respect to other speakers and LISTEN while they are speaking. Listening is very important.
Remember you would be broadly judged on the following

·      Leadership Skills                           Communication Skills

·      Listening Skills                              Analytical Skills

·      Persuasion Skills

Well to sum it up all, believe you can do it and as the cliched line goes – ‘Practice makes you perfect. ‘So keep the rhythm up.

Summarizing a GD:

If the panel asks you to summarize a GD, it means you as a speaker have to summarize whatever has been discussed by the group in the GD. Here you CANNOT add new points or bring in your personal opinions & biases. It’s just a recap of whatever had been discussed in the GD. Try to bring in the important points. For this be sure, you listen to what other speakers in the GD say.

Wish you all the very best for your GDs.