Group Discussion Tips: [What to Do & What Not to Do During GD Round]

 

GROUP DISCUSSION ETIQUETTE

What to Do and What Not to Do During Group Discussion [GD]

 

 

Before we get into the GDPI Do’s and Don'ts of a Group Discussion it is imperative to point out that just knowing these rules is not enough. Knowing doesn’t automatically mean that you will use this information when the need arises.

 

 Knowing should be followed by Doing then only it will bear fruit for you. So, read these Rules and practice them as you participate in GD with your friends and colleagues. Your whole physical, mental and emotional system should be involved in the practice as you try to follow the rules that you have read.

 

LET US NOW FOCUS ON GROUP DISCUSSION DO'S AND DON'TS

Having said that let’s dive right into the

 

Do’s and Don'ts of GROUP
 DISCUSSION In a Job Interview
 Process

 

Do’s of GD:

1. Group Discussion is a conversation and conversation should be gentle and polite. If a person is speaking don’t cut him off, don’t interrupt in between. Wait for that candidate to complete his statement or thought. After he has stopped you can enter the discussion and put your point of view. This is the basic etiquette of a Group Discussion.

 

2. Keep your laser focus on the topic that is being discussed in the GD. Understand the topic properly before you open your mouth to speak. Most of the time what happens is that a candidate starts speaking what he knows rather than what the topic demands. Even though he may speak well but at the end of the discussion, he may be rejected because he very conveniently deviated from the main topic.

 

There is a joke regarding this situation. You might have heard it during your school days. It seems that a student prepared an essay on cow for the exam. Unfortunately, instead of an essay on cow, the essay came on the coconut tree. Now he was in a fix. He knew nothing about coconut trees. So what he did was he somehow created a connection and wrote the essay on cow even though that was not the question asked.

 

The point I want to make here is to Be relevant to the topic or subject that is being discussed. Do not crisscross your ideas and take the Group Discussion on a totally different tangent.

 

Let me give you another example. If the topic of discussion in the GD is on ‘Benefits of eating an apple a day.’ then don’t talk about the different varieties of apple or where all apple is grown around the world. You may have knowledge about that but you will not be contributing to the discussion in the group.

 

 

3. While we're speaking in a group discussion always maintain eye contact with other members of the group. Now here there can be two situations, either you are listening to someone in the GD or you are speaking to the group.

 

When you are listening to someone focus your attention on the speaker. Look at the person. Avoid looking at the ceiling or floor or anywhere else. Your eyes should be looking at the speaker. This way you will appear genuinely interested in the GD and create a positive impact.

 

When you are speaking to the group look at everyone sitting in front of you participating in the GD. You can randomly look at each candidate as you speak. This way you will come out as a confident candidate. Avoid looking at a single person or only at a person sitting next to you. Remember, everybody, sitting there is a part of the Group therefore you should avoid creating a sub-group in the group.

 

If you don’t maintain proper and appropriate eye contact during a Group Discussion then you are sending out two messages - You are not confident of what you are saying or you are lying.

 

If you want to come out as a confident person during a Group Discussion use your eye contact to your fullest advantage.

 

4. In a Group Discussion time is of utmost importance. The group is given approximately 8 - 10 minutes to discuss a particular topic. Thinking of 8 - 10 minutes most of you might think that is too little time to discuss a topic. But if you have participated in a GD you will realize that if you don’t have enough material to express your thoughts even one minute will appear like 8 minutes. Having said that, if you have enough material to talk for hours on that subject what you have to do during a GD is to express your thoughts in a crisp manner. Avoid exaggerating the topic. Edit out what is not relevant under the given time frame. Learn to speak less and mean more in a GD. 

 

So the point to remember here is to share your ideas in a short and crisp manner rather than extending the whole thing like chewing gum.

 

5. The candidate should speak loud and clear with confidence. He should avoid speaking to himself.

 

When a candidate is nervous during a GD automatically reduces the volume of his speech. He wants to speak also and he doesn’t want others to listen to what he is speaking. This is a situation faced by candidates who don’t take the pain to prepare and put in enough practice before attending the Group Discussion round.

 

Always remember, you are speaking for others in a GD and not for yourself. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you maintain a proper volume of your voice. Every individual in the group should be able to hear you with proper clarity. If they are not able to hear you they might not ask you to speak a bit louder. They will leave you all alone and focus on their performance. The person who is evaluating the performance of the group members will see that you are not audible and may reject you in this preliminary round of GD.

 

6. Pay attention to your body language in Group Discussion. Body Language is a non-verbal form of communication. In fact, it has more importance in communication than oral speech. Even before you speak a single word your body language would have told the viewer a lot of things about you in that moment.

 

Maintain appropriate and positive body language. Some of the things you can do to maintain appropriate body language are to:

 

* Sit erect and at the same time in a relaxed position. Don’t become too comfortable on the chair you are sitting in.

* Keep your shoulders open.

* Keep a positive expression on your face. Avoid frowning and showing signs of tension in your expression.

* Keep your hands on the hand rest of the chair or on your laps.

* Avoid making funny faces as you think or disagree with another member.

 

 

Don'ts of GD:

What Should Be Avoided During a GD?

Knowing what to do in a Group Discussion is important. At the same time knowing what not to do in a GD is also important and crucial.

 

Let’s now dive into

 

What We Should Not Be Doing During a Group Discussion

 

1. Don’t be in a hurry or in a rush to complete what you want to say. It’s not a written exam where you want to finish writing the answer before you forget it.

 

You can't rush through your idea you have to be clear in your speech. Chew on every word that you speak and make sure you are pronouncing the word with clarity. Don’t speak with a closed mouth. Open your mouth enough so that the words coming out of your mouth are heard clearly by the other members who are participating in the Group Discussion.

 

2. Don’t speak just once and then think that now your job is done. Now all you have to do is sit and wait for the GD to get over. If you do this you will lose out in the GD round.

 

As I have shared above, a GD is having a conversation or a dialogue among the participants.  You have to keep on entering the conversation at regular intervals of time during the GD. Use the opportunity to comment on someone’s thought, agree or disagree with another candidate, add to what others are saying.

 

In short, remember, you as a participant in the GD round have to contribute throughout the discussion, not just once.

 

3. Don't try to dominate anyone in the group discussion either deliberately or unknowingly.  

 

Now, this may rarely occur during a GD round. But you should keep this in mind.

 

Sometimes few candidates love to talk so much that they lose control of the whole situation. When someone tries to politely stop them they might get angry or frustrated and start dominating that person. This he may not realize and may do it unconsciously.

 

Maybe you can be this person. That is why we need to be very careful not to get into a dominating position.

 

If you think that by dominating other members of the group you are gaining the respect of the evaluator then you are so very wrong. 

 

Remember, it's a Group Discussion and not a debate where you want to show the other people down.

 

4. Don't speak randomly without having a plan and a structure of your thoughts.

 

If you want to come out as a leader in the GD round it’s very important that you take few seconds to understand the topic that has been given and create a mental mind-map on how you will approach the topic. This will go a long way in creating a positive impression on the evaluator.

 

Haphazardly jumping into the discussion without knowing what and how to speak will create a big hurdle for you as the GD progresses. You will come out as a candidate who keeps on jumping from one point to another without logically connecting his thoughts.

 

5. Do not try to confuse others with your thoughts. Don’t think confusing the evaluator will help you clear the GD round.

 

No Way this is going to happen!!

 

As you speak you should be able to realize whether your thoughts have clarity or are creating confusion in the minds of other members. If it's creating confusion quickly do a course correction and bring your thoughts on the proper track.

 

 

6. Don't repeat your points. Candidates tend to repeat their points over and over again simply because they don’t have enough material to talk about.

 

If you keep on harping on the same tune in your GD the audience will get bored and the evaluator will get the feeling that you are not well prepared. This will result in you getting rejected in the GD round.

 

Use the contents shared by other Group Members and base your thoughts on that. This will give you fresh ideas to put forward in a GD.

 

How can one overcome this weakness during preparation for Group Discussion?

 

* Read as much as you can on a variety of topics.

 

* Listen to good and healthy debates and discussions on national television.

 

*Take notes on the topics of social and national interest.

 

* Don’t get influenced by what others have to say. Always try to come out with your own unique perspective.

 

* Have a healthy discussion on various topics with whoever is willing to participate in GD.

 

In Conclusion

So, these were certain Do's and Don'ts in a Group Discussion.

Trust you have enjoyed reading the blog and may have developed some insights into What Are the Rules of Group Discussion that might guide you as you prepare to participate in a Job Interview process of which GD is an integral part.

 

 

ALL THE VERY BEST!

 

***************