GROUP DISCUSSION TIPS: 5 Primal Sins that Candidates SHOULD AVOID in a GD

 

1. Never dress the way you feel like dressing, always Dress for the Occasion

 

Whenever we go out of our house we always dress according to whatever is the occasion that we are going to attend.

 

Attending Group Discussion should also be no different. It’s a part of the recruitment or admission process. We should dress up to look the professional best that we can.

 

Even though candidates wear neat dresses on the outside they usually don’t care what remains hidden that they are wearing. For example, their socks.

 

Most candidates think that who is going to see their socks? So, they take the liberty to wear unwashed socks or even torn socks with their toe fingers popping out of the hole. 

Some even wear socks that have not been washed for a month. It stinks. But these people are used to the stink so much that their nose becomes immune to the stink.

 

Why candidates must take care that they wear washed and fresh socks is because sometimes it may happen that you may be asked to remove your shoes before you enter the GD room. In such a scenario imagine what will happen if a candidate wearing stinking socks removes his shoes! Nobody will be able to stand that stink.

 

Even if you are not asked to remove your socks and nobody comes to know about your stinking socks, but you know about it.

 

The same goes for the shoes. Candidates take proper care about the dress that they are wearing but when it comes to shoes or footwear they just ignore it.

 

I have seen many candidates turning up for GD wearing a smart formal dress but when you look at their shoes, they come wearing sports shoes or floaters - totally mismatch.

 

Wear formal shoes with a formal dress. Black or tan color are the best options for footwear.

 

Remember, whatever you wear, whether it is fresh or old, whether it is visible to others or not, its impact will be visible on your personality.

 

If you wear a dress that is not washed then even though you may have taken a good bath you may not feel fresh because deep down you know you are not wearing a freshly washed and ironed dress. It is at a subconscious level.

 

So, why take the risk?

 

I am not suggesting that you buy a brand new dress for your GD. All I am telling is that wear a well-washed and ironed dress in which you appear presentable and professional.

 

One more thing.

 

Some candidates come for GD or interview wearing black trousers and white shirt. This for some reason appears like a uniform. Avoid such combination. You can go for other sober colors that suit you best.

 

 

 

2. Never be a Silent Spectator

 

A Spectator is someone who sits on the sidelines and watches others in action. Whether it's a game or a Group Discussion it doesn’t matter.

 

Even though spectators are important it is imperative that you don’t become or remain a spectator in a Group Discussion. GD is not a place to be a spectator.

 

Once you are sitting with your group and the GD is about to begin, immediately take charge of yourself.

Have your emotions under control. If you are feeling nervous take deep breaths without revealing it to others and get ready to rock-n-roll!

 

Most of the time one or two candidates in a group just cut themselves off the Group Discussion and go into a shell. This can happen due to many reasons. They remain silent for the entire discussion and ultimately they appear as weak lacking leadership qualities and are rejected.

 

If you are a part of the discussion never remain uncommunicative, never be a silent spectator. You have come here for a purpose and that purpose will never be achieved if you remain mum. That is why I have written at the beginning of this point, take charge!

 

The more you delay entering the discussion with your group the more the chances of you speaking decreases.

 

Time is of the essence in a group discussion. Before you garner courage to speak you may realize that the group has run out of time and you have lost your opportunity.

 

So, be bold and come to the forefront to put forward your thoughts and make an impact.

 

It always pays to initiate the discussion or enter it as a second or third speaker.

 

Once you push your chance to the fourth or fifth speaker in the group the evaluator starts to consider you as a weak candidate.

 

Still, you can bounce back and create an impact. But then your subject knowledge and the presentation of your ideas on the topic should be of top class. This is the only way to convince the evaluator of your capabilities and move up to the next round.

 

If I take the analogy of cricket then you will have to be someone like M.S. Dhoni who even if he comes late to bat wins the matches for India.

 

You too can win if you know how to creatively, effectively, and strongly present your arguments on the topic being discussed.

 

Remember, you have not come to the group discussion to just be a silent spectator.

 

If you say that this is your first ever GD and you want to experience what happens in it then also remaining silent will not help. Experience of attending GD will come to you only if you participate and speak up.

 

 

 

 3. Don’t be narrow minded or an individual of dogmatic behaviour

 

A narrow-minded person is someone who is not willing to listen to others. He can even go to such extremes that he can’t stand someone who doesn’t have the same point of view as his on any topic.

 

A dogmatic behavior is where an individual believes that what he thinks is the absolute truth. 

These people follow a set of rules no matter what. These rules sometimes can even be made up. It becomes very difficult to waver them from their beliefs. One may not be successful in changing the minds of dogmatic behavior but one certainly can make sure that he doesn’t become a person of dogmatic behavior.

 

Instead, we should practice being pragmatic.

 

A pragmatic person deals with his situations more on a practical level rather than depending on some fixed principles. We can say that these individuals are more flexible, can mold their thoughts, and take necessary actions based on what they are going through.

 

In a Group Discussion showing dogmatic behaviour can make a candidate appear arrogant and unfriendly. The candidate will find it very difficult to listen to or respect other candidate's thoughts. He can never be a team player and may create a rift in the group.

 

That is why it is important for an individual to give up on dogmatic behavior and practice being more receptive towards other people’s way of thinking.

 

Being more receptive towards others will help you understand other people’s points of view even if you don’t agree with them. Your behavior will be polite as you convey your disagreement and put forward your arguments.

 

A dogmatic candidate is often rejected in a Group Discussion round while a candidate who is flexible and can can contribute in a polite manner without losing his cool will be accepted and promoted to the next round.

 

Similarly a narrow minded person will have only limited knowledge of a subject. He will not be able to argue or reason out his position in a group discussion effectively. His narrow-mindedness has stopped him from opening up to the vast variety of knowledge and thoughts held by people around him.

 

So, if you want to ace your group discussion round you need to start working on yourself long before you plan to attend the GD if you are a person of narrow-mindedness or dogmatic behavior. This negative behavior can become a huge hurdle in the long run and may stop you from reaching the pinnacle of your success. Get the better of these little monsters before they become as huge as the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.

 

 

 4. Don’t use fillers or slang in your conversation

 

Fillers are words that we use or sound that we make to fill in the silence in our conversation.

 

For example, the most common fillers are sounds like ‘aaaa..’, ‘Ummm…’ or words repeated to no end like ‘you know…’, ‘you understand what I mean…’, ‘I mean…’.

 

Slang is an informal group of words or phrases that is spoken only by certain groups and is not universal.

 

Some of the slang can be ‘arrey yaar…’, (in Hindi) or instead of greeting the group members in a professional manner saying ‘listen up guys…’.

 

This slang tends to make the entire discussion very casual. It appears as though you are having a casual discussion with close friends of yours.

 

In a professional Group Discussion, one should avoid using fillers as well as slang.

 

Candidates who use too many fillers are seen as someone who doesn’t have the subject knowledge and is feeling uneasy talking in front of a group. These candidates create negative impression on the evaluator and maybe ultimately rejected.

 

Instead of filling your silence with fillers speak in short sentences and make good use of punctuation.

 

You need to practice a lot in order to avoid using fillers. Thinking that you will manage your fillers during GD may never work and you will start doing things that you feared. This is all because you never put in enough practice to get rid of your fillers.

 

In order to get rid of your slang you need to read a lot. Don’t just limit your reading to newspapers, also read good magazines, and novels that can introduce you to an effective way of speaking.

 

In addition develop your vocabulary. Have a bank of power words and practice using in in your day-to-day conversation instead of depending on slang. 

Always be greedy to learn some great and powerful words out there that can enhance your presentations and arguments in a group discussion.

 

Remember, as you dress up for an occasion you need to speak the right language that suits the occasion. Don’t mix the vocabulary of your friendly conversation with a professional conversation.

 

Limit your slang words to your close friends and relatives who understand the slang.

 

When you participate in a professional activity prepare yourself to play an entirely different role. A role that is different than who you are when you are with your family or friends.

 

  

5. Never talk about what you know about the topic, instead focus on understanding and discussing the topic sentence given in the GD

 

One of the qualities that a candidate can be judged upon in a GD is his listening skills and the understanding of the topic given for discussion.

 

When the topic of discussion is ‘Benefits of eating an apple.’ you cannot talk about the farming of apples.

 

Why do some candidates commit this mistake?

The problem here is that these candidates hear what they want to hear and not what is being said. This takes them off track and they deviate from the topic.

 

It is imperative to understand that participating in a Group Discussion doesn’t mean just speaking. What it means is having a clear-cut understanding of the topic and then sharing your views on it.

 

Let us understand this point with an example. 

Say, a group has been given a topic - ‘Impact of Social Media on the Minds of Young Generation.’

 

Now, if a candidate in the GD has not been able to comprehend the topic or interprets it in a wrong way or only understand the words 'social Media', 'young generation' and forgets the word 'mind' then he may start  talking about something that is not relevant. In his talk he may use the keywords like ‘social Media' and ‘young generation’ but he may not be able to connect the word ‘impact’ with ‘social Media’ and ‘minds of young generation’.

 

For instance, he may start talking about how social media is bad, and young generation should avoid, it is waste of time, so on and so forth. He is not talking about the impact of social media on the minds of the young generation. He is just criticizing the social media.

 

So, unknowingly the candidate has started talking about what he knows and not what is being told to discuss.

 

GD is not to test whether you can speak or not, it is to test how well can you articulate your ideas and arguments.

 

Even though the candidate may present some good points but his argument may not fetch marks as he has totally deviated from the topic.

 

The reason can also be that the candidate has limited knowledge of the topic and cannot discuss it from a different perspective.

 

 I would like to repeat here --

When attending a Group Discussion a candidate must remember that just talking in a GD will not see him through. He has to stay relevant and focused on the topic.

 

If as a participating candidate you don’t know or are not sure whether what you want to say is relevant to the topic or not, just listen to other candidates and try to understand how they are interpreting the topic and what points they are putting forward.

 

This will show you a path and you will be able to contribute effectively on that topic.

 

 

That Was WHAT NOT TO DO In a Group Discussion [GD]

 

 

In this blog, we discussed 5 behaviors or points that must be avoided in a Group Discussion.

 

After going through the blog you, as a candidate, must have got a fair idea as to which of the above must not be practiced in a GD.

 

 

 In Conclusion

 

 I had read somewhere:

 

“If you are tough on yourself life will be easy and if you are easy on yourself life will be tough.”

There is an interesting reason why candidates commit the above-discussed sins or any other sin during a Group Discussion that results in their rejection.

 

The reason is this --

 

“People get bored of practice. Our human mind becomes uninterested in activities if we have to repeat it for long.”

 

So, the candidates who don’t practice and don’t follow the principle of repetition are bound to fail. These candidates either practice a couple of times or they practice in their mind and think that they can easily crack the GD.

 

NO WAY this is going to happen.

 

I say this with experience.

 

Once our boss from the organization I was working for asked the entire team to give a presentation on our organization. This was a part of Sales Training. I prepared well. At least that’s what I thought.

 

How did I prepare?

 

I repeated my script over and over in my mind. I did a really good job in my mind. I thought that I was prepared and was going to win over the entire team with my presentation.

 

How wrong I was -- this I didn’t realize at that moment.

 

The next day as I stood to give the presentation. 

I could speak only two words - Happy Morning!

 

After that, I went blank. My mind just shut down. I did not know what was happening. My boss inspired me to try again but it was like I had a memory loss from last night.

 

I felt really bad about my performance, or shall I say my failure to perform that day.

 

Later I went deep and analyzed what had gone wrong.

 

It hit me. It HIT ME HARD!!

 

 I realized what my mistake was.

 

Even though I had rehearsed in my mind umpteen times I had actually never spoken the words loudly in front of anybody.

 

I had never made my entire being, the muscles, the cells in my body go through the process of standing and giving a presentation in front of a team. And as I had never done that I had not repeated my act of giving a presentation.

So there was NO PRACTICE and NO REPETITION!

 

That was my BIGGEST MISTAKE!!!

 

I went on to correct my behavior and took some really tough actions.

 

Finally, with lots of real practice and repetition in front of real people I was to a great extent able to master the art of speaking in front of the public.

 

So, my message to all you aspirants who are getting into finding your dream job is to take 3 ACTIONS:

 

1. Practice

2. Practice Harder

3. Repeat 

 

Do this every single day for hours long as though there is no other thing for you to do.

 

And then you and the entire world will see how your best performance oozes out of you naturally, leaving a power-packed impression on your audience.

 

All the Best!

 

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