8 things you should NOT do in a Group Discussion

[sharmila banu.m]

Group Discussion, abbreviated as GD is a form of many-on-many discussion. It has become an inseparable part of admissions to management institutes and your selection in campus interviews. GD is held to identify certain traits that the companies and the institutes like to see in their employees and students. Let's take a look at the traits which the evaluators look out for in a candidate during the GD.
Knowledge

Whatever you do in a GD, your knowledge about the subject can't be replaced by anything else. You are required to talk in A GD but a talk that doesn't contain substantial value doesn't hold any meaning. Be a voracious reader to increase your knowledge on various subjects. T.V., Newspapers, magazines, News portals etc. could be your good sources of knowledge.
Alertness and presence of mind

In a GD you are required to carefully listen to the other person's thoughts and keep an argument, example or a supportive statement, fact, example ready to participate in the discussion. Here comes into picture your alertness and ability to think & act immediately. As you participate in a GD, make sure that you sit with an attentive mind and keep taking down the relevant points put forward by others.
Communication

You have a lot of good points to put across but if you can't communicate them clearly, you won't stand a chance to impress the evaluators. Practice to communicate in a clear and effective way.
Confidence

Your self confidence adds a lot of value to your candidature. Look at every group member as you speak, avoid too much hand movement and looking at evaluators.
Leadership and team skills

Your participation in a GD clearly establishes not only your Leadership skills but also your capability to work in a team. To meet the objectives, a good leader has to be a team player.
Goal Orientation

As so many people participate in a GD the chances of discussion moving from the subject are high. Your focus on goal can get you some extra points.

Now, as you are being evaluated for the above discussed traits, you must the things that can work to your disadvantage and might cost you the selection. Following are the things that you must avoid to do as being a part of the GD:
Initiating the discussion without proper subject knowledge

Though initiating the discussion helps you get immediate attention of the evaluators but if you start the discussion with irrelevant details, it works to your disadvantage. Start first only if you know the subject well otherwise wait for others to start and get a feel of the subject before entering into the discussion.
Snatching other's chance to speak

Give other group members a chance to speak. Talking more won't get you through the GD In fact it will give the evaluators a feeling that you are not a team player. Making short and relevant contributions of 20-30 seconds 3-4 times in the discussion is enough. Give other members also a chance to speak.
Interrupting others

Let the other person finish off his comment before you speak. Interrupting others is counted as a negative trait. Remember, it is a discussion not a debate. Don't jump at the conclusions. Listen carefully to the other person before putting your point across.
Dialogue

In a GD you are expected to communicate with all the members of the group. Do not keep looking at one person while talking. Establish eye contact with all the members of the group. It is a many-on-many discussion not one-on-one.
Shouting or dominating

Keep you emotions under control. Do not try to dominate the group or let your emotions rule you. Sometimes it might happen that a group member might say something which hurts your emotions for example a comment on your race or religion, make sure that you do not get into an argument. Your focus should be to effectively meet the goals of GD topic.
Show off

You have to put across your knowledge on the subject during the GD but you have to be very careful about the thin demarcation between showing off and knowledge sharing. For e.g. Using statistics and facts during the GD is a good thing to do but you must not over do it to nauseate the group members.
Low Self Confidence or Insecurities

As we have seen earlier, one of the traits evaluated during GD is your self confidence. Do not hesitate to speak confidently. You might be short of ideas or knowledge on the subject. Listen to others and put across your thoughts in a clear and audible voice. Make sure that you make eye contact with all the group members.
Slang and negative gestures

GD is a formal discussion. Avoid informal words and negative gestures. For e.g. avoid words like gonna, wanna, ya etc. Similarly avoid gestures like pointing fingers, knocking the desk with the pen.

If you ensure that you do not commit these mistakes during the GD, you will not have to worry about the negative marks and your chances of getting through it also become bright.


SOURCE - CAREERRIDE.COM
DATE - 02.06.2009