Clear your GD in the first attempt with these tricks

By: Naveen Kumar

Speak with confidence and calmness in the GD. Make points on the topic and put forth each point with clarity and politeness. Respect other person’s opinion during the GD and also, maintain a positive body language.

Most people fear Group Discussion (GD) when they appear for their college placements. The reason for this fear might be lack of confidence, poor communication skills, or fear of people. Firstly, every participant needs to work on their basic skills.

At the beginning of my placements, I used to go for GDs in my campus. During my placement, I was aware of the topic of discussion but unfortunately, I could not speak out due to lack of confidence. So, I started preparing for GD by practising on various group discussion topics with my friends.

I always feel shy to speak in front of others so I started practising in front of a mirror. This helped me in finding and analysing my mistakes and worked on it. To build the confidence level, every participant needs to practise in the same manner. Read newspapers daily and prepare a topic to speak in front of a mirror.

Before GD, do read all the important headlines and watch news updates to keep up-to-date with the current affairs and enhance general knowledge.

In the GD, carry a notepad and a pen to jot down all the important points as after allocation of the topic the participants get five minutes to think. This exercise would help in covering all the important points.

In case a participant knows the topic then they could initiate the discussion. Also, keep in mind not to speak all the points at once instead divide the points to speak multiple times during the whole discussion. A participant must speak at least two times during the GD. Cover and speak all the points and do not forget to conclude the topic.

In a scenario, where the participant does not know anything about the topic or they could not understand the question properly then wait for someone else to initiate the discussion and do listen to the person carefully and make some points accordingly.

Every participant has the right to raise their hand and say "I would like to add a point here", to interrupt and put forth their point during the GD. In case a participant does not agree with the speaker then politely say “I would like to add a point here” instead of barging in the discussion. ".

The most important tips are not to take the Group Discussion personally as there might be a scenario where other participants would not agree with your point. Try to calmly put forward for points and be polite with others during the GD.

At the end of the Group Discussion after listening to all the points it's good to conclude the topic by saying "After listening to all my friends I came to know that majority are on this side” And then add a few more points and conclude it.

About the Author:

Naveen Kumar is currently pursuing his fourth-year BTech in Computer Science Engineering from Lovely Professional University.