Students' Speak: GD Preparation Tips

By: Rishabh Kalra

You may get three types of topics in a GD. First are general topics like reservation, education system, etc. The second type is Current Affairs. Third, are the abstract topics. 

Group Discussions happen to be an important part of teh selection process for MBA colleges. The purpose of a GD is to checkthe  candidate’s general knowledge, speaking skills and his/her presence of mind. A group discussion happens to be a very dynamic part of the selection process. There is no right or wrong answer. But there are few areas which can be focussed on.

Broadly, you may get three types of topics in a GD. First are general topics like reservation, education system, etc. The second type is Current Affairs. These are very specific topics and prior knowledge about these topics is important. Third are the abstract topics. These topics tend to test the creative thinking skills of the candidate.

For general topics, you would obviously have a general opinion. But your approach should be to find unique points which might make you stand out. So, do dedicated research for these topics through online sources, magazines, etc. to find new and unique points. Those will give you a differentiating factor. Another approach you can use here is PESTLE analysis. PESTLE is an acronym for Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental. Try to find PESTLE impact of your topic. This may help you generate new points.

For the current affairs topics, two things are important. First, you should know about the issue properly. That includes the facts surrounding the issue. But the facts are never enough. You need an opinion as well. For that, it is suggested on reading the editorial pages in newspapers. For example: in the past, a lot of political groups protested against the use of EVMs. An editorial by Swaminomics in TOI made a thought-provoking statement that Mayawati would not have got the votes she got if there were no EVMs. Reason for the same is the use of ballot paper makes the election booths vulnerable to anti-social elements that indulge in booth capturing. So, the point the author was trying to make was that people would not have even turned out to vote if there were no EVMs. Conducting elections in a huge and diverse country like India is a challenging task. So, editorial articles will definitely give you some good points.

For abstract topics, there is no right or wrong answer. You need to keep your mind open to new ideas and possibilities. For a topic like ‘Honesty is the best policy’ try to find some examples of corporate scams. For a topic as abstract as Red vs Green, you may talk about things ranging from war and peace to colour of blood or religion or anything.

There is another type of group discussion which happens for a few colleges. That is called case discussion. The case would most of the time be a case of corporate issue. The approach to follow in these discussions is always thinking from a managerial angle and being ethical and loyal towards the company’s interests. So, if a friend of yours has done something bad in a company, it is your responsibility to report it and take action.

To conclude, the best sources for GD Preparation are newspapers, the editorial section, magazines and internet sources. GD happens to be very dynamic part of interview process. But it is really important that you should have an idea about most of the topics. A good preparation lays a solid foundation for a good performance. There is no substitute for knowledge. So, prepare well. Good Luck.

About the Author:

Rishabh Kalra has completed PGDM with marketing as major and analytics as a minor from Great Lakes Institute of Management. At present, he is working with HDFC Life in the field of Business Intelligence.