3 Things to be considered in GD

1. Be Natural.
2. Must Speak
3. Opening and Closing.

1. Be Natural.

• The best mantra is “be natural self”
• Do not manufacture artificial response
• See GD or an interview as just an extension of any other situation you encounter in your normal routine.

2. Must Speak

• The first principle in a GD is that you must speak.
• Before you start speaking, think through the major issues in the topic.
• Jot down points on the paper or mentally work out the framework for analysis
• Start speaking only when you have understood and analyzed the topic.
• If another participant has started the discussion even before you have read and understood the topic. you could try to ask the person to wait while you finish analyzing the topic.
• It maybe betters to continue with your analysis while listening to what is being said and to speak only when you are ready.
• If you do not understand the topic; ask the group what the topic means and accept your ignorance or else wait. May be the meaning will become clear after a few minutes of the discussion.
• Avoid speaking in turn as it leads to an unnatural discussion.
• A GD involves a free flowing exchange of ideas among the participants.
• Any suggestion of order such as speaking in turns not acceptable.
• Setting a strategy or order in a GD doesn’t work-it only leads to chaos.
• Speaking in turn leads to an unnatural and disjointed discussion; further such a GD becomes an awkward one invariably has lapses of silence since the participants have nothing to say when their turn comes.

3. Opening and Closing.

• Opening a discussion is a high risk-high return strategy.
• The opening speaker is the person who is likely to get the maximum un-interrupted time since most of the other participants would be still trying to understand the basic issues of the topic.
• If in the opening, the speaker makes rational observations, he will get the credit as he opened the discussion.
• However, if he does not make sense he may be marked as a person who speaks without thinking, just for the sake of speaking.
• Speak first only if you have enough sensible things to say, otherwise keep silent and let someone start.
• Try and summarize the discussion at the end.
• Mention if the group did not reach a consensus, but do not force a consensus unless asked to by the evaluator.
• Forcing a consensus will backfire and may end up working against you.