Are you about to apply for your campus placements? Or group tasks? Or entrance exams which include group discussions? And you’ve been perplexed, rather afraid of group discussion? Then, this topic would surely fetch you answers and will take you out of the shackles of your ‘performance pressure’ under group discussions!

Well, let me first explain what exactly is meant by a Group discussion. So, a group comprising a finite number of individuals is formed, sometimes based on criteria like that of your educational background, or academic score, as per your assigned roll numbers, or based on your previous outcome of a written test (if conducted), or alphabetical order, or based on the chronology of date of birth, with younger ones forming one group & vice-versa or a mixture of younger ones in between the elder ones. However, a group could also be formed arbitrarily too, under the absence of any such criteria.

Once, a group gets formed, thereafter every group is allotted with a topic, either by asking somebody from the group to pick up a chit comprising of topic/s, or with an official assigning topics to different groups. Once all the groups get their respective topics to discuss upon, then, starts the ultimate ‘Group Discussion’ which is also abbreviated as GD. For our convenience, let us use GD from hereon. Every single candidate from every single group is directly assessed based on her/his performance rendered in the GD, and assessment is often done by a team of judges, or sometimes a single evaluator/judge per group. Mostly, groups are allotted with a time limit within which, they are to start & terminate their discussions.

Alright, so, we understood the crux of GD, and at times, remember, “studying the crux of it will help us understand the most of it!”

Anyways, moving on, what may seem all the more appealing to all of us is/are the topic/s that we get to speak upon. What is the nature of such topics? Or rather, what are the types of topics that a GD may consist of? Generally, topics in GD, as developed by the judging panel, include – the latest or ongoing matters concerning National/International interests, philosophical aspects that concern the functioning of a society, fictional based themes, or those ones which are associated with the Organization/Institution/Company conducting recruitments.

Having realized the background of GD, next comes the prerequisites required to be gathered by the candidate.

I will now take you all to the part we’ve been waiting to read through! Yes, how to deal with GDs? Let’s categorize this into 3 modes:

Preparation mode: 

It becomes extremely important to ‘study, collect, assemble & produce’ the content for GD. Hence, referring to previous year’s or last 10 years’ GD topics by the recruiting Organization is a ‘must to do’ step. This will help you to gauge the area being focused by the recruiting board. Once you’ve accumulated and enlisted the topics, then, start collecting information pertaining to it from different sources. You may choose to organize the information from a single source alone or could take ‘bits & pieces of information’ relevant to the topic from various sources & assemble them under a single title as per the topic. Finally, write them down and make short notes on all the topics separately, in a paragraph format or in the form of bulletin points. I would personally recommend you to follow the ‘bulletin point method’ since it would help one to retain points easily during GD. Maintaining a draft copy like this will help you to overcome hair-triggering situations in GD, but that expects you to exert this basic groundwork. Simultaneously, reading newspapers and books would keep you intact, with the ongoings in the surroundings.

‘Mock with the Flock’ mode:

In order to test your level of preparation, you ought to practice GD before D-Day! This, you could do with your own set of friends or by enrolling into coaching/training institutes in an online/offline manner. Out of the 3 modes, this mock mode is essential, because it gifts you with remarks of your performance, by people with different perspectives, and it also lets you understand different ideologies as well. Most often, we lead our lives with a narrow mindset, thinking & believing for one approach alone to hold true towards every circumstance, but a conversation and a discussion with many, will help us get familiarized with the different available options and approaches to the same topic/circumstance. For instance: - one could earn the title of a ‘Doctor’ by graduating in an MBBS course. Thus, a ‘Dr’ is attained through MBBS was well-known by an individual. But if had he/she missed reading or knowing that a ‘Dr’ can be attained by completing a doctorate in the field of their personal choice too, then that one particular gap of knowledge or wisdom could be bridged by a bridge course test through mock tests. 

It helps one to not only ‘know about the unknown’ but also lets one to ‘know more about the known and unknown’ both. A mock trial of GD polishes your style of speech and brings more clarity to your personality. It enhances your confidence and makes you aware of your shortcomings. You may perhaps get to discover many of your strengths meanwhile. And all the inputs you obtain, about your performance from your peer circle or mentors, you have to record them in a piece of paper & start to correct your mistakes. Once you get a grip over yourself, you no longer have to correct, instead all the rest will auto-correct by itself automatically.

But you got to be hell-bent in your diligence!

Execution mode:

This is the time when all your hard work would throw a spotlight upon you & when your aspiration would be closely observing you, just to make sure that your energy and intellect align with your performance and that you do not deviate from your confidence and self-esteem. This last mode becomes the decision maker to take you forward to your goal or drag you backward away from your goal. Hence, it becomes extremely crucial to carry oneself with utmost dignity in this step.

Ultimately, you could be the ‘Best of your Lot’, but the recruiters look for the ‘Best of Best’! Thus, to make your retina glare your name in the merit list, you will have to ‘stand out’ amidst the rest and hence, we shall now glance through those aspects which are considered by the recruiters/judges/evaluators in a GD contest. By understanding the pattern of neurons of the judging panel, we can apparently assure our eyes to sight our confirmed seats in the holy pdf!

A GD is made up of 3 types of people. One – the ‘Initiators’, Two – the ‘Operators’, Three – the ‘Summarizers’. Those who begin the discussion, belong to the 1st category. Those who add on more details after the discussion has begun, belong to the 2nd category. And those ones, who choose to terminate the discussion, epitomizing all the discussed points appropriately in their own words, represent the 3rd category.

If you want to become part of 1st category, you ought to start the discussion effectively by introducing the topic and its varied arenas with/without the details in the form of facts & figures. A smooth & solid voice with crisp, yet clear communication skills is expected out of you, to make your identity stand out. Once, you’re done with your point, you indicate the next one to proceed, through your body language, either by asking her/him to continue or by pausing by, when you hear the next one start. 

The next one who continues the discussion belongs to the 2nd category of people. When one chooses to opt for this category, she/he should take all the precautions to make sure to avoid redundant statements as was said by the former, in order to make way for the addition of more to the topic, instead of reciting the same point again and again. You could make use of other facts and figures which were skipped by the former, or make the discussion more enchanting by keeping forward your own point of view in a convincing manner. Making use of quotes/proverbs or presenting your opinion in a creative style could prove more captivating, and might provide you with bonus points too.

The last category represents the terminators. Now, a little higher responsibility lies on you, to capture the entire summary of the discussion and narrate it in a way such that it denotes the exact content, as discussed, and to conclude the discussion, organically and productively.

The bifurcation of who belongs to which category is not done vocally. It comes with the way, as & when one participates in a discussion. 

But participating actively is important. You can NOT afford to sit silent and pretend disinterested in the discussion. Even if the topic which you get, had never made it to the News Headlines and about which, you absolutely had no clue about, you would surely have known at least ‘something’ and “knowing & uttering something over speaking nothing” is anytime better than “knowing everything and speaking nothing”. But keep in mind one thing, that whatever little you speak, should be authentic and nothing should be spoken vaguely. Every candidate has to wait for his/her turn patiently and at the same time, exhibit great observance by carefully observing the points put forward by the rest. An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains! When you observe well, you get to explore more about the topic. In addition, you could even use her/his point in your discussion by giving credit to the person for the point and connecting your opinion to it. This trait will also lead you towards gaining more marks by the judging panel because it reflects how well you respected your team member’s statement by giving your ears to it attentively and also acknowledging it efficiently.

Having said that ‘awaiting for your turn patiently is vital’, does not mean that you actually expect somebody to call out your name and make you speak. No, definitely NOT!!! No GD happens that way. You have to ‘make your right move and seize the concessional opportunity!’ That also does not mean that you have to become a tinderbox & begin to ignite your communication furiously, rather you necessarily need to play your cards right & set up a sophisticated entity of yourself and for yourself.

Another quintessential aspect to be taken care of, during GD, is to maintain eye contact with your teammates and avoid eye contact with the judging panel. There are cases when candidates keep looking at the judges, soon after they place their points, just to check for the reaction of the judges. But dear candidates, let me make this very clear that the more you direct your eyeballs towards the judging panel, the more the negative marks you earn, and unfortunately you might also decrease your chances of selection/s. The sole reason behind this is, that you denote to the judges how conscious you are, of your performance but are ignorant towards team involvement, despite being a part of the team, because it is only through your involvement in the discussion with your group that you seek for the panel’s attention.

I would now like to elaborate more, on another set of people who easily fit in all 3 categories. These are the ones who ask for a buffet and taste a bit of everything – they start the discussion, also take part in it as operators and play some role as summarizers too. But in that process, you must learn to ‘talk and listen’ and to also ‘listen & talk’, else wise you might end up “speaking a lot but telling nothing!”

The next attribute of GD comes from this crazy trait called “Practice”. Yes, my friends. A reckless practice and doing and re-doing the same thing, again and again, will make you gain the knack of doing it with perfection. This reminds me of a beautiful story of Lord Arjuna, the great Archer of all times. Once there was a huge fest and Lord Arjuna along with his family and friends, was busy enjoying the relishing meal, and suddenly, it turned all dark around. But despite staunch darkness around, his hands picked up every single bite of the food exactly from his plate and put it into his mouth. He noticed this after a while and realized as to how the hand was familiar with the distance between his plate and his mouth even in extreme darkness & without the assistance of eyes, he completed his meal. That was when he understood the significance of the practice. Thereafter he started practicing archery with darkness all around and practiced it relentlessly, sparing no pains and hardships. The result of this, as we all know, was his successful shot at the fish’s eye which earned him the moniker of a ‘victorious archer’! The moral which this story teaches us all is to ‘persevere and practice and prepare’ ourselves to an extent, that we become the ‘Masters of our skills’, in this case, ‘Mastering GD’! The more you practice, the more you explore different means and measures to invent a successful GD.

One more pivotal trait which every judge looks for, in the candidates is – how she/he influences the group and everybody around. Did the candidate pay heed to every other’s point or was he/she too dominant? See, a great GD is the result of every candidate’s participation and contribution, no doubt! But it is that one candidate or those candidates who grab the moment by involving and helping everybody around to indulge into the discussion, who win/s the merit list. Judges look for those candidates whose aura of communication is such that they take along everybody and every single opinion in their talks and present it out powerfully. You got to organize your words with the intention to impact positively and influence optimistically. You have to have this special quality of turning adversities into opportunities and taking or leading the group’s discussion toward a constructive facet. There are exceptional candidates whose performance has been applauded for many generations because they said “something about the same thing” in a totally different way. For example – stating ‘India has become the most populous Nation in the world’ and proclaimed to state that – ‘India became the World’s most populous Nation with a 140 crore population as per UN estimates, surpassing even China in 2023’; both talk of the same topic – “India being the most populous Nation in the world”. Yet, the one who said the latter, found his/her name in the selected list and not the former. Why so? That is simply because of the impressive details in the form of facts and figures which were put out by the latter, whereas the former said that one thing which everybody knew, or in other words, the former’s statement displayed ‘more’ but the latter’s statement displayed the ‘most’!

All you got to do is to exert your best capabilities in order to open up the gateways to your dreams and leave the rest to the Cosmos. But you have to drive your capabilities till the gateways at the least, for the cosmos to take care of the rest. 

You got to ‘move before you are ready’ which means to say that you have to equip yourself with all that, which would take you a step closer to your dream and so as, help you become one with your dream. It’s not about achieving a goal, but it’s about who you need to BECOME to achieve that goal, and that’s the real game!!!

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