Have you ever seen a football game?
Or been a part of a football team?
As in a football game, where you play like a team, passing the ball to each team member and aim for a common goal, GD is also based on team work, incorporating views of different team members to reach a common goal.
A Group Discussion at a college/School can be defined as a formal discussion involving ten to 12 participants in a group.
They are given a topic. After some time, during which they collect their thoughts, the group is asked to discuss the topic for 20 to 25 minutes.
Colleges / Schools use the GD process to assess a candidate's personality traits.
Here are some of the most important personality traits that a candidate should possess to do well at a GD:
1. Team Player
2. Reasoning Ability
Reasoning ability plays an important role while expressing your opinions or ideas at a GD.
3. Leadership
Caution: Being a mere coordinator in a GD does not help, because it is a secondary role.
Contribute to the GD with your ideas and opinions, but also try and steer the conversation towards a goal.
4. Flexibility
You must be open to other ideas as well as to the evaluation of your ideas: That is what flexibility is all about.
5. Assertiveness
You must put forth your point to the group in a very emphatic, positive and confident manner.
Participants often confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness.
Aggressiveness is all about forcing your point on the other person, and can be a threat to the group. An aggressive person can also demonstrate negative body language, whereas an assertive person displays positive body language.
6. Initiative
A general trend amongst students is to start a GD and get the initial kitty of points earmarked for the initiator.
But that is a high risk-high return strategy.
Initiate a GD only if you are well versed with the topic. If you start and fail to contribute at regular intervals, it gives the impression that you started the GD just for the sake of the initial points.
Also, if you fumble, stammer or misquote facts, it may work against you.
Remember: You never ever get a second chance to create a first impression.
7. Creativity/ Out of the box thinking
An idea or a perspective which opens new horizons for discussion on the GD topic is always highly appreciated.
When you put across a new idea convincingly, such that it is discussed at length by the group, it can only be positive.
You will find yourself in the good books of the examiner.
8. Inspiring ability
A good group discussion should incorporate views of all the team members.
If some team members want to express their ideas but are not getting the opportunity to do so, giving them an opportunity to express their ideas or opinions will be seen as a positive trait.
Caution: If a participant is not willing to speak, you need not necessarily go out of the way to ask him to express his views. This may insult him and hamper the flow of the GD.
9. Listening
Always try and strike a proper balance between expressing your ideas and imbibing ideas.
10. Awareness
You must be well versed with both the micro and macro environment.
Your awareness about your environment helps a lot in your GD content, which carries maximum weightage.
Caution: The content or awareness generally constitutes 40 to 50 percent marks of your GD.
Apart from these qualities, communication skills, confidence and the ability to think on one's feet are also very important.
Paper presentation is U'll be an individual to present ur paper.
U need to be confident... think others dunno anything... think what ever u presented is correct and forget about others.... try to talk with all professors regarding ur subjects... u can automatically improve ur confidence.
All the best...takecare !!