tips for success in group discussions

Speak less and listen more! Pay attention while others are speaking. This will make coherent discussion and you will get involved in the group positively. You will surely make people agree with you.

Do not take it casually. No fancy and funny dressing. You should be comfortable while speaking in group. Positive gesture and body language will make your work easy.

Don?t wait for the others to start the discussion. Always volunteer yourself and start the discussions in an extremely confident manner. Introduce yourself and your team members and then start with the topic but one thing to remember here is that one must initiate the Group Discussion only when he or she is well versed with the topic. Don?t take the risk if you yourself are not very clear about your thoughts.

Always keep in mind that the other person is also as learned as you. Always listen to what he is saying and then only respond. Be a good and a patient listener. Don?t just simply draw conclusions as there is always a room for discussions. Debate logically and sensibly and try to take everyone along with you.

A participant usually gets around 15 minutes to think about the topic. You need to think fast and cover as much as you can. Always take care of your words. The content has to be sensible, crisp and well supported with examples or real life situations. Don?t adopt a laidback attitude or yawn in between group discussions.

Don?t wear flashy clothes while going for a group discussion or interview. Female candidates should also avoid cakey makeup or flaunt heavy jewellery. The clattering sounds of bangles sometimes act as a disturbing element in formal discussions. Be in professional attire and avoid loud colours.

It is a myth that successful managers are aggressive. They are not aggressive, rather they are assertive. There is a fine dividing line between assertiveness and aggressiveness. An assertive person is someone who puts forward his point hand, tries to dominate others. He raises his voice, he does not listen, and he does not seek to understand other people's points of view. He gets emotionally involved in his arguments. He takes it as a personal affront if others disagree with him. He ends up offending others. So do not be aggressive in your next GD. Instead, be assertive.

More important than the amount of time you speak for, is the quality of what you have said and the impact that it has had on the group. You do not have to dominate the GD by speaking for a long period of time. You have to influence a group by providing it direction, by highlighting the crucial issues and putting forth persuasive and cogent arguments. There is no formula to calculate the right duration of participation in a GD. In a 15-minute GD in which there are 12 participants, if you are able to speak for two minutes spread across four or five occasions, it should be enough.

Use facts and illustrations in the Group Discussion (GD) to add value. However, be very sure of the validity of any statistic you quote. If you mention a wrong figure, someone else in the group could point out the mistake. If that doesn't happen, the evaluators might notice the mistake. A fact or a statistic cannot be an argument in itself. It can only support a point you are making. So do not quote a fact and let it land follow it up with some sort of inference or conclusion that can be drawn from it.

The way adopted by most to enter a loud GD is to increase their volume. Though a method that comes almost naturally, and one is prone to shouting in such an environment, this may contribute to the melee itself. It is in your best interest that you combine this method with other mentioned in this section so that you are able to make an impact. Also, make sure that even though with a raised voice, it does not pass the impression that you are shouting.