How to prepare for a gd

Group Discussions :

Many institutes are now making group discussion as the first criteria for screening the candidates for interviews.Hence if you can't clear then then you ain't going any further.So lets discuss them in detail
Why GD's :

• GD's have become popular as they serve as an excellent means for mass elimination!!!
• Also they can test an individual on the the major skill sets that are needed eg.

1. Communication skills,
2. Reasoning ability,
3. Leadership skills,
4. Ability to think on ones feet

Some must Do’s in a GD :

Initiate the GD:

• Initiating the GD shows your leadership skills. But keep in mind - Initiate the group discussion only when you have understood the GD topic clearly and have some knowledge on it. Speaking without proper subject knowledge is a complete no no.

Seek clarifications :

• If you have any doubts regarding the subject before the discussion commences please seek for clarifications.

Listen :

• Pay attention while others are speaking and if you do not have much to speak on the topic try to relate things from what others are speaking, this can indeed be a life saver.

Keep it short and simple :

• You will not get selected on the basis of how much you speak but on what you speak.Hence rely entirely on quality.

Intervene :

• If and only if you think that the GD is going off track then please do not hesitate to interrupt but in a polite way

Speak clearly:

• Speak politely and clearly. Use simple and understandable words while speaking. Don’t be too aggressive if you are disagreeing with someone

Eye contact :

• Looking at the evaluators is the biggest mistake that people do. Keep eye contact with every team member while speaking and not the evaluators.

Time to organize thoughts :

• Don’t suddenly jump to any conclusion. Think before you speak so that you don’t speak anything irrelevant to the topic being discussed.

Conclude :

• If the evaluators have given your group time to conclude then grab the opportunity but make sure you do so periodically.

Also many ask me on how to deal with an unknown topic in GD ?

• Listen and first and try to relate things accordingly
  
• Make up your mind on some issues that were discussed and elaborate on them. Don't take rigid stands.
• Take your chance to sum up the GD to show that you were an active participant and a listener
  

HOW TO RUIN YOUR GD :

Finally some tips on how to ruin your GD :

• Start shouting right from the beginning. This way you can make sure that no one gets a chance to speak anything. Also, you should make sure that if someone else also shouts, you should make aggressive and threatening gestures. A fist can be useful.
• Keep changing your stand continuously.
• Always contradict what others have to say.
• Maintain a sardonic smile on your face throughout the GD. This way you will be able to tell the examiners that you are much superior to the other members of the group.
• Ask some other members of the group to shut up.
• Use your pet words like “Yaar” etc. This will lend a touch of ethnic elegance to the whole affair.
• Laugh loudly and heartily. This shows that you are jolly person.
• Point out the errors of others and make fun of them.
• Keep yawning from time to time. Maintain a blank look on your face.

For my previous post on GD Topics visit below :

http://eravandi.blogspot.com/2009/04/some-gd-topics.html

Feedback would me much appreciated

Some GD Topics

Below are some GD topics which you all might find useful. I know that this is a huge list but here is what you have to do :

1. Go through the list n try n see if u can make a short speech on each of the topics mentioned ...u can do like 5-7 topics a day.
2. See if u can give 2 sides to each of the topic...let ur imagination run wild
3. Now try to give a Social,Political,Economic,Legal,Technological point of view to each of the topics ...it wont take much time ..

Management Topics:

• The Rush for MBA is really a rush for big money
• Ethics in Business are just a passing fashion
• Corporate social respomsibility seems hypocritical
• The objective of Management is to maximise profits
• Decreasing defense expenditure and increasing social expenditure is the need of the hour
• The Internet is an exercise in hype
• Is an MBA necessary to succeed in life
• Smaller businesses and start-ups have more scope for professional growth
• Managerial skills learnt in the classroom can never match those learnt from experience
• MBA in India is highly overrated
• Business ethics are no longer a luxury for corporate but a necessity
• Do professional managers have a chance in our family run businesses?
• Religion is a private affair and should be of no concern for the state

Economic Topics:

• Developing countries need trade, not aid
• Capitalism is a very flawed system but the others are so much worse
• Flexibility of labor laws is the key to attracting more Foreign Direct Investment
• In our economic matters, there is an excessive tendency towards the thinking rather than doing
• Are co-operatives relevant in todays globalize environment
• Is the consumer really the king in India?
• Commercialization of health care: Good or Bad?
• Is the US economy headed the Japanese economy way
• Globalization is good for developing countries
• The state is above the law?
• Markets left to them selves encourage greed
• How can business get rid of the bad name that it has earned?
• Public sector being a guarantor of job security is a myth
• Government pumping money into the economy is not the solution for our economic problems

Creative Topics:

• The Wheel is Turning Round and Round
• If I was the Finance Minister/Prime Minister
• There is no right way to do a wrong thing
• How can we have Mount Everest in India
• Do Beauty and Brains Go Together
• Ships docked in harbor cannot face the storms

Social Topics :

• Just as we have smoke free zones, we should have child free zones
• Marriage is a social trap
• The Internet chains have come on the wings of science and technology but are no less restrictive for all that
• Media is a mixed blessing/How ethical is media?
• Secularism has become a tool to justify the wrongs done by the minorities
• To fight AIDs, stop being coy about sex education
• What should India strive for- Westernization or modernization?
• The education system needs serious reforms
• A Gandhian State selling liquor is an anomaly

Fedback would be much appreciated