Tuesday 3 March 2015


With the arrival of the placement season arrives the biggest horror of a student "The GD". And it does not stops with placements, rather it follows you wherever you go, be it company meetings or GDs for IIMs and other B Schools. Now the biggest reason for this fear is the unfamiliarity with GDs, as Sir Kejriwal would say,
                                 "yahi to scam hai, hamein yahi to badalna hai " ;)
So here we are with certain basic tips and tricks to vanquish this fear.




Let us start with what a moderator looks for (in a participant ) :

1. Interpersonal Skills
2. Communication Skills
3. Leadership: Visualize an end and find a path to the end.

                               


Brush up your speaking skills (its easy if you try ), use simple words and make to-the-point statements. It is preferred if you speak less but make substantial points and give a direction to the discussion.

Body Language

Another issue that must be of primary concern is your body language. It is a mirror of your personality so do keep certain basic thumb rules in mind for extra brownie points:
1. Ignore Moderator
2. Eye contact with all members of group
3. Hands correctly positioned: Open palms
4. Wear a meaningful, Passive smile
5. NEVER POINT FINGERS
6. Gestures should reinforce what is being said.
7. LISTEN WHEN OTHERS SPEAK
8. Modulate your voice,

These are the basic things you need to keep in mind (as well as apply them) throughout the GD.

Now that we know how to present ourselves in a discussion let us look into some specific techniques that we'll need to be able to present our points efficiently.

Beginning:

1. Only lay down the agenda, show both sides.
2. DON'T TAKE SIDES AT THE VERY BEGINNING - you may win some friends    but you'll be making some enemies as well  
3. If your'e not confident that you have covered each and every point - DO NOT    BEGIN
4. Just serve the menu card, just state the different aspects of the topic that the    panel needs to discuss.
5. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple

Cutting-in:

1. Start speaking when someone takes breathing breaks.
2. Speak after the "Gareeb" guy - a person who hasn't spoken profoundly.
3. Voice higher(just a tad bit) that the preceding person.
4. Say "I agree with you my friend " or "As my friend very nicely pointed out" and    continue.

And in case someone else cuts you choose any of the given statement and try to continue with your statement.
1. Please may I finish
2. "Allow me to finish please"

Even if you're not allowed to speak after this, the moderator gets an impression that you had something more to add.

Remember, at the end of the day, the most logical and confident speaker prevails.

Group Behavior

1. Don't create a fish market
2. Think of the group as a single entity and focus on Group performance
3. Praise people
4. Interim summaries: Summarize what has been discussed and what needs to be    discussed every 5- 10 minutes
5. Don't state any statistics without mentioning the source.
6. Identify the core idea, draw diameters cutting right through the core idea, not    tangents.
7. NEVER SAY SORRY
8. DON'T MUG UP AND VOMIT
9. Always give global examples not local
10. If someone has already covered your point rephrase it and express it with a fresh example.

Concluding

1. Sum up all the points
2. Never say "in my opinion" or " I think"

Ideal Approach

1. Speak once at start, not too late, within the first four speakers.
2. Twice in the middle, meaningfully, showing different perspectives, as much out    of the box as possible. Be flexible with your approach.
3. Once at the end

Well, that's all for now. Stick around for more.Till then keep arguing, keep raising questions, keep debating. 

4 comments:

  1. thanks shantanu da bt please attach midle approaches e.g. PREP effected party etc:)

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    Replies
    1. There will be another post fully explaining all the methods. I'll be posting it shortly.

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