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employee2owner
The Importance of Listening in Group Discussion
Listening
Most participants forget that listening is one of the main leadership skill being assessed in a GD.
Not only will Active Listening fetch you extra credit points it will also provide you with a lot of
material and facts you can use in forming an opinion and improving your input. Remember that for
major part of the GD you are a listener. If every speaker gets about 2-3 minutes to speak on an
average, they have 20-25 minutes which for listening. In fact it is with your listening skills and
posture that you can get most speakers to address you and thus become center of the discussion
group.
Most qualities like Leadership skills, Communication skills, Interpersonal skills and Persuasive skills,
that the HR people are looking for will be more evident from your listening skills than your speaking
prowess. Though we are not trying to give you any quick fix solutions it will help you if you knew
how you are evaluated so that you can practice in the relevant areas and improve your
performance.
It is a misconception that initiating a discussion even if it is done inaptly will fetch you extra credits
and will put you in the spot light as the leader of the group. The only thing it will do is put you in a
spot and spell disaster if you hesitate or stutter while initiating the GD. It is recommended that you
do not initiate discussion if you know little about the subject being discussed just to prove that you
possess leadership qualities. That will be counterproductive. The employers are looking for people
with integrity and the panelists will penalize you for lack of integrity if you try to bluff your way
through GD. Honesty is not only the best policy; it is the only policy.
Initiate the discussion only if you know the subject well otherwise listen 'actively'. It is as
important. It shows you are willing to listen to some one who knows better.
One major quality of a good leader is his listening and comprehension skills. If you do not know
much about a subject, and there is nothing shameful about that, listening carefully to other
participants will give you enough material to form and express an opinion at a later stage in the
discussion. You are not supposed to know everything about every subject.
If I were to give you just one tip on how to conduct yourself in a GD, it would be: “Be Yourself”.
Don't put on an act. You are what you are and it will show in a group. You do not have to be pushy
and try too hard.
that the HR people are looking for will be more evident from your listening skills than your speaking
prowess. Though we are not trying to give you any quick fix solutions it will help you if you knew
how you are evaluated so that you can practice in the relevant areas and improve your
performance.
It is a misconception that initiating a discussion even if it is done inaptly will fetch you extra credits
and will put you in the spot light as the leader of the group. The only thing it will do is put you in a
spot and spell disaster if you hesitate or stutter while initiating the GD. It is recommended that you
do not initiate discussion if you know little about the subject being discussed just to prove that you
possess leadership qualities. That will be counterproductive. The employers are looking for people
with integrity and the panelists will penalize you for lack of integrity if you try to bluff your way
through GD. Honesty is not only the best policy; it is the only policy.
Initiate the discussion only if you know the subject well otherwise listen 'actively'. It is as
important. It shows you are willing to listen to some one who knows better.
One major quality of a good leader is his listening and comprehension skills. If you do not know
much about a subject, and there is nothing shameful about that, listening carefully to other
participants will give you enough material to form and express an opinion at a later stage in the
discussion. You are not supposed to know everything about every subject.
If I were to give you just one tip on how to conduct yourself in a GD, it would be: “Be Yourself”.
Don't put on an act. You are what you are and it will show in a group. You do not have to be pushy
and try too hard.
Leadership Skills
Leadership qualities will include patience and empathy. Listening shows you care and are patient.
Communication is a two way street. While you will be assessed for clarity of thought, expression
and aptness of language when you speak you are also being watched when it is your turn to listen.
Are you listening actively or are you busy formulating what you are going to say next.
How you react to what other participants say will let the panelists assess your interpersonal skills.
People skills are an important aspect of any job. Are you flexible enough to change your stance in
the light of convincing evidence or are you too rigid to make amends and too proud to allow that
some one else could have better knowledge of a subject. Can you be firm when you know that you
are right and someone too voluble is trying to bully you to accept his view? How you handle such
situations will show your ability to interact with other members of the group. Are you empathetic
and people centered or too egotistical and proud and self centered.
Listening Skills will therefore reveal much more about a person than most people realize. Listen.
Your persuasive skills will be evident in a GD from your ability to convince other participants to
agree with your viewpoints are to accept your recommendation. A persuasive pitch will use
evidence to support your viewpoint, consider opposing views and present a strong conclusion.
Use evidence to support your viewpoint. Statistics, facts, quotations from experts and examples
will help you to build a strong case for your argument. You should appeal to participant’s sense of
logic by presenting specific and relevant evidence. Talking in a loud voice does not add to
convincing evidence. So just shore up on a lot of statistics and read up a lot of thought provoking
books and be generally aware of the world around you.
Consider opposing views. Try to anticipate the concerns and questions others might have about
your point of view. Responding to these points will give you the chance to explain why your
viewpoint or recommendation should be accepted.
Present a strong conclusion. All your evidence and explanations should build toward a strong
ending in which you summarize your view in a clear and memorable way. That will help you to
create a consensus. The conclusion in a persuasive talk might include a call to action.
TIP: Use a pleasant and reasonable tone when you talk. Sarcasm and name-calling weaken your
stance. Logic and fairness will help to keep your argument strong.
| Check out the employee2owner, Workshop on Listening and Workshop On Effective Communication/Interpersonal skills Other Workshops |
employee2owner