[raghuveer_v]

Originally posted by Sri

Ok Raghuveer, I am sure I can be of good help to u here as I worked as the Executive member, Joint Secretary and then as Secretary for the REC-W's famous "management studies group" club during my 2nd, 3rd and 4th year engineering resply....We did have many many GD competitions and we also had many workshops where in we had speakers from IIM come and advise us on how to participate in a GD.

Great! Lucky me!

1) DONOT HAVE ANY BAD BODY LANGUAGE. Sometimes u might have observed people throwing their hands or making some gestures with their hands or face while talking....THIS IS A BIG NO NO as far as GD's are concerned...So be cool.

Thsi is a new point. I note.

2) SOMETIMES IF THEY SAY THAT U HAVE TO TAKE TURNS TO EXPRESS UR IDEA THEN DO IT. Although sometimes u'll be just allowed to express ur opinions randomly and this is where U GOTTA GRAB UR OPPORTUNITY. Remember everyone out there is trying to be seen as the BEST of the LOT...So raise ur voice and make ur point clear.

I would try - on the day itself (I have no way to rehearse - I am utterly oyt of time)

3) BE A GOOD LISTENER. DONOT EVER TRY TO CUT SOMEBODY ELSE'S FLOW OF THOUGHT. This will be seen as a bad managerial sign, u gotta be a good listener if u have to be a good manager.

4) TALK ONLY WHEN U THINK UR POINT MAKES A SENSE....DONOT EVER BRING IN POINTS WHICH ARE IRRELEVANT TO THE TOPIC. Basically dont go tangential to the topic in discussion, this might be a great disadvantage to u, especially, if someone points out saying "I guess we better stick to the topic" or something to this effect.

5) BE CONFIDENT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.

6)LOOK INTO OTHER's EYES WHEN U R TALKING. U should forget about the audience in a group discussion. Remember its a "group" discussion, so always look only into the eyes of ur group. If u r sitting in the center in a discussion always try to keep turning ur head so that u r looking into everybody's eyes.

I'll work on that - I am told, I dont make effective eye-contact while communicating.

7) Last but not the least, DONOT ever say things in a negative manner.."He/She is utterly wrong" "What you said is not true" etc....If u wanna be a good manager u should not dismiss other's statements in a negative way...If u feel that something is wrong just say "Although what you said might be right, in my opinion this might be what's going on actually"

GD's are so simple Raghuveer....Imagine u r talking with the TMians face-to-face on some issue that's all there is to it....Once u get the hang of it, it should be like a walk-on-the-cake.

Hope they are indeed. But poor me, I am competing against otheres who have better ranks, and are prepared for this.

Try practicing some issues about Indian cricket team management or the war on Iraq etc with ur friends....and try to read India Today, Business World, Time, Economic Times as much as u can before u go for the GD's, bcoz, usually they tend to give current topics, concentrating on managerial actions for discussions

Yes. That was a great pioece of advice , Sri, Thanks a million for these tips....you know, these mean a lot to someone who is absolutely unprepared otherwise.

Thanks again,.....

By the way, I am leaving this sunday (23rd Feb) and will be back home by about 7th March.

That means, I will miss you all for two looooooooong weeks