into a company, can you please tell me how to speak effectively in a group discussion.
Hi Mayur, Thanks for your question Lots of people feel nervous about participating in
group discussions, but there are a few simple techniques that can make you an effective participant.
Here are my top tips for participating in a group discussion:
1. Prepare If you know what the topic of the discussion will be, there is a lot you can do
to prepare in advance. You can read round the topic to make sure you are aware of the main issues and arguments, and spend some time deciding
what your own position is. If you can find any English-language audio or TV materials about the topic, make sure you watch it You can also do some
vocabulary research around the topic so that you can talk about it confidently. Make a list of the nouns, verbs and adjectives that you think will
be useful and practise their pronunciation. A lot of online dictionaries have pronunciation help.
2. Listen An effective discussion is one in which people listen to each other. Listening
is a very important discussion skill: make sure you listen and respond to what other people have to say. A good discussion is one in which people
share and talk about different opinions and viewpoints. Its not a competition
3. Dont dominate Many people make the mistake of thinking that in order to be effective in a
discussion, they have to speak a lot. In fact, this isnt the case. In discussions, quality is more important than quantity: in other words, what
you say is often much more important than how much you say. If you give other people a chance to say what they think, and then respond with a polite,
intelligent comment which you are able to back up, you will gain the respect of your colleagues.
4. Back up your points If you make a point in a discussion, you may be asked to explain or support
it. You can do this in a number of ways: by providing facts or statistics to support your idea; by quoting expert opinion; by referring to your own
experience or simply by explaining why you said what you said. But make sure you are prepared to support what you say, and try to avoid making
empty points.
5. Learn some useful phrases There are lots of useful phrases that you can use in discussions. Here are just
a few of them:
o Agreeing: Youre absolutely right about that. o Disagreeing: Im sorry, I dont see it that way at all.
o Interrupting: Sorry, do you mind if I say something here? o Dealing with interruptions: Could I just finish what Im saying?
o Asking for an explanation: Would you mind telling us what exactly you mean by that?
o Asking for more information: Would you mind saying a little bit more about that?
o Adding more information: Another point Id like to make is... There are many more phrases you can learn and use to help you feel more confident in
discussions. Find out more here
6. Be polite The words argue and discuss in English have different meanings. People may
