PPDT or Picture Perception and Description Test is a screening test in SSB interview. It is the second test of SSB stage 1. It is held on the first day of the SSB interview and it decides whether you will be able to further continue with the interview or not.
Picture Perception and Description Test is conducted after the OIR Test,
Officer's Intelligence Ratings, after which the candidates are issued with chest numbers, which is a method of designating the candidates throughout the interview.
The candidates are made to sit serially according to their chest numbers. Generally, one single row accommodates twenty candidates and after the arrangement, the SSB Interview Board Officers briefs about phase two of SSB Interview Day 1, which is the PPDT.
What is PPDT?
PPDT or Picture Perception and Description Test is a part of the SSB interview where the candidates are shown a blurred picture for 30 seconds.And next to that, the candidates are allotted to write a story based on the picture, with details consisting of what has lead to such a situation, what is the current scenario depicted in the picture, and what is the probable situation that is going to overtake the situation.
In addition to the 4 minutes, a minute extra is provided to the candidates to pen down the action before starting the story. The works to be done by the candidates in the extra one minute includes, marking all the characters in the pictures, providing the details of the characters such as age, gender, mood, expression, etc.
Post writing session, the candidates are divided into a group of 10-18 members based on the strength. Then the candidates are asked to narrate their story one after the other.
After every candidate finishes narrating their story, the candidates are made to sit together for a discussion session where they are instructed to discuss the story that is being reflected from the picture and form a common story. Later which is narrated by one of the candidates who is chosen by the Interviewing Board members.
But what is the key thing that is supposed to help you to pass-through this session or
What can add the basic and most important essentiality to help you screened it?
Try reflecting positive ideas in your conclusion paragraph or make an effort to seek a positive objective or value through your story you write based on the picture.
Why it is important to narrate positive stories in PPDT?
Positivity always helps in winning the attention of people. It is a great parameter to mark how an individual deals with stress conditions, how good reasoning ability you have.
With the selection procedure, the SSB Interviewing board tries to find the right candidate to possess all the OLQ (Officier Like Qualities) and is justified to be a Defence Officer.
Picture Perception and Description test actually amplify candidates with Effective Intelligence, Reasoning Ability, Power of Expression, organizing Ability, Ability to Influence the group, and stamina. These are six of the fifteen OLQs.
By bringing out positivity through your story you demonstrate how beautifully you can imagine and think of better times being in a difficult time, which is a characteristic of great leaders and eminent personalities.
If you think in positive ways only then you can change the ambiance around yourself in a better direction.
Positive mind in the first step to do greater things.
Positivity makes a person more energetic and thus more productive.
If you are positive, you are more eligible for being a defense officer as in the time of tension and seriousness which are common in the Defence Department, you can keep up the enthusiasm and cheerful environment for your team members, which is very crucial.
Thus, delivering a positive story in your interview unfurls the liveliness and optimistic side of yours, which is very much encouraged for a Defence Officer. Therefore by doing so you accelerate the chances of being selected for the next stage and head a step closer towards being an Officer.
What are the qualities the SSB Interviewing Board looks for in PPDT?
In PPDT, the interviewing Board of Officier especially emphasizes on evaluating the candidates on the following Qualities:
- Effective Intelligence
- Reasoning Ability
- Power of Expression
- Organizing Ability
- Ability to influence the group
- Stamina
These are the six of fifteen officers Like Qualities that are expected to be exhibited by every Defence aspirants.
In Picture Presentation and Description Test, the Board members look for the above-mentioned qualities and the test procedure they have reflects a person’s entire personality emphasizing mostly on the qualities mentioned earlier.
As you have read through, only 4 minutes is given to the candidates to pen down a story based on a picture provided to them. For any common people, four minutes is way too little to think, frame, and construct a story of letters. But this depicts the Effective Intelligence of an individual.
Effective Intelligence means the presence of mind or spontaneity. Defense Officers are ought to make decisions spontaneously in several circumstances and which requires a quick response. Thus, a Defence aspirant is required to have effective intelligence to get selected for the rest of the interview.
When writing a story, you need to frame the reason for yourself as well as for board members. As while you are narrating your story any member of the Interviewing board might raise and question against your perception and perspective, where you might have to reason for what you have written.
Thus a clear and strong reasoning ability is required to move ahead in the Interview.
The PPDT reflects an aspirant’s Power of Expression wholly. Not only it is about expressing your view or narrating (precisely communicating) ability but also demonstrate the power of expression of thoughts and views. This is extracted from the story you write.
Organizing ability is another quality that is depicted by the aspirants and they are evaluated upon it in PPDT. The way you organize your wholesome idea of a blurred picture and frame it in a beautiful sequential order to bring out a positive message throws light on well you can organize things and think in any situation.
Another important quality which helps the board member in filtering out candidates for further Interview session is your ability to influence the group. This quality is reviewed when you are asked to sit for a group discussion and instructed to come up with a single story.
The better is your ability to influence the group, more your chances increases to get noticed by the Board members.
Stamina, another quality from the list of OLQs. Stamina here does not only refer to physical strength but also to mental ability to fight mental stress and put in mental effort. In PPDT, writing a story with morals values and positive ideologies in just four minutes do require mental stamina. And successfully presenting with a good story can prove your mental stamina and in turn, enhances your chance of being selected.
What are the necessary things to keep in mind during the PPDT?
- Positivity can be the Key. Try to shape positive stories even though if you see negative pictures. The negative picture is given for a purpose. Bringing out the positivity can be beneficial for you to crack the test.
- Try to maintain originality in the story you write. Do not write any story you have read before or some story based on any movie or theatrical dramas. Therefore it is highly suggested not to write preconceived stories.
- Keep your story as realistic as possible. So not write irrelevant contents where things are impractical.
- Be logical. Try and synchronize the events in your stories in a logical and sequential order which seems realistic. This reflects your organizing ability.
- Be very attentive to what the assessors instruct. Act exactly according to the instruction. Adding extra can actually be a set back to your test.
- Maintain neat and clean writing, this ensures clarity of thoughts and a disciplined format of life.
- Try to finish on time and maintain the decorum throughout the interview by acting wisely and avoiding unnecessary works and talks.
How to prepare for PPDT?
Clearing PPDT and getting screened in is not really an easy task to do. It requires a lot of practice,
the practice of thinking quickly and effectively,
the practice of writing quicker and maintaining a neat writing style,
The practice of narrating fluently with expression and aiming at the clear deposition of thoughts in the audience.
Perfection in these fields can only be brought by immense practice, dedication, and determination.
Body language plays an essential role when you are delivering your story or narrating in front of the Board members and fellow candidates. There practicing in front of the mirror can greatly help you to improve this quality.
Avoid beating about the bush and getting conversations to the point. To convey your entire message in 1 minute try to sum up your story and form a small gist and present it in the interview. This can be enhanced by practicing summary writings and reading for books and framing book reviews for practice sessions.
Try to achieve transparency in your thoughts and words, which will help you to designate characters and their roles properly when writing a story. Practicing short story writing or reading dramas can surely help you to improve this skill.
Reading newspapers can improve your vocabulary and short sentence raming ability. Which again can be very beneficial for an SSB interview.
If you are in school or college take part in group activities and public speaking or cultural events. This is really beneficial and also helps you in gathering experience on organizing ability and ability to influence others.