How to be the Best Delegate?

Skills to Help You through Your MUN Career

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be the best delegate or why is that person selected instead of you? Well, for starters, there are so many criteria of the selection process. Raising your placard one or two times or asking a couple of questions would not be enough for you to be noticed, unfortunately. If you want to live your MUN career to the fullest and feel proud when you look back, you have to be aware of a few things and make your decisions according to them. Read the items below, never hesitate over your potential and show ‘em how you rock it!

 

1. Research

 

I know how overwhelming and boring the research process can be. Trust me, I’ve been there. But as humble advice, doing research properly is the key to be fully active in the committee. To be completely honest, you don’t have to dig up the oldest treaties and memorize every detail about the issue. There are some tips I can give that can help you through the process.

• While checking your own country’s policy about the issue you’re researching, take a peek at the countries which are closely relevant to the issue or have a different point of view than the others as well. By having that kind of knowledge, you will have the advantage of laying the cards on the table when they’re not expecting it.
• As you are reading the research report, check out the topics that you’re not writing a resolution about as well and note some solution ideas – just casual notes, no one will see them except you. When the house is debating over those topics, you will feel more confident and also be able to send amendments including your solution ideas.

• During the research process, note a couple of important treaties or numeric data on a piece of paper. That way, you can include evidence in your speeches and look super cool on the podium.

2)  Lobbying

During the lobbying sessions, try your best to look as friendly as possible – and hide the fact you’re dead inside. Don’t forget that it is your only chance to collect allies for your resolution who can provide you in favour of speeches. While you’re trying to find someone to finish up the resolution with, try to skip the ones who know too much or nothing at all, the average is always the best. In addition, write as much as you can at home since the earlier you’re done on the lobbying session, the more co-submitters you can influence. The early bird gets the worm, I personally learned it the hard way.

3) Writing a Resolution

Resolution is the basis of the MUN. The more your fingers get used to using fancy words, the easier and quicker the writing process will be. There is not much to say since it mainly depends on the topic, but I can give you some tips that are valid most of the time.

• Pay attention to the “possible solutions” section in the research report, you can use it as a guide.
• If the topic is a conflict between two sides, always include a clause that makes them sit and talk about the problem. Don’t forget to add details of who, where, when and how long etc.
• Don’t worry about the financial part of your ideas, you can always make the UN and IMF pay for it.
• Almost every resolution needs a clause about raising awareness and also one about the relevant NGOs.
• If the topic is about a country as a whole, try to consider every aspect of its – economy, education, politics, military, etc.- and write separate clauses for each of them.
• When you’re done writing, place it in front of you like it is someone else’s resolution and imagine that your only aim is to find questions to ask. If any question appears on your mind, put the response in the resolution.

4) Public Speaking

If you’re too afraid to stand up and talk to the crowd, sit and observe the others first. I’m pretty sure that the half of the committee will be even more nervous than you and as time passes, you will notice it too. Once you realize that and make your first speech, I guarantee that your body will get used to it and want to do it again – that’s how it works on me at least. If you want to feel fully ready and prepared, I advise you to write a couple of speeches that focus on different perspectives and topics and use them when necessary.

• Try to avoid the clichéd ways. You can pick the words that you are most likely to use and find several synonyms of them.
• If you decide on accepting points of information and an annoying question comes up that you have no idea how to answer, instead of mumbling, say “We prefer not to answer.”, “We do not have the proper knowledge for this question.” or “We will send you a note with a more detailed answer.” – that note will never be sent.

5) Asking Questions

Now it’s time for the most fun part of the committee, watching the other sweat and tears on the podium. When a resolution first comes to you, you don’t check if the clauses can solve the problem properly or not, you look for the lack of details that you can use while asking a question. That’s how things work in MUN. My skill that has improved the most is finding questions to ask in a short period of time, and yours will be improved with practice as well. What you can do to ask better questions is to have background knowledge about the topic and listen to the speaker as carefully as possible. Even one word that the person says can be used against them, never forget that. If you are really desperate and cannot think of any questions, you can always ask about their country’s policy and point of view towards the topic.

 

Quick Reminders

• Always have your phone charged in case you need it for the dictionary or a quick Google search.
• Try not to make minor procedural mistakes, they might make you look amateur.
• Getting enough sleep the night before is really important. Things will get really boring after approximately three hours and it will get really hard to keep your eyes open.

 

 

Miray AYYILDIZ

Writer of MUNTurkey.com

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Note: Cover picture is from KSBLMUN’18

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