opening ceremony speech for mun

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Model un 101: how to give the perfect opening speech.

Whether you’re a Model UN newbie or a seasoned veteran, public speaking is a skill that we can always continuously hone and improve, and it’s one that we focus on here at the MUN Institute . It’s a key aspect of MUN that is at the heart of the activity – as a MUN delegate, you need to be able to communicate with your fellow committee members, and you need to know exactly how to effectively promote your country’s policy.

Many of us have sat through speeches, MUN-related or otherwise, that were all over the place. The speaker had no structure to their speech, and they just rambled on with no rhyme or reason. Having a well-structured speech is a great way to ensure that you’ll be able to not only catch, but also keep, your audience’s attention. Additionally, they’ll understand exactly what the point of your speech is, and what they should take away from it.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to structure the perfect Model UN opening speech from Best Delegate Co-Founder Ryan Villanueva!

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Coach’s Corner: Opening Speeches

Written by Frank Pobutkiewicz

Coach's corner, october 25, 2018, mun exercise | opening speech | practice | speech | speech training | strategy.

Let’s talk about Opening Speeches. To start off, I’m not a fan. Or, to be more specific, I’m not a fan of spending hours upon hours drafting, redrafting, and rehearsing an opening speech that no one, including the dais, will remember after the first hour of committee.

I know that there’s a school of thought out there that believes in preparing opening speeches as if you’re a head of state addressing the General Assembly. But let’s face it, you’re one of up to 193 people in a hotel conference room or auditorium with no more than two minutes to address your committee and dais for the first time.

Everyone is trying to make a mark. Everyone is trying to lay out some framework for their ideas. Most people haven’t done any research so they try to sound diplomatic by appealing to others in the room to “share their ideas,” or “compromise to find a solution,” or “collaborate and come together,” without sharing any concrete proposals of their own.

Here’s my advice. For a 90 second to two-minute opening speech, spend 90% of the time outlining three parts of your solution. This requires you to do research and prepare a solution ahead of the start of committee. To start your speech, think of a creative hook to get people’s attention and then end your speech with a quick and pointed call-to-action, something like, “If you’re interested increasing transparency as a cornerstone to our solution, please send me a note and meet Uganda during the first unmod.”

Let’s Review:

• Step One: Hook. “If you were born TODAY in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, there’s a 5.9% chance you will die being born.”
• Step Two: Solution Set Overview. “Over the course of the weekend, the Bahamas urges the committee to (1) Establish a commonly agreed upon framework for encouraging and educating women to deliver their babies in professional health facilities, (2) Support the establishment of a new series of midwifery and nursing schools throughout Haiti, and (3) Promote doctor exchange programs and volunteering schemes to bring more medical professionals to Haiti.”
• Step Three: Call-to-Action. “If your country supports a Public Educational, Professional Education, and Professional Exchange program to address infant mortality in Haiti, please send the Bahamas a note with your details and meet in the back corner of the room near the water to better develop a draft resolution.”

There you have it. No endless drafting. No memorization. No prewriting. This is how a solutions-based approach to Model United Nations can powerfully impact the start of your next committee session.

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• London International Model United Nations - Opening ceremony: International Maritime Organization - “Supporting the United Nations”
• Media Centre
• Secretary General

London International Model United Nations Opening ceremony, Central Hall Westminster Friday, 21 February Speech by Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-General International Maritime Organization “Supporting the United Nations”   Ladies and gentlemen, aspiring diplomats,   It is my great pleasure, indeed a great honour, to be with you today and to welcome you to this Model United Nations exercise. Indeed, we are all standing in the shadows of greatness today, because it was here, in this very hall, that the inaugural meetings of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council took place in January 1946.   Not only is this a wonderful opportunity for you to experience for yourself the pressures, challenges and, ultimately, rewards that come from working within this unique system that we call the United Nations: it is also an opportunity for me to tell you something about my own personal journey; about how I came to be the Secretary-General of a UN agency here in London. It is an opportunity that I relish, and for which I am grateful.   In due course, I want to tell you about some of the things that have shaped me and inspired me, in the hope that you too will one day find your own inspiration.   But first, I want to say a few words about the United Nations itself. Let me say straight away that the United Nations is vast, complex and incredibly ubiquitous. There is almost no limit to the areas of human activities it covers.   Speaking as an insider, we have a number of different words that we use to describe ourselves; we refer to the 'UN system', we refer to 'Organizations' (with a capital 'O'), and extend to embrace agencies, programmes, funds and so on.   But perhaps my favourite term is one that we use more colloquially. We talk about the 'UN family'. I like this, because, as in any family, we have our arguments, our quarrels and our disputes; but, again like any family, we are bound together by something deeper and stronger, and it is this strength that we draw on to face our challenges.   Here in the UK, we are a relatively small branch of the family. The International Maritime Organization, IMO, is a specialized agency with its headquarters about a 15 minute walk from here, on the south bank of the river Thames.   IMO is the only UN agency to have its Headquarters based here, but the UN High Commission for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the UN Environment Programme and the World Bank all have offices in the UK too. There is also the International Organization for Migration, a thriving United Nations Association and several other groups that actively support the system and espouse its values.   I have had the privilege to work in the United Nations system for a quarter of a century. Yes, it is my job: but it is also so much more than that. The UN is something I am passionate about and in which I have a resolute and unshakeable belief.   For me, the United Nations is the ultimate expression of mankind’s need to learn from its own history; and, in particular, from the appalling history of the first half of the twentieth century.   The concept of a peaceful community of nations first began to emerge in Europe, following the Napoleonic Wars of the nineteenth century. The first Geneva Conventions and Hague Conventions, which sought to address aspects of the conduct of war and promote the peaceful settlement of disputes, were drawn up and signed during that period.   But, as we now know, none of this prevented Europe, and the world, from being plunged into the awful destruction of the First World War. The social, political and economic devastation of this conflict was simply unprecedented.   When the fighting ended, in 1918, it was called 'the war to end all wars'. The League of Nations was born out of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and civilized people everywhere hoped and prayed that a new era had dawned.   And yet, a mere 21 years later, the world was engulfed in an even more dreadful war – one that, once again, pushed levels of destruction and cruelty beyond anything that had been previously imaginable. Mankind, it seems, does not find these lessons easy to learn.   If anything good can be said to have come out of the two World Wars of the twentieth century, then let it be the renewed vigour for international peace and the widespread rejection of armed conflict that led to the formation of the United Nations.   The Charter that founded the United Nations was signed in San Francisco in June 1945; and, today, almost 70 years later, the values enshrined in its provisions still provide a relevant and credible blueprint for a better world.   Its preamble speaks of the need to save future generations from the scourge of war; but it also speaks of human rights, human dignity, gender equality, equality between nations, justice and international law, tolerance, freedom, respect, security and social advancement. It is a document for our time – it is a document for all time.   I mentioned a few moments ago that the United Nations of today is a vast and complex entity. The influence of this global family reaches the remotest wildernesses and densest conurbations on the planet. Its work ranges from front-line, headline-grabbing missions such as peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, through broader, fundamental issues such as sustainable development and environmental stewardship, the protection of refugees, disaster relief, food production, health, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to more technical matters, such as those dealt with by my own agency, the International Maritime Organization.   The common threads that run through all this are a firm commitment to improving peoples’ lives; a strong desire to promote equality; and a passion and a belief that we can, and must, strive to make the world a better place – where human rights and the rule of law are respected and we recognize and rejoice in the diversity of global culture.   At IMO, the main thrust of our work is to develop and adopt technical standards for international shipping, so that countries involved in international trade can have confidence that ships entering and leaving their ports adhere to appropriate standards of safety and environmental performance. It is important – but, nevertheless, might be considered marginal to the overall objectives of the UN. It can be broadly set alongside similar work carried out by other technical agencies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization or the Universal Postal Union.   But, even in these smaller agencies and marginal areas, we quickly learn that nothing is ever achieved without cooperation, understanding and a willingness to work together to find a solution. The members of IMO – and there are 170 of them – frequently have disagreements, hold different viewpoints and sometimes have different objectives. Sometimes they disagree on technical matters, and sometimes political considerations set them apart.   What is a high priority for one country may not even be on the radar for another. And yet, over the course of more than 50 years since it became operational, IMO has produced a series of international agreements and conventions that, collectively, have made shipping infinitely safer and more secure and dramatically reduced its negative impact on the environment.   It isn’t my intention to speak to you in any detail about this work. The point I wish to make is to do with the process.   For it is in the search for common ground, for consensus, and in the understanding that solutions must be supported by the wider international community.  Our activities, through the standard UN process at IMO, even in limited areas, do make their real contribution towards the objectives and the spirit of the United Nations.   I mentioned earlier that I have been working in the UN system, exclusively for IMO, for a quarter of a century. I feel both proud and privileged to have done so. I was born in 1952, which was also the year of the San Francisco Peace Treaty that saw my country, Japan, come back into international society after World War Two. It was the year that Japan applied to join the United Nations. Four years later, in 1956, Japan joined the UN. So I am a child of the peace time. I never saw or experienced the horrors of war for myself.   But the war left its mark on me, nevertheless. As a boy, I was taken on a school trip to visit the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall, a place of contemplation and reflection designed to deepen peoples’ understanding of the power of the atomic bomb against human dignity and to reaffirm Japan’s commitment to genuine and lasting peace. I still remember, facing photos after photos of truly terrifying calamity, my eyes were filled with tears.   That was a powerful moment for me and, when I look back, I think that that experience had a lasting impact on my life. I remember to this day how it shaped my mind-set and defined the path I wished to follow. Rather than blacken my mind with any thoughts of blame, it brought home to me, most graphically, that only actions united through cooperation and mutual understanding can ensure that such horrors are never repeated. Simple prayers for peace would not work here.  So, although by training I am a technical person – a naval architect, or ship designer, to be precise – my life has been devoted to, and defined by, international cooperation, within the United Nations family.   It is a family of which I am proud to be a member. And I don’t mind admitting that I sometimes get frustrated and defensive when others, outside the family, seem intent on belittling its efforts or darkening its reputation. Of course, it’s not perfect; of course, it has its weaknesses. But it is, without doubt, the best hope for a better future for mankind.   It’s easy to stand outside something like the UN and simply point to its imperfections; but doing this achieves nothing. Today’s UN may not be ideal, but it is the best chance we have, to tackle the serious, global challenges that affect us all. So I would encourage all to be critical, yes: but be constructive, be supportive and help us to strengthen and improve it.   I hope that many of you will one day join the UN family, whether in a professional capacity in one of its many organizations, agencies or programmes, or as a supporter or volunteer.   The fact that you are here today – engaged, active, interested and concerned – tells me very clearly that you recognize and understand the importance of the UN system and that you embrace its values. As your careers and your lives progress, I urge you; do not lose sight of them. Continue to seek out the ways in which you can make your own contribution towards the peace and prosperity of mankind, wherever your life takes you, and whatever you do.   I am sure this event will give you a strong flavour of the mechanisms that underpin and shape the United Nations, and I hope it will strengthen the zeal you already have for collaboration, consensus and for working together.   I would like to conclude my short address to you today, by quoting words of Paul Kennedy, a contemporary historian specializing in international relations, economic power and grand strategy. In the afterword to his book 'The Parliament of Man', about the United Nations, he writes:   "The world is not so happy a place. Billions of people suffer impoverishment, many until the end of their miserable lives. Population pressures build up. Can we really offer justice and freedom to a mid-twenty-first-century earth of perhaps nine billion people, one-third of whom may live in squalor and desperation?"   "How do we handle our collective human impact on the environment, with its rising sea levels, collapsing glaciers, and massive weather turbulences, without multinational work? How do we manage global fiscal and trading dislocations without strengthening present UN instruments or creating new ones? How do we push for the advancement of human rights and displacement of awful dictatorships except through the summoning of world opinion, pressure, and Security Council sanctions?"   "So the only answer, as far as I see it, is by trying; by repairing weakness, coaxing reluctant governments to accept change, understanding what works best and where international organization has problems – or even should not be involved at all – and not giving up. A hard-nosed realist approach to the world order will not work here. Nor will an over imaginative idealist belief that everything will be okay if we just pull together. The world needs both sceptical intelligence and vision. Mixed properly, as they were between 1942 and 1945, they can work wonders."   Ladies and gentlemen, I have nothing to add, except that I just hope he is right; and that you, the younger generation, will carry our hopes and aspirations into the future.   It has been a pleasure speaking to you, and I wish you an enjoyable and rewarding event.   Thank you. __________    

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General assembly, 18 march 2008, welcoming remarks to the model united nations conference, ban ki-moon.

I am heartened to see such a large and enthusiastic group of young adults engaged in global issues. Together, you represent the United Nations as it should be -- people from all countries coming together to find solutions to problems through constructive debate and an exchange of ideas.

Your Model United Nations is built on open minds and fresh ideas. Many of you have been asked to represent national agendas or stands that you may personally disagree with. You will do so fairly and forcefully. This open-mindedness is the essence of successful diplomacy -- the ability to understand and analyse all positions, including those that you oppose.

Your acceptance of differing viewpoints clearly distinguishes your conference. I believe it will prove crucial as you assume leadership roles in the twenty-first century. Let me add that it gives me great pleasure to utter the words “Madam Secretary-General”. By selecting a woman at the helm, you are already guiding our Organization by example!

I sincerely hope that, in the future, we will have a woman Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Young delegates, it is when your conference is over that the real work begins. With this experience, you become representatives of the United Nations; student ambassadors charged with building a better understanding of the Organization -- what it is, what it does and what it can do. And you assume this responsibility at a crucial period in the life of the United Nations. Every day and on a wide range of issues, our Organization is expected to deliver in new and better ways.

People expect us to work for a more prosperous and healthy world. The clock on the Millennium Development Goals is ticking, with many regions in danger of losing the race. Indeed, not a single country in sub-Saharan Africa is currently on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Urgent action is needed to bring these people -- the world’s bottom billion -- into the folds of global prosperity.

People expect us to deliver results for a more secure world. Currently, 120,000 brave men and women serve as peacekeepers in 17 missions worldwide. Another 13 field missions are engaged in conflict prevention and mediation support. This year promises even more challenges. An unprecedented African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force will deploy in Darfur, Sudan. The situation in the Middle East remains on a knife’s edge. Rising food and commodity prices have the potential to trigger additional instability.

People expect us to speak up for a more just world. 2008 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A year-long awareness campaign is already under way. We must help spread its message and rededicate ourselves to the cause of truly universal human rights.

And people expect us to advance the global common good by securing global public goods -- in the areas of climate change, global health, counter-terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation. The United Nations is uniquely placed to lead these efforts.

These issues are daunting. But the United Nations has proven, at various stages of its history, that it is capable of rising to new challenges. Your support is crucial. Your voice and your organization, activity and energy can help highlight the United Nations successes and explain the Organization’s constraints. You can be catalysts for change by creating social networks in support of our work. And, as leaders of the future, you can come up with innovative approaches to help confront the challenges facing the global community.

Let me commend you on the most rapid ascent possible in the diplomatic services: you entered this Hall as junior delegates and you will leave as ambassadors!

Dear young leaders, I thank all of you for your commitment and wish you all a most stimulating conference.

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Remarks to the Harvard National Model United Nations Conference

In this section.

• Dean’s Office

Dean Douglas Elmendorf Harvard Kennedy School February 16, 2017

Good afternoon, everyone! I am so pleased to be able to join you to kick off the Harvard National Model United Nations Conference for 2017. As you know, this model UN conference has been going strong for 60 years. That is a long stretch for any organization, and a remarkably long stretch for an organization run by undergraduate students—who are, I hope, also taking classes and meeting other responsibilities. Moreover, any event that brings together 3000 people from around the world is quite an accomplishment. So, let me begin by congratulating the more than 200 Harvard students who have put together this conference, because I am truly impressed by what you have done.

I also want to congratulate all of the delegates who have come to this conference. Your talents, your interest in international relations, your initiative to participate in model UN, and your commitment of time and energy to make this conference a success are exceptional. I am impressed by what you have done to get here and what you will do in the next few days. I also want to offer my thanks to you for coming to this conference at Harvard. We are pleased and honored to be your hosts.

During the next few days, you will work together to find solutions to some of the greatest problems facing our world. In that, you are much like the students and faculty and staff of Harvard Kennedy School. The Kennedy School community works together to improve public policy and public leadership around the world so that everyone can lead lives that are safer, more prosperous, and more fulfilling. We work together in the sense of pursuing projects that draw on the talents of students, faculty, and staff; we work together in the sense of combining insights from experts in international relations, national security, economics, human rights, science and technology, politics, the media, history, and other fields; and we work together in the sense of building bridges between people from different countries and different parts of those countries.

So, as you work together in the next few days to address important public problems, you will be pursuing an objective and an approach that are very familiar to those of us at the Kennedy School. I am delighted that you and we are engaged with the world in similar ways.

At the Kennedy School, we draw inspiration for our work from, among other sources, the ideals of President John F. Kennedy. His most famous and stirring words are probably the line from his inauguration speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” I hear that statement as a call for active citizenship , and I broaden its meaning to be not just what you can do for your country, but what you can do for people of all countries. I want to talk about what I think active citizenship entails, and why it is so important for the world and so rewarding for the people who do it.

Let me start with the crucial point that people can be active citizens in many ways, and they can make a real difference in the world in all of these ways.

One way is to run for elected office—to face your fellow citizens and make the case for the policies you support and the leadership you can provide, and try to persuade your fellow citizens to stand behind you. Running for office is not easy; you need to put yourself and your ideas out there to other people and risk rejection. But ultimately the people who take that risk are the ones who make the key public decisions in democratic societies. I’ll give you one example. I was talking in the fall with Gina Raimondo, who is the governor of the state of Rhode Island. I taught Gina when she was a student in college, but I had not seen her in a number of years, and I asked her why she had run for treasurer of the state and then governor. She said that she ran because elected officials at the time had been planning to shut down local bus routes that she had used to get to the library when she was a high school student in a not-very-well-off family. She wanted to fix the state government’s finances to keep those bus routes going for the next generation of Gina Raimondos. She is an active citizen.

Another way to be an active citizen is to vote in elections. In the United States, turnout in elections is low, and turnout among young people is lower than turnout among older people. That is very unfortunate. Moreover, some people in this country are trying to make it harder to vote with the purported objective of reducing voting fraud—even though the evidence shows that such fraud is very rare and that making voting harder will reduce turnout further. That is even more unfortunate. So, you should be sure you vote when you can, and you should look for ways to increase voting among our fellow citizens. As one example, two alumni of the Kennedy School—Seth Flaxman and Kathryn Peters—created TurboVote, which is an online application that makes registering and voting in the United States easier. They are active citizens.

Still another way to be an active citizen is to work for a government in a non-elected role. My example here is me. Since my first year in college, I have been fascinated by economic policy, and over time I became pretty good at thinking about policy issues. So I have been an active citizen through my many years of service with the U.S. government, at the Federal Reserve Board, Treasury Department, President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Congressional Budget Office, which does economic and budget analysis for the Congress and where I spent size years as director. By the way, I do not view that service as a sacrifice of any sort: I cannot imagine anything that would have been more rewarding than that work. And I know many people who would describe their own work for local governments, state and provincial governments, and national governments around the world as the most rewarding things they could do.

But public service does not just mean government service, of course. Yet another way to be an active citizen is to work for an intergovernmental organization, a nonprofit, or a social enterprise—and to do so as a full-time job or a part-time volunteer or something in between. Ban Ki-moon, who just stepped down as Secretary-General of the United Nations—and by the way, who graduated from the Kennedy School 30-some years ago—was an active citizen through his work at the UN. Hazami Barmada, a Syrian-American woman who is now a student at the Kennedy School, recently organized a drive at Harvard to collect warm clothing for Syrians who are freezing in the cold. She is an active citizen.

One can also be an active citizen by making your voice heard by elected officials and your fellow citizens. Over the last month, millions of U.S. citizens and citizens from other countries have protested the actions and words of President Trump and his administration. Through marches and demonstrations and protests and phone calls and letters and comments at town hall meetings, these people have argued that the new administration is violating core American values and that previous policies should be restored. But other U.S. citizens have come to Washington to rally for changes in policies that they hope and expect will be implemented by the Trump administration to reverse longstanding American practices. All of these people who are advocating for the policies they prefer, on whatever side of political debates they fall, are active citizens.

So, there are many different ways in which people can be active citizens and make an important positive difference in the world—by running for office, voting, serving in a government, working or volunteering for international organizations or nonprofits or social enterprises, or making one’s voice heard. People should pick the way or ways they find most comfortable for themselves, but they should pick something. In my view, people have a responsibility to be active citizens. I also think they have a responsibility to follow certain norms of behavior as active citizens, regardless of the specific way or ways they choose to be active. Let me briefly describe five norms that are especially important in my mind:

First, active citizens should listen to other citizens with different views and treat those people and their views with respect and civility. Too many people are not very good at that now. In the United States, liberals and conservatives tend to get their news from different sources, live in different areas, and prefer that their children not marry someone of a different political persuasion. Those factors diminish how much we listen to people with different views from our own, which leads us to forget that other people of good will see the world very differently than we do. Too many of our leaders demonize their opponents and accuse them of advancing policies that are not just wrong but are illegitimate or threatening to the essence of a society. Some rhetoric of that sort has always been present in the United States and elsewhere, but we have seen much more in recent years than in preceding decades. Such rhetoric is not just unpleasant, it is damaging, because it stokes fear and anger, and it feeds a false perception that societies’ fundamental characteristics are at risk from many ordinary policy choices. Elected leaders need to restrain their rhetoric, and the rest of us need to help—by not rewarding leaders who talk that way and by not talking that way ourselves, by listening to each other and being open-minded as we listen.

Second, active citizens should compromise with other citizens who disagree with them. There is a wide range of views in this group, among the leaders of any country, and among the citizens of any country. We cannot wish those disagreements away, and we should not expect them to disappear. What we can and should do is to find ways to work together despite our disagreements. Political systems generally require compromise to function, and leaders should view the negotiations that generate compromise as effective leadership rather than weak leadership. Moreover, all of us need to view compromise by our leaders as useful and to practice compromise in our own activities as citizens.

Third, active citizens should rely on facts and evidence. Our political systems and societies depend not just on civil discussion, they depend on informed discussion. Facts and evidence do not dictate policy choices: Such choices ultimately depend on our values. But policy choices that are not based on facts and evidence, as well as values, are doomed to failure.

Fourth, active citizens should build bridges between people, communities, and countries. At the Kennedy School, we believe in the fundamental importance of inclusiveness for people of all races, genders, religions, national origins, socioeconomic groups, disability status, and other traits. We see every day that such inclusiveness is crucial to the Kennedy School’s ability to improve public policy and leadership in the United States and around the world, and we believe such inclusiveness is crucial to the ability of societies to help make better lives for their people. I do not mean that we should pretend differences between people and communities and countries do not exist. I mean that we should work to build bridges between those differences. I understand that more than half of the delegates to this conference come from outside the United States. The bridges you build with people from different countries in the next few days will be important for the rest of your lives. At the Kennedy School, about half of our degree-program students and about a third of our faculty come from outside the United States. One of my colleagues recently pointed out to me that, in our international development program, our students are taught by “three Americans, a Turk, a Pakistani, two Venezuelans, an Indian, a Brit, a Canadian, a Greek, a Cuban, and a Brazilian.” That diversity of background is a source of immense strength for us.

The fifth and last norm I recommend for active citizens is to care about people who are disadvantaged in economic or social terms. That means caring about people whose communities have been damaged by the negative economic consequences of technological progress and changes in international trade. It means standing up for human rights and against persecution of members of minority groups. It means developing policies to reduce urban poverty and rural poverty and poverty in the suburbs, and to give people economic opportunity. And much more. I’ll give one more example. Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, for “his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.” In his Nobel Lecture, President Santos said that one of his professors had given him a wise piece of advice: “Whenever you feel discouraged, tired, pessimistic, talk with the victims. They will give you the push and strength to keep you going.” President Santos continued: “It has been just this way. Whenever I had the chance, I listened to the victims of this war and heard their heartbreaking stories.” As we and other active citizens pursue our own paths to help make the world better, let us all “talk with the victims” and use their stories to “give us the push and strength to keep ... going.”

Active citizens who follow these norms will make an important positive difference to the people around them and, in some cases, to people across town, across their country, and across the world.

Making people’s lives safer, more prosperous, and more fulfilling is not easy, but that’s not a reason not to try—that’s the reason to try harder. President Kennedy once said “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” I believe so strongly in that idea, and I’m glad to see, by your participation in this conference, that you do too. I hope you have a wonderful few days together. Thank you.

MUN Chairing Script

As a Chair, you are expected to bring your committee to life as you perform your role within the boundaries of the Model United Nations rules of procedure (RoP). MUN RoP’s are largely the same between most MUN circuits and conferences. Once you know the terms and phrases, you could reliably chair anywhere in the world and the delegates would understand you.

For first time chairs, this chair script for debate will show you what to say and when to say it. The article will make sense of the MUN procedure and put strange terms into a format that can be understood and replicated. It also helps with consistency. The following guide will tell you what to say, when to say it and how to say it.

Introduction

Staying consistent is one of the most important jobs of a Chair. You must stay consistent to the rules, lack of Bias, respect, etc. You have to be the rock from which delegates anchor their debate from. Therefore, the delegates need to consistently understand what is happening and for that, you need to use terms they understand, consistently! Using the right terms does not replace the need to  write a study guide  or that you need to know  how to chair . Using the correct terms is as much a part of chairing and knowing to equally spread the opportunity to speak throughout the room.

Now that’s clarified, how should you use this guide? This guide isn’t for a chair to read and recall in a monotonous setting throughout a committee. It is for a chair to look at to understand all the possibilities for chairs to say and when, to avoid confusion, and make sure that delegates get the fullest chairing experience possible. For our purpose, the following chairing script will be written about the Human Rights Council (HRC).

This guide will run through all the phrases with a brief description of what they mean and what they can be used for. This guide assumes that you already know the  Model UN Rules of Procedure . You don’t need to know them perfectly but feel free to 

Setting the Stage

The beginning of the committee may vary depending on what type of committee it is, but as HRC, it will be standard compared to many other MUN Rules of Procedure (ROPs). Nevertheless, it is always good before getting into a proper formal setting to run through the rules of procedure for the opening stage of the committee with the delegates, so they know what is going on, and the likes.

Beginning Roll Call

 “We shall begin with the roll call, when your delegation is named, please rise and state whether you are present or present and voting”

• Make sure to explain to delegates if you think they might not know the difference between Present or Present and voting is.

  After taking roll call

 “Thank you, after the roll call we can see that there are 21 Delegates present, this makes a simple majority 11 and a two thirds majority 15”

• Always nice to remind delegates of the numbers, make sure to remember you always need whatever the arithmetic is +1 for things to pass.

Opening Debate

Opening the Floor

 “Are there any points or motions on the floor?”

• This is one of the things you as a chair are going to be saying the most throughout committee. You need to keep consistent to this but you can change to say just “points” or just “motions” depending on what you’re looking for. For a list of what to say about points, see the final section on points and general phrases

After taking a good motion

 “This is in order, are there any seconds to this motion?”

• To clarify to delegates what is and isn’t in order it’s important to start a sentence after a motion with “this is in order” if it is in order, and “this is not in order” if it is not.
• Seconds and Objections are not standard, and some motions don’t require it, but for simplicity’s sake let’s say we’re doing Seconds and objections for everything possible

*Delegate raise seconds*

“Thank you, are there any objections?”

*Delegates Raise objections*

 “Thank you, seeing seconds and objections, we will now take this to a vote, all those in favor of this motion to open the debate please raise your placards now”

*Delegates vote in favor*

“and all those against this motion please raise your placards now”

*Delegates vote against*

*Motion passes/fails*

“Thank you delegate, this motion passes/fails*

After seeing not all people having voted

“Seeing that not all people have voted, the dias wishes to remind you that this is a procedural vote and so all members must vote either in favor or against, you cannot abstain”

• Good to remember and establish early on

Vote on opening debate passes

“We would now look favorably on a motion to set the agenda, are there any points or motions on the floor?”

• If you ever want to slightly push delegates but not overly, “we would now look favorably” is a tried and tested mechanism, but use it wisely

Setting the Agenda

Delegate raises motion to set the agenda to a topic

“This is in order, we shall now open a primary speakers list to discuss whether delegates are in favor or against setting the agenda to topic X, Delegate would you like to be added first to this speakers list?”

“All those wishing to be added to the primary speakers list, please raise your placards now”

After getting people on the list: “First we will have the delegate of X speak, delegate of X you now have the floor”

After delegate X has spoken: “

Thank you, we will now have the next delegate, the delegate of X speak, delegate of X you now have the floor”

If you wish to add more people to the list you can just reuse “all those wishing to be added…”

  After the list has been emptied

 “Seeing that the primary speakers list has been exhausted, we will automatically close the debate on setting the agenda to topic X and move to the voting procedure. All those in favor of adopting Topic X first before moving onto topic Y please raise your placards now”

*vote passes and topic X is adopted*

Starting the Main Debate

After you have set the agenda, the real fun begins and the main substance of the debate can start! You will be in this section for a majority of the conference, likely one full day, interrupted occasionally with suspending the debate (see the last section) and reopening debate in the morning. You should make sure that after the speakers list is established and speeches have started, that once enough speeches have been made for some key issues to be raised (usually around 4 or 5) then you open the floor to points or motions.

The General/Secondary Speakers list

“The Floor is now open for points or motions”

Motion to open the general speakers list is called and passes

“Thank you, Delegate who motioned for the speakers list, would you like to be added first to the list” *says no* “Ok, all those wishing to be added please raise your placards now”

• Similar to the primary speakers list, the key here is that there must ALWAYS be people on the general speakers list or else debate is automatically closed and you move to vote procedure, avoid this.

Responding to Yields

Yielded to the chair/floor/dias.

“Thank you delegate, the next delegate to take the floor will be the delegate of X, Delegate of X, you have the floor”

Yielded to another Delegate

“Delegate of Y, the Delegate of X has yielded to you, do you accept?”

Delegate Y Says Yes “You have the floor for the remaining time”

Delegate Y says No, “Delegate Y has rejected to take the remaining time, therefore the time it automatically assumed to the chairs”

Yielding to Points of Information/Questions

“Thank you delegate, the Delegate has yielded to points of information, do any delegates have any points of information” *Delegate Raises Placard* “Yes Delegate of Y”

After the point has been raised “Delegate of X, do you accept this point of information”

Delegate X says yes, “Delegate of X, you have the remaining time to answer”

Delegate X says No, “Do any other delegates have a point of information to ask to the delegate of X”

No delegate has a point, “There are no remaining points of information for the delegate, the chairs will automatically assume the time”

Forgetting to Yield

“Delegate, how do you yield your time”

Delegate is clearly unsure of what is happening

“Do not worry delegate, if you wish to merely end your speech and sit down, please state that you wish to yield to the chair”

Accepting Moderated and Unmoderated Caucuses

“The floor is open for points and motions; all those with points and motions please raise your placards now”

• As mentioned, try to do this regularly within committee because these are what push the debate substantially

After Motion with Seconds and Objections

“Seeing this motion has received seconds and objections, we will take some more motions, are there any other points or motions on the floor?”

After all motions are defeated

“Seeing all motions defeated we will return to the general speakers list”

If one of the motion passes, see below.

Moderated Caucuses

Delegate motions for Moderated Caucus , Speaking time 1min, Overall time 10mins on the Subject of X

“Thank you delegate, this is in order, the delegate has motioned for a 10 minute moderated caucus, 1-minute speaking time on the subject of X, are there any seconds to this motion?”

• Make sure to read out the motion just afterward to clarify with the delegate, and so people understand what it is about.

Motion passes

“Seeing more votes in favor/no objections this motion passes, delegate of X, do you wish to speak first or last in this moderated caucus?”

• Always make sure to keep track of who is speaking in Mod Caucuses, stops you from accidentally choosing spoken people and stops confusion.

Chair chooses someone to speak

“All those delegates who wish to speak in this moderated caucus please raise your placards now, *time choosing* delegate of X, you have the floor”

• Don’t let them raise their placards before now.

Delegate is done speaking and it is ready to choose the next delegate

“Thank you delegate, all those wishing to speak raise your placards now”

Motion Fails

“Seeing more votes against/no seconds this motion fails”

• If there are more motions to vote upon go to them, otherwise if that was the last motion to vote on and it has failed, then go to the general speaker’s list.

Delegate motions with a fault in their motion i.e ask for a 25min caucus

“Delegate you cannot motion for a moderated caucus of total duration over 20 minutes, would 15 minutes be more reasonable?”

• Always try and suggest something to overcome the fault a delegate makes, will make the process a lot smoother.

Moderated Caucus ends

“Thank you delegate, The time for this moderated caucus has elapsed” 

If you want to open the floor again for motions go to opening the floor, otherwise, go back to the general speaker’s list.

Unmoderated Caucuses

Delegate Motions for an Unmoderated Caucus, duration of 20 minutes

“Thank you delegate, this is in order, the delegate has motioned for an Unmoderated Caucus of total duration 20 minutes, are there any seconds to this motion?”

• Make sure to stress the “UN” in unmoderated caucus, so delegates understand

Motion Passes

“The motion has passed, we are now in an unmoderated caucus for 20 minutes, delegates can get up from their seats and discuss with each other, however, we would like to ask delegates not to leave the room”

Motion has failed

“The motion has failed”

If there are more motions to vote on then the Chair should motion on them, otherwise go to the general speaker’s list

Time has elapsed for the unmoderated caucus

“Delegates *bang gavel*, your time has elapsed, please take your seats”

Writing Papers and Introducing Documentation

Now, the debate is going smoothly. Delegates are bringing up points, discussing them around and reaching some sort of conclusion that requires writing them down. Of course, firstly you need a working paper, not quite formal enough to be a draft resolution, but better than just aimlessly shouting out ideas. 

It’s important to plan these stages too. Working papers should be appearing relative soon in the whole debate because it’s only from there can the debate really becomes substantive. You might want to think of it like this, 1/3 of the committee pure debating, 1/3 of the committee drafting, 1/3 of the committee amending and voting. In this style, we are now in the 2nd third of the committee, let’s see what we have to say!

Working Papers

Firstly, Working papers do not need to be in any specific format, and don’t need a motion to be introduced. However, they do need chair approval and a way to be disseminated to the committee. Therefore, you probably want them sent via email for you to look at, then put onto either a google drive that everyone has access to, or a facebook group to put them on.

Delegate submits a working paper and it is approved:

“Delegates, we have received one working paper from the Delegate of X, this working paper is approved and has been added to the (whatever you’re using to share). This working paper will now be known as working paper 1.1”

• Note that if you are on the first topic, the first number is 1, if you are on the second topic, the first number is 2
• Also, the second number relates to the number of working papers, 1.1 is the first WP of the first topic, 1.2 is the second WP of the first topic, ect…

You can have multiple working papers, but try not to have too many, because the main act of working papers is a bridge to the draft resolution

Draft Resolutions

Draft resolutions are where the real substance comes in. They require a specific format (a good example is found on WiseMee  here ) and require some level of motioning to introduce and some extra motions afterward. In brief, a Draft Resolution needs signatories (and sometimes sponsors) and will need some back and forth on the clauses to make sure that they are formatted properly and are all correct. However, once a Draft Resolution is all formatted correctly and ready to introduce, then that’s where we start

A Draft Resolution has been submitted and is ready to be introduced

“Delegates, we have received one Draft resolution from the delegate of X, this draft resolution is ready to be introduced”

• You need to “approve” the DR first before it can be properly introduced

Motion to introduce the Draft Resolution is called by a delegate

“Delegates, a motion to introduce Draft Resolution 1.1 has been raised, this motion does not require seconds nor a vote, and thereby passes automatically, it has been uploaded to the Drive, would the sponsors of the resolution please like to read out the operative clauses of the resolution”

• So a few things, firstly the numbering is the same as for Working Papers
• Secondly, depending on ROPs you might not need seconds or a vote, but motion is always needed, and it is very rare for a motion to introduce a DR is ever failed
• Thirdly the resolution does need to be read out, unless you are pressed for time

Motion for a Question and Answer Session is called

“Delegates, there has been a motion for a Question and Answer session on Draft Resolution 1.1, could the sponsors of the resolution please come up to the dais. They will have 10 minutes to answer any technical questions about the resolution”

• This motion is only in order straight after the introduction of a resolution, and it’s also good to mention this after the resolution is introduced
• In addition, this Q&A session should NOT be about the substance of the resolution, just technicalities such as clarification of wording ect… 

Amendments are always the hardest part of the committee to get right. By the time you’re at this stage you’ve had 2 days debating and endless drafting. Still, amendments are some of the most important parts of the committee as it allows for constructive debate towards the end. 

The ROPs regarding amendments are almost ALWAYS different too, so I would ask you to take this section with a grain of salt. Here I’m going to use what I call UNA-USA Simplified. For a brief rundown:

Amendments need to be sent in and do one of three things, Modify, Strike (delete) or Add a Clause. You can only do ONE of these per amendment. They must be sent digitally and approved first before being able to be introduced

There are two types of amendments, Friendly and Unfriendly, Friendly amendments are those with all the sponsors of the resolution as signatories to the amendment. When Friendlies are approved and then introduced through a motion, they are automatically put into effect.

UNfriendlies require signatories to the amendment and are not approved by all sponsors. Therefore when they are introduced via a motion there are 2 speakers in favour and 2 against, then a vote to introduce it. 

If all else fails, relying on this method will save you time and energy, but for a more comprehensive overview, do check your MUNs ROPs as it will be different.

After an amendment has been sent and is approvable

“Delegates, we have received one (Friendly/unfriendly)  amendment from the delegate of X, this amendment is ready to be introduced as Amendment 1.1. “

• Number for an amendment is dependent on which topic and how many have preceded it, 1.1 is the first, 1.2 the second ect…

Motion to introduce Amendment 1.1 (which is friendly) is raised

“This motion is on order, are there any seconds?”

*Seconds and no objections, motion passes*

*Chair briefly reads out amendment*

“Sponsors of resolution 1.1, (read out the sponsors), are you all in favour of this amendment?”

*They all say yes*

“This amendment is therefore automatically introduced into the draft resolution 1.1”

Motion to introduce Amendment 1.1 (which is unfriendly) is raised

“This motion is in order, are there any seconds to this motion?”

*Motion passes*

*Chair Reads out the amendment*

“We will now take two delegates who wish to speak in favor of this amendment, and two against. All those wishing to speak in favor of this amendment please raise your placards now”

*Chair chooses 2 speakers to speak in favor, adds to a speakers list*

“All those wishing to speak against this amendment please raise your placards now”

*Chair chooses 2 speakers to speak against, adds to a speakers list, alternatives speakers so it is for, against, for and against*

“Delegate of X, you have the floor for 60 seconds speaking in favor of this amendment”

*The rest of the speeches occur*

“We will now close the debate on the amendment and move swiftly to the voting procedure on amendment 1.1, remember delegates this is a substantive vote, so the options to vote are in favor, against and abstain. If you declared yourself present and voting, you cannot abstain. All those in favor raise your placards now”

*Delegate raise, e.g.  10 in favor, 9 against, 2 abstentions*

“With 10 in favor, 9 against and 2 abstentions this motion passes, it will be added to the draft resolution shortly”

Voting Procedure

Now you’re done! You have a good draft resolution, it’s been amended enough and you’re on the home stretch. There’s no substantive debate left, maybe some competing draft resolutions but it’s time now to move to voting procedure. This part can be very complicated for delegates, so it is important to explain at every stage what’s necessary. You can look at it like this, firstly you close debate and move to voting, then there are a few motions you can do firstly, then you vote. Simple enough, but believe me, it can get confusing.

Moving to Voting

The floor is open and there is a motion to close debate and move to the voting procedure

“This is in order, this motion does not require seconds or objections but a 2/3rds procedural vote in favour, all those in favour please raise your placards now”

*The 2/3rds threshold is met*

“Delegates we are now in voting procedure, the use of electronics is forbidden and the doors are now locked”

*Close the doors, make sure that no-one has their laptops open*

– Sometimes there is also a 5 or 10-minute unmod caucus when this happens, to give people time to do some final lobbying, check your ROPs

Motions during the voting procedure

This is where the delegates get really confused. Everyone imagines that voting procedure just means voting on the resolution, but there is a lot more to do here. Firstly, you want to explain to the delegates that only one resolution can pass and if there are multiple resolutions, what numbers they are and who the sponsors are.

Next, start explaining the motions they can do. Some are obvious, like the motion to vote by roll call, but some are very much not, such as dividing the question. Take this part slowly and make sure EVERYONE knows what is happening.

Motion to vote by Roll Call

Motion to vote by roll call is raised

“This is in order and does not require a vote and is passed automatically”

Motion to reorder the draft resolutions

Motion to reorder the draft resolutions is raised

“This is in order, there is a motion to reorder the draft resolutions. Firstly we will vote on whether we wish to reorder the draft resolutions and if this passes, we will take motions for how they should be reordered, any seconds for reordering the draft resolutions ”

*This motion passes*

“We will now be taking ways to reorder the draft resolutions, any delegate who wishes to propose a method of reordering the draft resolutions please raise your placards now”

*There are 3 resolutions, and 2 ways are suggested, voting on them 2,1,3 and voting on the 3,2,1*

“These methods of reordering have been noted, all those in favor of reordering the draft resolutions to vote on them 3,2,1 please raise your placards”

*This fails*

“All those in favor of reordering the resolutions to vote on them 2,1,3 please raise your placards”

*This passes*

“We will, therefore, be voting on the resolutions in the order of Draft resolution 1.2, then 1.1, then 1.3, however the first resolution to pass will be the final resolution and all the others will be discarded”

• Important to note here is that you vote on the order of reordering the resolutions on how disruptive they are, e.g how different they are to the starting order of 1,2,3.
• You should always take this motion before taking a motion to divide the question, because dividing the question is always related to dividing the draft resolution NEXT to be voted upon

Motion to Divide the Question

Motion to divide the question on the next to be voted draft resolution is raised

“This motion is in order, this motion requires a simple majority to pass, once it passes, we will begin accepting ways to divide the questions. Once there are no more ways to divide the question suggested, we will then vote on these ways by most disruptive, with voting clause by clause being most disruptive”

*motion to divide the question passes”

“This motion has passed, we are now accepting ways to divide the question, if you wish to raise a motion for a way to divide the draft resolution please raise your placard now, please keep in the mind only one way to divide the question will ultimately be used”

*2 ways to divide are raised, one clause by clause and the other in 2 sections*

“We will now vote on these ways to divide the question, starting with voting clause by clause, all those in favor of dividing the question in this method please raise your placards now”

*This method passes*

“This method of dividing the question passes and therefore the other method will be discarded, when we go onto voting on the draft resolution, we shall, therefore, vote clause by clause on each operative clause of the Draft resolution with a substantive simple majority vote. Any clauses that fail this vote will be discarded and all those that pass will be reconstituted into a new draft resolution which will then be voted on as a whole”

• As you can see, this is a mighty complicated motion, but as always, take it slow and the delegates should be fine
• Be aware the procedure for this is also very different in many conferences
• Also, if the draft resolution that has been divided on fails, and there is another to vote upon, a motion to divide the question for this resolution can be raised too. Imagine in between the voting that everything is reset

Normal Voting

Well now you’re done with that, it’s time for the voting procedure finally! This might be repeated a few times but it’s unlikely to take long. In the normal voting procedure, you merely do the voting via raised placards and entertain In favour, Against or Abstentions. Make sure to check the roll call at the beginning of the session for who made themselves present and voting

“We are now moving onto the voting procedure for Draft Resolution 1.2, All those in favor raise your placards now”

*12 raise their placards*

“All those against raise your placards now”

*7 raise their placards*

“And all those abstaining*

*2 raise their placards*

“With 12 in favor, 7 against and 2 abstentions, this Draft Resolution passes and all others are discarded, clapping is now in order”

• Note that because we reordered the draft resolutions earlier, Draft resolution 1.2 is the first we vote on

Roll-Call voting

In roll-call voting, the situation is similar except you have to go round every delegate and ask whether they are voting in favor, against, Yes with rights, No with rights, Abstaining or Passing. 

“We are now moving onto the voting procedure for Draft Resolution 1.2, Delegate of A how do you vote”

*Votes In favor*

“Delegate of B how do you vote”

“Delegate of C how do you vote”

*Votes in Favour*

*goes through all other delegates, returns to Delegate of B*

“Delegate of B, do you vote in favor or against”

*Votes Against*

*More votes in favor than against*

“With 12 votes in favor, 7 against and 2 abstentions, this draft resolution passes, all others are discarded and clapping is in order”

Moving to the next topic

If there is another topic to discuss, and enough time to do it, then a motion to set the agenda is once again in order

Motion to set the agenda to topic B is set

“This is in order, seeing no other topic to set the agenda to this motion will immediately go to seconds, are there any seconds?”

*There are seconds, no objections*

“This motion passes, the Agenda has now been set to topic B, the floor is open for points and motions, and the chairs would look favorably on a motion to open the general speaker’s list”

• Return to the section on the general speaker’s list and go from there!

Ending the debate

Once you are done with your topics and resolutions, then the time has come to end the debate. This is to be done after the last draft resolution has been passed, or all have failed, and there are no more topics or time to be discussed.

Adjourning Debate

Motion to adjourn debate I raised

“This is in order, this motion requires a 2/3rds majority to pass and does not need seconds or objections, all those in favor of adjourning the debate please raise your placards now”

*Motion passess*

“Delegates the meeting has been adjourned”

• Note this motion can also be used at the end of the day to in effect suspend debate until the next day, but is also used to adjourn until the next edition of the conference

After the debate

Well now the debating is done, it’s time to relax, cool down and have some fun. At this point, many committees might do superlatives or funny awards, get to signing placards and also get feedback from chairs.  Revel in the enjoyment you had and the good and bad times. 

Points, General Phrases and What to do when delegates strike

Now here are some phrases that might come all the time in the committee, and are available at almost every point in the committee.

Point of Parliamentary Inquiry is raised

“Delegate, please rise and state your inquiry”

• Make sure to be friendly with the delegate, they’re only trying to understand what’s happening
• That said make sure they’re not using this to make a silly point or just throwing shade on other delegates

Point or Personal Privilege is raised

“Delegate, please rise and state what the issue is”

Point of Order is raised

“Delegate, please rise and state what your point of order is”

*Delegate raises point of order e.g. missed doing seconds and objections*

“Thank you for your point of order, you are correct and we would therefore like to take seconds and objections”

• Most of the time points of orders might be mistaken, but don’t discourage them because we chairs do get things wrong quite a lot

Point of Order is raised, refuted and delegate raises a motion to appeal the decision of the chair

“This is in order, delegate please state why you think this motion should be overturned”

*Delegate speaks, then chairperson speaks in defense of their decision*

“This appeal will now be taken to a vote, a two-thirds majority to pass, all those in favour of overturning the decision of the chair”

*Motion fails*

  – This motion almost never gets raised, but it is important to know of

Delegate motions for a Right to Reply after a damaging speech to themselves

“This is in order, delegate you have 30 seconds off-the-record to reply to the comment made by the delegate of Y”

• This shouldn’t be used all the time and generally you should discourage angry arguments and delegates

Suspending Debate

Motion to suspend debate is raised

“This is in order, are there any seconds to the motion to suspend the debate?”

*motion passes*

“The debate is now suspended, please make sure to return at XX:XX”

When delegates strike back

Delegate is speaking over time

“Delegate, please return to your seat, your time has elapsed”

* Bang gavel if still not sitting down*

Delegate makes rude comments during speech

“Delegate, please remain courteous and polite during speeches, rudeness will not be tolerated and can result in suspension from the debate”

Delegates are talking during another speech

“Delegates no cross-talking”

Delegates say “I” too many times

“Delegate please remember to avoid personal pronouns”

And there we have it! I hope that this chairing script can help you to master the basics of chairing and also inspire you to use more authoritative language that chairs are known to use! 

Remember, the rules of procedure used in this script are not standard, and each MUN uses their own, make sure to check up before the conference what those ROPs are about, and how they will affect the words and procedure you use!

Best of luck with all your  chairing experiences !

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