Be a Best Listener to be Best Delegate

Listening during Model UN speeches or resolutions is easy. A delegate listens to the speaker, finds a point that he/she agrees or disagrees on, and essentially makes a comment or asks a question based off the agreement or disagreement.

Listening during Model UN unmoderated/informal caucus is hard. This is partly because delegates have to deal with rapid, on-going dialogue that requires an interactive response. But it is also partly because delegates were probably never taught how to listen during an unmoderated/informal caucus (or think it's appropriate to not listen at all!). The Best Delegate knows that effective listening builds trust and respect, and also knows that delegates with different listening approaches need to be influenced differently.

So, 'listen' up as we explain how to handle listening approaches for several types of delegates:

Gunner: these are the delegates who are constantly rushing around the room during caucus and think they have more important tasks to do than listen to you.
> Approach: Catch their attention and get to the point quickly. For example, "Gambia, I need your undivided attention for just a moment. Operative 6 has some weaknesses and Ghana and I would like to edit it before we submit the draft resolution to the dais."

Hardballer: these are delegates who are not truly listening to you and once they have the gist of the conversation, will interrupt to take it over with their own comments.
> Approach: Stop and let them talk. When they are done, you should say "As I was saying before..." to imply to them their interruption. If you are a more assertive delegate, step into the middle of the bloc, turn to a few delegates that the hardballer isn't directly facing and then re-start the conversation. You will have essentially cut the hardballer's audience in half.

Over-thinker: these are delegates who like to over-analyze, place doubt on an idea, have everything perfect, or are too detail-oriented. They may hold your bloc back from making quick decisions when the committee is going down the wire.
> Approach: Give them a 'yes or no' decision with a sense of urgency or be clear that analysis or advice is inappropriate at the moment. For example, "Laos, we only have 2 more minutes in this caucus, I need you to say yes or no to adding this as a friendly amendment to our resolution."

Passive Follower: these are delegates who may not be fully listening (e.g. passersby or bored delegates) or may not fully understand what you are saying (e.g. newer delegates), resulting in your inability to fully influence them or gain support.
> Approach: Ask them a specific question on an idea you just said to check for their understanding or attentiveness. For example, "Paraguay, what do you think about the vaccination program I just suggested?" or more assertively "Slovenia, I'd like your input on the funding idea I just proposed."

Attentive Delegate: these are delegates who are listening and you can tell by the thought they put in into your ideas.
> Approach: Be sure to acknowledge their attentiveness. This reinforces them to continue listening to you. For example, at the end of the unmoderated/informal caucus session, you could say, "Italy, I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my ideas."

The Rogue Delegate: though less common, these are delegates who have policies that disagree with just about anybody (e.g. North Korea or Iran in some cases), may just be playing devil's advocate, or may just be a complete disrupter to the committee.
> Approach: You can acknowledge historical disgareement and start dialogue with them on what can be reasonably accomplished going forward. If they continue to be disruptive, then ignoring their antics usually works.

How to Win Best Delegate: Framing Your Topic

Earlier this week, I was coaching for a Bay Area high school in preparation for the UC Davis Model United Nations Conference, and the students asked a good question: how do we go about researching our topic when the background guide or topic synopsis has not been posted yet? If you want to be the Best Delegate, you cannot wait for the chair to post the guide (or rely on background guides that may not be written with a clear framework of issues to address). The procrastination-busting technique that I recommend you take the initiative to use is Framing Your Topic. Here’s how the three-part process works:

First, you frame your topic. Brainstorm six to ten different sub-issues that you might encounter regarding this topic. If you have trouble brainstorming, think of sub-issues categorically: political, economic, social, financial, humanitarian, environmental, security, etc.

Next, list adjacent to each sub-issue in your framework the past actions that have been taken to resolve that sub-issue as well as possible solutions that your country has proposed or would like to propose.

Finally, you select the three most salient sub-issues to your country. These will become the three key points you will use when you Frame Your Speech and will be central to your position paper and draft resolution. You will want to conduct more research into them so you can become the subject matter expert on them when they are debated at the conference. Of course, you will also want to be familiar with the other points that you have framed because you can include them in your resolutions, and some of these will be the key points for other delegates and you will want to be knowledgeable enough to collaborate with them on these sub-issues.

Here are two examples of UC Davis topics that the students I was working with brainstormed on the spot:

Topic: Nuclear Proliferation
1. Technology transfer (by governments and individuals)
2. Government Policies toward nuclear weapons
3. Security (of stockpiles, facilities, etc.)
4. Internal strife (e.g. Pakistan)
5. Disarmament of stockpiles
6. Economic arguments behind proliferation
7. Security/alliance factors behind proliferation
8. Terrorism

Topic: Preservation of Indigenous Languages
1. Suppression by governments
2. Language and cultural dominance
3. Official language policy
4. Grassroots/local efforts in preservation
5. Education & research
6. Incentives for indigenous language abilities

These will need to be filled in with past actions and proposed solutions, but that requires research of your topic and an understanding of your country policy. A filled-in sub-issue will look like this:

Sub-Issue --> Past Actions --> Proposed Solution

Note that the above frameworks are comprehensive but not complete. You could probably brainstorm a few more sub-issues for each. More important, when the background guide or topic synopsis gets posted, make sure you read to understand what sub-issues your Chair wants the committee to address and adjust your framework accordingly.

If you have trouble with framing, I would suggest getting your entire class or club do it for the topic. I found that brainstorming as a group produced much more comprehensive lists of sub-issues than individually trying to dissect your topic.

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P.S. Some members of the Best Delegate team will be volunteering at the UNA-USA MUN Conference in May, and we look forward to meeting any of our readers who will be participating at the conference!