At least a month
before the Conference itself, you will be sent
copies of the two resolutions fast-tracked for
debate in The General Assembly. If you are fortunate
enough to find that your own resolution has been
selected for debate, you will be sent further
instructions on what to do at this stage. Most
of you, however, will be speaking from the floor
on resolutions other than the one you submitted
yourself.
At this stage, you
will need to carry out further research in order
to establish your allocated country’s position
on the resolutions selected for debate, as it
is very important that you are able to represent
your country accurately on the day. This is the
stage at which it is most important to research
things thoroughly: otherwise, other delegations
who are better prepared than you may point out
your errors on the day!
At this stage, you
should also be thinking about whether you wish
to propose any amendments on any of the resolutions.
It may be that your country could only vote for
the resolution if a certain clause were to be
altered or eliminated. Be ready to argue the case
for your amendment through your speech.
You will probably
find that one of the resolutions selected is more
relevant to your country than the other. It is
perfectly acceptable to decide that your delegation
is not going to speak on both resolutions, and
indeed there is not sufficient time for all delegations
to do so! The best strategy is probably to prepare
a speech on one of the resolutions and be ready
to respond on the day if the debate on the other
one becomes relevant to them. But you can speak
on both resolutions if you choose.
When preparing speeches
in advance, it is important to remember that your
position on the speaker’s list is unknown
until the debate starts, so you need to ensure
that the structure of your speech is sufficiently
flexible to allow you to adapt it on the day.
On the one hand, you might find yourself very
high up on the speaker’s list, in which
case you certainly need to have something written
in advance. On the other hand, if you are low
down on the list, it is likely that by the time
your turn to speak arrives, many of your points
will already have been made by other delegations,
and you will have to adapt your speech in the
light of what has already been said.
To deal with this
situation, most delegates will choose to write
speeches on small cards rather than on large pieces
of paper. This makes it much easier to edit and
adapt your speech as the debate develops, because
you can leave out a card that has become irrelevant
and insert an extra one in the light of an argument
that has changed your delegation’s line
of thought. It is also much less likely that you
will lose your place when using cards than when
using large pieces of paper.
On the day, you will
be given up to three minutes for your speech.
Please don’t feel, however, that you must
therefore make all speeches this long! Short,
focused and dynamic speeches of about a minute
are often much more powerful than longer speeches
that are full of material that has either become
irrelevant or which was never relevant in the
first place. Stick to the point.
Finally, remember
to speak slowly and clearly. Most speakers are
initially nervous, and tend to speak to fast to
try and get it over with. You will make much more
of an impact if you take your time and pay attention
to your intonation and delivery.
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