How to face your fear in SLMUN
There are many things that intimidate new delegates – knowing what to say in a speech or during caucus, making points or motions for the first time, understanding what a new term means, etc.
Learn how to face your fear in SLMUN by following these tips:
1. Prepare a research binder.
You’ll feel better in committee knowing that your research is at your fingertips. A ready-to-access research binder is a life-saver in case you get lost when different topics, acronyms, agencies, and previous solutions are mentioned.
nIt actually speeds up research. Putting together a binder sounds time-consuming, but it takes less time and brain power to learn something that is organized well. When you’re reading different websites and books, the important facts are spread out across different sources. It ultimately takes more time to read through a random assortment of printed pages than to just organise it in the first place.
nIt gets faster with experience. After putting together a few binders, I realised I was turning to the same sources over and over. Eventually, I would just print everything out first, put together the binder, and then read through it all in one shot. And since I chose to specialize in certain committees, I could easily recycle my research binders and improve on them.
n It’s useful for more than the information it contains. Having your research readily available in committee is very helpful. In addition, bringing a well-organised binder to committee communicates to the chair and other delegates that you mean business. But be careful – you may not want to communicate this kind of intensity, depending on how you want to be perceived in committee.
2. Frame your topics and speeches.
In SLMUN, you have 72 hours or less to solve the world’s most important and complicated problems. This is a challenge, but don’t let it overwhelm you; instead, make it manageable. Break down your topic into smaller issues. Choose the ones that matter most to your country or position. Match solutions to those issues.
3. Write out your first speech.
Your first speech is the committee’s first impression of you. It’s scary because you’re getting up in front of people you’ve never met who are going to judge you. But the first speech is the easiest to prepare for because you can write it out ahead of time. Try it – you’ll find that it’s easier to speak again after you’ve made a strong first speech. And once you’ve learned how to frame your topic, you will easily learn how to frame your speech.
4. Focus on one idea at a time.
Over the course of a conference, your committee will discuss many different problems and solutions. Speeches that try to cover too many ideas at the same time are incoherent. Don’t be confused by the vast number of things to talk about in a speech; instead, focus on one idea at a time. This makes it easier for you to make speeches and for your audience to understand you. You’ll also be faster at crafting comments and more active in moderated caucus. Focusing on one idea helps you overcome an important public speaking fear – knowing what to say in a speech.
Most delegates try to say too much in a single speech. Speaking time is typically one minute or less, which is barely enough time to say one thing well. Most delegates try to run through a laundry list of facts or points, but no single thing sticks in the minds of their audience.
It’s a problem of information overload. There’s a lot going on in committee – giving speeches, making motions, drafting resolutions. It’s an overwhelming amount of information to process, both for the committee and you as an individual delegate trying to make a speech.
Focusing on one idea is a way to pierce through this haze of information. It can be your topic framework, a specific issue, or just saying “I disagree” with another delegate’s speech. But when you focus on one idea, you are inviting the committee to focus on this one idea with you. Your challenge is to pick out one idea from the swirling mass of possible things to speak on.
5. Learn the different stages of committee.
When you’re starting out, committee seems like chaos. There’s so much going on and things seem to happen randomly, which might make you feel anxious or uncertain. But you can overcome these feelings by learning the different stages of committee. It’s more than knowing the rules or motions – it’s about knowing what to do and when to do it. Be aware of what stage the committee is in, whether it’s making speeches, forming alliances, or writing resolutions. Once you realize that there’s a certain flow to committee, the chaos you felt at first will turn into order.
Most importantly, ask questions when you don’t understand something – don’t be shy. If you’re unsure of what’s going on in committee or a word that someone used, raise a Point of Inquiry and ask your question. It’s a simple thing to do yet so hard – most people don’t want to admit that they don’t know something. But asking questions is the first step to facing your fear in SLMUN and becoming a better delegate.
Conference will be held at the BMICH on the 5th and 6th of October, 2019. Registration closes on the 1st of September on our official website: www.slmun.org.
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Shabnam Mohamed