Hey y'all!
I just wanted to share some speaking tips that really pushed me to strengthen my presence during committee when I first started MUN.
At my first conference, I still didn't really fully understand the difference between debate and MUN, which led me down quite a few wrong paths. The first thing I realized was that I couldn't just BS my way through a speech/exchange without adequately understanding the material (style is NOT more important than substance). Another important tip I picked up early on was to refrain from BMing other delegates. I usually could get away with a jab here and there in debate but it is really not acceptable in MUN to personally attack another delegate (I know it sounds like common sense but sometimes it happens inadvertently so you have to be careful). I know that so far debate seemed to have done a lot of harm to my start in MUN, but one thing that it nailed was preparing me for was confidently giving a speech. There are a couple of things that most delegates end up doing at one point or another: 1) relying on reading off their laptop/notes, 2) forgetting what they were saying and sort of rambling on, 3) avoiding eye contact when addressing others. This isn't a comprehensive list but these are some of the things that I noticed the most in committee and they're sometimes the hardest to fix. I don't really have any advice here that would work for everyone but being more aware of your speaking style is definitely a step in the right direction (ex. take note of how often you look down/look away).
I know that most of you shouldn't have a problem with any of this but if you do have any questions about speeches please let me know I'll be happy to help!
lol tl;dr
1) do research/know what you're talking about when you make a speech
2) don't personally attack delegates - everyone is here to learn and have fun
3) be aware of your speaking habits
Friday, February 1, 2019
Topic 1 Article: US Council on Foreign Relations
Hello delegates!
Here's an article by the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank, on America's reaction to Made in China 2025.
Although the article has an American perspective, many of the concerns raised are applicable to other countries as well. Some of these concerns, such as national security, government influence on private Chinese companies, and an unfair playing field for non-Chinese companies in China, are key points to focus on when thinking critically about this topic and developing potential solutions.
How can China's leaders encourage the growth of local firms while also addressing concerns that government subsidies and protectionist measures by the central government are inhibiting international companies and providing an unfair advantage to Chinese firms?
Feel free to discuss in the comments below!
Hubert
Here's an article by the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank, on America's reaction to Made in China 2025.
Although the article has an American perspective, many of the concerns raised are applicable to other countries as well. Some of these concerns, such as national security, government influence on private Chinese companies, and an unfair playing field for non-Chinese companies in China, are key points to focus on when thinking critically about this topic and developing potential solutions.
How can China's leaders encourage the growth of local firms while also addressing concerns that government subsidies and protectionist measures by the central government are inhibiting international companies and providing an unfair advantage to Chinese firms?
Feel free to discuss in the comments below!
Hubert
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Topic 2 Articles:精准扶贫所遇到的一些问题
Model United Nations Procedure Term List 模拟联合国会议常用程序用语中英文对照表
模拟联合国会议常用程序用语 Model United Nations Procedure Term List
Abstain 弃权
Agenda 日程
Amendment 修正案
Topic Synopsis 背景资料
Caucus 磋商
Moderated Caucus 有主持核心磋商
Unmoderated Caucus／Informal Caucus 无主持核心磋商／非正式磋商／自由磋商
Crisis 危机
Delegate 代表
Dilatory 不合时宜
Directive 指令
Draft resolution 决议草案
Draft directive 指令草案
Motion 动议
Operative clause 行动性条款
Placard 代表牌
Point 问题
Point of inquiry 咨询性问题
Point of order 程序性问题
Point of personal privilege 个人特权
Position paper 立场文件
Preambulatory clause 序言性条款
Roll call 点名
Signatory 附议国
Sponsor 起草国
Simple majority 简单多数
Speaker's list 主发言名单
Working paper 工作文件
Vote 表决
Yield time 让渡时间
Yield time to another Delegate 让渡给另一代表
Yield time to questions 让渡给问题
Yield time to the chair 让渡给主席
常用语句：
Is there any Points or Motions on the floor?
场下有无任何动议或问题？
Motion to open the Speaker's List. 动议产生主发言名单
Motion to change the speaking time. 动议更改发言时间。
Motion for a unmoderated caucus. 动议自由磋商。
Motion to close debate/suspend debate. 动议结束会议／暂停会议。
We are now going to vote on _______’s motion to _______. 我们现在表决_______的动议_______
Agenda 日程
Amendment 修正案
Topic Synopsis 背景资料
Caucus 磋商
Moderated Caucus 有主持核心磋商
Unmoderated Caucus／Informal Caucus 无主持核心磋商／非正式磋商／自由磋商
Crisis 危机
Delegate 代表
Dilatory 不合时宜
Directive 指令
Draft resolution 决议草案
Draft directive 指令草案
Motion 动议
Operative clause 行动性条款
Placard 代表牌
Point 问题
Point of inquiry 咨询性问题
Point of order 程序性问题
Point of personal privilege 个人特权
Position paper 立场文件
Preambulatory clause 序言性条款
Roll call 点名
Signatory 附议国
Sponsor 起草国
Simple majority 简单多数
Speaker's list 主发言名单
Working paper 工作文件
Vote 表决
Yield time 让渡时间
Yield time to another Delegate 让渡给另一代表
Yield time to questions 让渡给问题
Yield time to the chair 让渡给主席
常用语句：
Is there any Points or Motions on the floor?
场下有无任何动议或问题？
Motion to open the Speaker's List. 动议产生主发言名单
Motion to change the speaking time. 动议更改发言时间。
Motion for a unmoderated caucus. 动议自由磋商。
Motion to close debate/suspend debate. 动议结束会议／暂停会议。
We are now going to vote on _______’s motion to _______. 我们现在表决_______的动议_______
Monday, January 28, 2019
MUN Advice: Making Motions
Hey all,
Here's something that's super important about MUN.
It's so important that MUN can even be called Motion UN, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Making a good motion is essential to being a good delegate. They often affect the flow of committee and will get a delegate noticed by the chair should they pass often. They are also instrumental in writing the resolution, as they bring up points that are relevant to the solution for all delegates to talk with each other and negotiate about. Motions have to be:
1. Relevant,
2. Contribute to the current discussion, or propose a new idea to the problem,
3. Presented with the correct wording.
If the dais mentions that a certain motion would be 'smiled upon', or looked upon favorably, try to make that motion! It is most likely to advance discussion or to prevent circular speeches that all reach the same conclusion.
Motions can be used for many things, from opening debate, setting the agenda, creating a moderated caucus, unmoderated caucus, enter voting block, and more.
An example of a good motion to enter moderated caucus would be:
'The Delegate of Zimbabwe would like to motion for a 10 minute with 1 minute speaking time moderated caucus on the topic of helping to implement China's One Belt and One Road policy.'
Note how the motion is specific, provides a total time and speaking time, and provides a topic to discuss. It is also in third person, which is necessary for speeches AND motions.
An example of a good motion to enter unmoderated caucus would be:
'The Delegate of Canada would like to motion for a 10 minute unmoderated caucus on the topic of writing resolutions.'
Note how even unmoderated caucuses need a topic; this is BMUN procedure.
This is just an introduction to making motions; during conference, actually making motions will hone your skills to be a motion-making-master in no time!
See you at conference!
Billy
Here's something that's super important about MUN.
It's so important that MUN can even be called Motion UN, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Making a good motion is essential to being a good delegate. They often affect the flow of committee and will get a delegate noticed by the chair should they pass often. They are also instrumental in writing the resolution, as they bring up points that are relevant to the solution for all delegates to talk with each other and negotiate about. Motions have to be:
1. Relevant,
2. Contribute to the current discussion, or propose a new idea to the problem,
3. Presented with the correct wording.
If the dais mentions that a certain motion would be 'smiled upon', or looked upon favorably, try to make that motion! It is most likely to advance discussion or to prevent circular speeches that all reach the same conclusion.
Motions can be used for many things, from opening debate, setting the agenda, creating a moderated caucus, unmoderated caucus, enter voting block, and more.
An example of a good motion to enter moderated caucus would be:
'The Delegate of Zimbabwe would like to motion for a 10 minute with 1 minute speaking time moderated caucus on the topic of helping to implement China's One Belt and One Road policy.'
Note how the motion is specific, provides a total time and speaking time, and provides a topic to discuss. It is also in third person, which is necessary for speeches AND motions.
An example of a good motion to enter unmoderated caucus would be:
'The Delegate of Canada would like to motion for a 10 minute unmoderated caucus on the topic of writing resolutions.'
Note how even unmoderated caucuses need a topic; this is BMUN procedure.
This is just an introduction to making motions; during conference, actually making motions will hone your skills to be a motion-making-master in no time!
See you at conference!
Billy
IMPORTANT MUN Advice : CSC Only Procedure
CSC PROCEDURE
CSC will generally follow Standard BMUN Procedure. You can find the standard BMUN Procedure on the following website: https://learnbmun.squarespace.com/procedure-flow/
However, there are several differences between CSC procedure and standard BMUN procedures.
You will work with and against around 20 delegates to not only arrive at the best possible solution to the two key issues in the topic synopsis, but also solve many related problems in a relatively quick-paced fashion. Hence, the pace of the committee will be quicker than that of a regular committee, but slower than that of a crisis committee. In addition, all delegates are single delegation and instead of representing countries, you will represent one minister/ministry of the Chinese State Council.
However, during the specific crisis time (the dais will let you know when the committee encounters crisis), the committee will be in a perpetual moderated caucus with a set speaker time. The committee can still choose to go into unmods or have moderated caucuses with different speaking times, but unless another option is selected the chair will enter a perpetual moderated caucus and call on delegates with their placards raised.
DIRECTIVES
These directives will still require signatories and sponsors, but unlike resolutions they don’t require pre-ambulatory clauses, and will be voted on by regular voting like vote on motions. Specifically, the chairs will help read each directive, and the delegates will vote in favour upon them by raising their placard after each directive is read.
The directives often have one to four operative clauses, though they can be longer. In some cases, these directives can cause real action instead of just acting as recommendations depending on the action and the jurisdiction of the committee. In typical MUN resolutions, you can only suggest action.
Format:
Directive Title
Sponsors: Entity 1
Signatories: Entity 2, Entity 3, Entity 4, Entity 5
1. Recommends operative 1;
2. Moves to operative 2;
3. Decides operative 3.
PERSONAL DIRECTIVES
Perhaps the most fun difference between crisis committees and regular ones is the personal directive. Personal directives, unlike committee directives, can be made in secret and given directly to the head chair without being voted on by the committee. They are how a delegate exerts personal power. For example, the 公安局 can 开展禁毒行动 by themselves without the help of other ministries.
The outcome of every directive, both personal and committee, will be determined by the dais, who will attempt to keep the committee moving forward in a fun, but realistic, fashion. Procedurally, crisis committees are a lot simpler than regular committees, but the internal dynamics between the members of the committee and the nature of the topic change much quicker and more frequently. If you want to be successful in a crisis committee you must both be well researched and highly adaptable, as you never quite know what path the committee will go down.
You will not need to include the solutions to the crisis or your directives into your resolution. However, if some real actions are proposed and agreed by the whole committee. The resolution need to be made with these hypothetical situations in mind. For example, if 计生委 proposes that the birth limit will be completely abandoned, then other ministers need to keep this hypothetical fact in mind and come up solutions.
CSC will generally follow Standard BMUN Procedure. You can find the standard BMUN Procedure on the following website: https://learnbmun.squarespace.com/procedure-flow/
However, there are several differences between CSC procedure and standard BMUN procedures.
You will work with and against around 20 delegates to not only arrive at the best possible solution to the two key issues in the topic synopsis, but also solve many related problems in a relatively quick-paced fashion. Hence, the pace of the committee will be quicker than that of a regular committee, but slower than that of a crisis committee. In addition, all delegates are single delegation and instead of representing countries, you will represent one minister/ministry of the Chinese State Council.
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
To manage this relatively quick pace, there are a few structural and procedural differences between CSC and a regular/crisis committee. First, there will still be a speaker’s list, and the delegates will still need to write resolutions.
However, during the specific crisis time (the dais will let you know when the committee encounters crisis), the committee will be in a perpetual moderated caucus with a set speaker time. The committee can still choose to go into unmods or have moderated caucuses with different speaking times, but unless another option is selected the chair will enter a perpetual moderated caucus and call on delegates with their placards raised.
DIRECTIVES
Besides the final resolution for voting at the end, the committee will also pass some committee directives during crisis time. In order to solve crisis, rather than pass resolutions, the delegates need to pass committee directives, which have a few distinct differences. Whether committee directives will be voted on immediately or at the end of the next moderated or unmoderated caucus will be decided by a vote by the whole committee.
These directives will still require signatories and sponsors, but unlike resolutions they don’t require pre-ambulatory clauses, and will be voted on by regular voting like vote on motions. Specifically, the chairs will help read each directive, and the delegates will vote in favour upon them by raising their placard after each directive is read.
The directives often have one to four operative clauses, though they can be longer. In some cases, these directives can cause real action instead of just acting as recommendations depending on the action and the jurisdiction of the committee. In typical MUN resolutions, you can only suggest action.
Format:
Directive Title
Sponsors: Entity 1
Signatories: Entity 2, Entity 3, Entity 4, Entity 5
1. Recommends operative 1;
2. Moves to operative 2;
3. Decides operative 3.
PERSONAL DIRECTIVES
Perhaps the most fun difference between crisis committees and regular ones is the personal directive. Personal directives, unlike committee directives, can be made in secret and given directly to the head chair without being voted on by the committee. They are how a delegate exerts personal power. For example, the 公安局 can 开展禁毒行动 by themselves without the help of other ministries.
The outcome of every directive, both personal and committee, will be determined by the dais, who will attempt to keep the committee moving forward in a fun, but realistic, fashion. Procedurally, crisis committees are a lot simpler than regular committees, but the internal dynamics between the members of the committee and the nature of the topic change much quicker and more frequently. If you want to be successful in a crisis committee you must both be well researched and highly adaptable, as you never quite know what path the committee will go down.
You will not need to include the solutions to the crisis or your directives into your resolution. However, if some real actions are proposed and agreed by the whole committee. The resolution need to be made with these hypothetical situations in mind. For example, if 计生委 proposes that the birth limit will be completely abandoned, then other ministers need to keep this hypothetical fact in mind and come up solutions.
Topic 1 Related Event: 中国移民局成立 China Sets Up State Immigration Administration
Hello Delegates,
This is an article by the China Daily on the establishment of Chinese new immigration department.
Before 2018, the custom was controlled by Chinese military. The customs officers in Chinese used to be 边防官兵，which literally means border soldier. However, after March 2018, these "Border Soldiers" are substituted by the immigration police. The custom was no longer controlled by the military but by a sub-department of the public security ministry, State Immigration Administration.
The establishment of the State Immigration Administration is phenomenal because though China issued few green cards to foreigners, China was generally considered to be an nonimmigrant country. The found of the new Administration indicates that Chinese government might seek foreign immigrants to help accelerate the development of China, and China will be more international in the future.
Things to consider:
1. How does the establishment of the State Immigration Administration contribute to Made in China 2025?
2. How does your ministry help Chinese citizens adapt to possible future changes?
This is an article by the China Daily on the establishment of Chinese new immigration department.
Before 2018, the custom was controlled by Chinese military. The customs officers in Chinese used to be 边防官兵，which literally means border soldier. However, after March 2018, these "Border Soldiers" are substituted by the immigration police. The custom was no longer controlled by the military but by a sub-department of the public security ministry, State Immigration Administration.
The establishment of the State Immigration Administration is phenomenal because though China issued few green cards to foreigners, China was generally considered to be an nonimmigrant country. The found of the new Administration indicates that Chinese government might seek foreign immigrants to help accelerate the development of China, and China will be more international in the future.
Things to consider:
1. How does the establishment of the State Immigration Administration contribute to Made in China 2025?
2. How does your ministry help Chinese citizens adapt to possible future changes?
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Hello everyone, Check out our BMUN Learn website for practical advice on everything from forming blocs to writing resolutions. Feel free ...
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Hello Delegates, This is an article by the China Daily on the establishment of Chinese new immigration department. Before 2018, the cus...
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大家好! My name is Zishen Liu (刘子绅) and I'll be your CSC Head Chair this year. I am a Junior at UC Berkeley studying Economics and Applie...