Welcome to Finessing Caucuses!
Come here for research and position paper writing tips as well as advice for how to become the delegate that you strive to be in Model United Nations! This page will have everything from how to write an award-winning research paper to the most efficient way to cite to how to keep yourself up to date with the latest news.
Finessing Caucuses
In Model United Nations, there are two types of caucuses; moderated and unmoderated caucuses, This page will teach you everything you need to know about how to perform to the best of the ability and catch the attention of your fellow delegates and the chairs in moderated and unmoderated caucuses.
Moderated Caucuses
General Assembly Committees (GAs)
In GA committees, opportunities to speak in GAs are and few between, especially if your committee has several hundred people like at NAIMUN in D.C. or BMUN in Berkeley. If you are lucky, you might speak once per committee session, but more often than not, you find that over the course of an entire conference, you will only have around three opportunities to speak in front of the committee, even if your placard is consistently raised. Even in many other committees where there are only around 50 delegates, do not expect plenty of speaking opportunity - depending on the chair's discretion and the length of the committee session, you may expect to speak around twice every committee session.
Given that opportunities to speak in GAs are so rare, it is important that you make your speeches concise, to the point and most importantly, memorable. Since you only have a few chances to speak at every conference, it is absolutely fundamental that people clearly remember the ideas you presented in your speech. It is often very useful to start your speech with a good hook that catches the audiences attention, and a memorable conclusion to help your audience remember you and your speech. If you add a bit of spicy entertainment at those locations, people will remember your speech, as it is a sharp departure of the typical rambling speeches that you see in GAs.
In addition to having some good hooks, it is also important that the ideas you present in your speech are well supported by statistics or experts, and that your idea is clear to understand. A lot of times, people go up to the stage and make speeches on fantastic ideas such as the latest developments in editing, but because they don't explain their idea clearly, present it in an audible manner and back it up with clear evidence, their plan goes unrecognized by the audience. When I make speeches about an idea, I have a few strategies that i will share with you.
First, I always centralize the speech. Focusing on one idea and making it really strong is better than rambling about twenty different innovations, as you would rather have everybody remember something than nothing. In addition, make sure to describe your idea clearly: this includes the implementation, its benefits and how it will solve the problem at hand. Finally, you have to provide support for the idea from a credible source other than your brain: statistics are often very useful, as are experts in the field recommending a specific course of action or proof of successful past implementation.
Although opportunities to speak in moderated caucuses in GAs are far and few between, but with these tips, I know you will be able to make your speeches count!
Crisis Committees
In crisis committees, there are often a lot of opportunities to speak and express your opinions. Thus, the goal in crisis is not to focus on making a few speeches good, but on making a lot of speeches, having your voice be heard and making sure that everyone knows what your goals and priorities are. In moderated caucuses in crisis committees, it should be emphasized that the worse harm you can do to yourself is not let your voice be heard. If you want to pass committee directives, press releases and communiques to accomplish whatever underhand crisis goals you have and to achieve the aims that you set out in your crisis arc.
Even if not all of your speeches or the most memorable, the key point of your speech is to express the idea you want to share or try to persuade your fellow committee members and avoid unnecessary things like fluff or hooks. Crisis committees are much more than just speeches; it also includes crisis elements like directives and your personal crisis notes, it is important that you don't spend two much time for speeches; in fact, in crisis committees, most of my speeches are done on a sticky notes which has in bullet points the key aspects of the issue I want to cover. That being said, you still want to work on your basic public speaking skills, such as eye contact and projection to allow your audience to be able to retain your ideas. Since a crisis committee is fast paced, delegates are more able to remember your ideas, but if you can't communicate them in a clear way, no matter how little time people have until a decision is made until voting bloc, they will not understand you.
Opportunities in crisis committees are commonplace, and the worst harm you can do to yourself is to not consistently raise your placard and express your beliefs. With these tips, I know you will be able to make your speeches count!
In GA committees, opportunities to speak in GAs are and few between, especially if your committee has several hundred people like at NAIMUN in D.C. or BMUN in Berkeley. If you are lucky, you might speak once per committee session, but more often than not, you find that over the course of an entire conference, you will only have around three opportunities to speak in front of the committee, even if your placard is consistently raised. Even in many other committees where there are only around 50 delegates, do not expect plenty of speaking opportunity - depending on the chair's discretion and the length of the committee session, you may expect to speak around twice every committee session.
Given that opportunities to speak in GAs are so rare, it is important that you make your speeches concise, to the point and most importantly, memorable. Since you only have a few chances to speak at every conference, it is absolutely fundamental that people clearly remember the ideas you presented in your speech. It is often very useful to start your speech with a good hook that catches the audiences attention, and a memorable conclusion to help your audience remember you and your speech. If you add a bit of spicy entertainment at those locations, people will remember your speech, as it is a sharp departure of the typical rambling speeches that you see in GAs.
In addition to having some good hooks, it is also important that the ideas you present in your speech are well supported by statistics or experts, and that your idea is clear to understand. A lot of times, people go up to the stage and make speeches on fantastic ideas such as the latest developments in editing, but because they don't explain their idea clearly, present it in an audible manner and back it up with clear evidence, their plan goes unrecognized by the audience. When I make speeches about an idea, I have a few strategies that i will share with you.
First, I always centralize the speech. Focusing on one idea and making it really strong is better than rambling about twenty different innovations, as you would rather have everybody remember something than nothing. In addition, make sure to describe your idea clearly: this includes the implementation, its benefits and how it will solve the problem at hand. Finally, you have to provide support for the idea from a credible source other than your brain: statistics are often very useful, as are experts in the field recommending a specific course of action or proof of successful past implementation.
Although opportunities to speak in moderated caucuses in GAs are far and few between, but with these tips, I know you will be able to make your speeches count!
Crisis Committees
In crisis committees, there are often a lot of opportunities to speak and express your opinions. Thus, the goal in crisis is not to focus on making a few speeches good, but on making a lot of speeches, having your voice be heard and making sure that everyone knows what your goals and priorities are. In moderated caucuses in crisis committees, it should be emphasized that the worse harm you can do to yourself is not let your voice be heard. If you want to pass committee directives, press releases and communiques to accomplish whatever underhand crisis goals you have and to achieve the aims that you set out in your crisis arc.
Even if not all of your speeches or the most memorable, the key point of your speech is to express the idea you want to share or try to persuade your fellow committee members and avoid unnecessary things like fluff or hooks. Crisis committees are much more than just speeches; it also includes crisis elements like directives and your personal crisis notes, it is important that you don't spend two much time for speeches; in fact, in crisis committees, most of my speeches are done on a sticky notes which has in bullet points the key aspects of the issue I want to cover. That being said, you still want to work on your basic public speaking skills, such as eye contact and projection to allow your audience to be able to retain your ideas. Since a crisis committee is fast paced, delegates are more able to remember your ideas, but if you can't communicate them in a clear way, no matter how little time people have until a decision is made until voting bloc, they will not understand you.
Opportunities in crisis committees are commonplace, and the worst harm you can do to yourself is to not consistently raise your placard and express your beliefs. With these tips, I know you will be able to make your speeches count!
Unmoderated Caucuses
General Assembly Committees (GAs)
In General Assembly Unmoderated caucuses, the main priority for all delegates is to find or join a bloc and make a draft resolution. In unmoderated caucuses for GAs, ,it is absolutely crucial that you form your bloc early on and make sure that you are the "leader", or the person that everyone looks to when they have questions or concerns. I have found that often times, when I am unable to form or join a pre-existing group within the first few moderated caucuses, people will have already started working on resolutions, and it becomes extremely difficult to take control and become the dominant delegates. To do this, I will provide some helpful tips and advice that I have used to form or control the bloc that I have formed.
To begin with, it is absolutely essential that you come prepared with some pretty unique solutions that you wouldn't expect others to have. Through this method, you can set yourself apart from other delegates and if the other delegates like your idea, they will have to stick with you since you are the only one who really understand the idea. In addition, during resolution presenting, if people ask a question about the solution, you will be the only one who can answer, giving yourself more speaking opportunities.
In addition, you need to make sure that you have delegates in your bloc who can contribute to the resolution but won't challenge you and aren't overly aggressive. It is essential that you participate actively in meeting delegates during the time before committee starts so that you can get a sense of whether you will want to work with them. Tips for determining whether delegates are overly aggressive or are of the right balance include the way they speak, the way they act in the first unmoderated caucus and the way they act when the committee members are meeting each other (before committee). If the delegate is a good speaker but the ideas in the speech are not completely flushed out and not the strongest, it shows that he/she is likely an intermediate delegate who you will want to work with. A delegate that actively approaches other delegates during the first unmoderated caucus is likely to be aggressive, but a delegate who quietly slips into unmoderated caucuses and listens in quietly is likely to be one who is more willing to listen and not challenge your position. Likewise, if you are talking with delegates before the conference, you can ask them things such as how many conferences they have been to, if it is their first time at the conference and what school they go to. Certain schools have reputations for having strong training programs and being powerhouses at certain conferences, so if you can identify potential "power delegates" in the beginning, you can avoid trouble.
Finally, once the bloc is assembled, you should start discussions about solutions immediately, and the gravity of the situation should be emphasized. This allows discussion for potentially controversial ideas and also gives your bloc an advantage in resolution writing, since the more time you have, the better quality your resolution will be. If you see other delegate quietly join your bloc, give them the floor to speak and ask them if they have anything to share. This has two benefits; you are increasing the number of solutions your resolution has, and your gaining the respect and appreciation of the other delegates as power delegates often try to not let anyone else speak during an unmoderated caucus.
If you are in a double delegation, a strategy that I often use is to split up both delegates to different blocs, and then orchestrate a merger. This tactic allows you to have your resolution get more ideas and get more sponsors. An alternative tactic in smaller committees is to have one person declare themselves as the laptop person. Most committees don't allow the usage of internet, so you can ask other delegates to come find you to put their clauses in the resolution or have them send their clauses to you. This allows you to control what clauses you want to put on the resolution and also increases your position of dominance. If the committee does allow internet, being the one with control of the document still gives you significant advantage, as people will know what country/person you represent because they have to approach you as well as allow you to control editing privileges.
With these tips, I know you can make your time in an unmoderated caucus count!
Crisis Committees
In crisis committee unmoderated caucuses, your main goal should be to obtain signatories and sponsors for your directives to ensure that they will pass. Most crisis committees will not have as many unmoderated caucuses as general assembly committees, since it takes way less time to write directives, and most of the work that needs to be done in committee is accomplished through discussions and instantaneous action through directives rather than long debate over resolutions. Thus, the best way you can help yourself stand out is if you pass directives that introduce innovative and interesting actions to help solve the issue currently at hand.
A lot of times, during unmoderated caucuses, other delegates or the chair will ask to merge different directives to make them more unique and to reduce the number that will be debated. Normally, I strongly advocate against merging because you want to be able to present your directive and preserve the idea as yours. However, if the chair absolutely wants it to happen, when you merge directives, try to convince other people to add their ideas onto your paper. This means that you are still the main sponsor and contributor to the directive so all the ideas on the paper are chiefly yours.
With these tips, I know you will be able to succeed during crisis committee unmoderated caucuses!