Welcome to Public Speaking!
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.
Public Speaking
One of the biggest fears that people in general, especially adolescents have is public speaking. However, MUN is an activity that will take away your fear of speaking in front of crowds and exponentially increase your public speaking as well as presentation skills. I will share some tips and techniques that I use when giving speeches in MUN. I promise that these will help you conquer your fear of public speaking and giving speeches.
A very tempting thing to do in MUN when giving speeches is to write down the entire speech so you can have it for reference in case you every forget something. However, that is the very thing you should never do in MUN, with the exception of your opening speech, as often, you will just look at your paper the whole time. As a result, you won't engage your audience, and if people are bored, they probably won't listen to you talk or won't absorb your ideas. That means that even if you have really creative solutions, no one will realize it because they just didn't pay attention to what you were saying.
A very tempting thing to do in MUN when giving speeches is to write down the entire speech so you can have it for reference in case you every forget something. However, that is the very thing you should never do in MUN, with the exception of your opening speech, as often, you will just look at your paper the whole time. As a result, you won't engage your audience, and if people are bored, they probably won't listen to you talk or won't absorb your ideas. That means that even if you have really creative solutions, no one will realize it because they just didn't pay attention to what you were saying.
Opening Speeches
For your opening speech, I believe that you should write all of it down, but you should also practice it for at least a week before the conference. When you practice it, your goal should be to add emotion and flavor so people will pay extra attention to it. The more interesting your speech is, the more people will be attracted to you as a delegate. If you give a strong opening speech, people will automatically seek you out during unmoderated caucuses to form blocs with you. Other delegates will also see you as a leader if you give a good speech as it gives you a commanding presence. By practicing your opening speech for an extended amount of time before the actual conference, you should know it well enough that you only need to use the paper as reference. It is important that you don't try to memorize your speech, but understand it. When you are giving your speech, imagine that you are teaching the audience what you know and that is knowledge that is coming from your brain, not lines that you crammed into your brain.
Other speeches during the conference
When giving a speech, you should always start with some variation of "Honorable chair, fellow delegates and most esteemed guests". It's ok to switch around the order sometimes, but starting with this introduction helps give an impression that you are a respectful delegate - something that will generally make your experience very pleasant. In addition, you should always end with a thank you, just as a courtesy. These introductory and conclusion phrases are something that should be ingrained in your memory, so you don't have to write them down for a speech.
Regarding the content of my speeches, my strategy is always to write around 2-3 short bullet points on a piece of note paper that I bring up with me to speak. If you have done proper research (as I always strive to do), you will know more than enough about what you are speaking about to be teaching the audience from the knowledge you have obtained, rather than belting out memorized lines. This is why writing a position paper is useful; it helps you articulate your ideas into words. My piece of note paper is more for reference so that I know what main ideas I will be talking about. Hopefully, you know more than enough about the topics you are speaking about so you can add the details from the vast knowledge that you gained from research. If you happen to suddenly forget what you are going to say, find a way to conclude the first point and move on to the next ideas you are going to talk about. It is always better to give a short, but interesting and informative speech than a long, but poorly presented speech.
Regarding the content of my speeches, my strategy is always to write around 2-3 short bullet points on a piece of note paper that I bring up with me to speak. If you have done proper research (as I always strive to do), you will know more than enough about what you are speaking about to be teaching the audience from the knowledge you have obtained, rather than belting out memorized lines. This is why writing a position paper is useful; it helps you articulate your ideas into words. My piece of note paper is more for reference so that I know what main ideas I will be talking about. Hopefully, you know more than enough about the topics you are speaking about so you can add the details from the vast knowledge that you gained from research. If you happen to suddenly forget what you are going to say, find a way to conclude the first point and move on to the next ideas you are going to talk about. It is always better to give a short, but interesting and informative speech than a long, but poorly presented speech.
Speaking style and audience engagement
The very first thing that a lot of people wonder about is that if they don't have a piece of paper to look at for reference is what or who do they look at. The answer is actually quite simple; look at the audience. The thought of having to look at the audience might scare you, but a very effective tactic is to pick three points in the audience - one in the middle, one on the right and one on the left - and take turns looking at them and talking in that direction. Those three points can be anything; a flower pot, a chair, or even a delegate. They just have to be in the vicinity of all the delegates. The trick is that you want to convince the audience that you are looking at them so they feel engaged by your presence and will want to listen to you talk.
Another way to engage your audience is to use hand motions and have good posture. A very effective way to have hand motions is to just bring your arms above your hips and they will instinctively move as you speak. It is very good practice to speak in front of a mirror to learn to know which hand motions bring out the most effect when you are saying certain things or you want to emphasize a specific idea. Also, having proper posture demonstrates confidence and gives people a good impression of you. If you portray confidence and everyone knows that you are a good delegate, they will pay extra attention to you during your speeches. Good posture demonstrates your authority and leadership, two skills you want to emphasize during an MUN conference. You might ask, "What does it mean to have good posture?". Well, having good posture is very simple. Just stand straight while talking, have hand motions that engage the audience. Also, avoid doing things that distract the audience, such as biting your cheek or twirling your pen.
Another way to engage your audience is to use hand motions and have good posture. A very effective way to have hand motions is to just bring your arms above your hips and they will instinctively move as you speak. It is very good practice to speak in front of a mirror to learn to know which hand motions bring out the most effect when you are saying certain things or you want to emphasize a specific idea. Also, having proper posture demonstrates confidence and gives people a good impression of you. If you portray confidence and everyone knows that you are a good delegate, they will pay extra attention to you during your speeches. Good posture demonstrates your authority and leadership, two skills you want to emphasize during an MUN conference. You might ask, "What does it mean to have good posture?". Well, having good posture is very simple. Just stand straight while talking, have hand motions that engage the audience. Also, avoid doing things that distract the audience, such as biting your cheek or twirling your pen.
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