“Would the house please come to order?” Let’s learn chair language to master MUN

MUN Agenda—Day 1 MUN Agenda—Day 1  Opening ceremony— General Assembly  (Auditorium)

Day 1--Committee Room  Opening speeches + points of reply  Lobbying + Merging draft resolutions

Day 1--Approval Panel  Merged resolutions seek approval for debate  Consists of 3~4 MUN advisors

MUN Agenda—Day 2  DebateVoteForAgainst Open Abstain

DAY 1 Morning

“The chair would now take the roll call.”  The delegate should raise his/her placard if the name of his country is called upon by the chair and reply, “Present and Voting.”  The roll call is made to be sure of the number of countries present.

“Delegate of X, please approach the podium and make your speech.”  On hearing this, the delegate of X country should take his placard, move towards the podium, address the chairs and the other delegates, and then begin his opening speech, which is to be finished in one minute.

“Delegate (of X), please proceed to your concluding remarks.”  The chair uses this polite form of request to ask the addressee to finish his opening speech as soon as possible, usually because the delegate has used up more time in delivering his speech than the given one minute.

“ Ｔ he chair would now entertain rights of reply. Is there any on the floor?”  A delegate makes use of the “rights of reply” to applaud, show agreement or disagreement to one or more delegates’ opening speeches. In doing so, the delegate clarifies his position towards the issue in question by responding to the opening speeches made.

“ Delegate of X, you have been recognized.”  The delegate who is raising a placard is called upon to take the floor (to speak).

Points of Personal Privilege  Complaint about volume, room temperature, noises, etc.  Chair can interrupt the speaker ( Volume only).  Requires Second ( support from another state)— not volume.  Determined by the chair.

Point of order  Procedural Objection  ”Point of order to the chair. Aren’t points of information supposed to be in question form?”  The chair makes the decision.

Point of Inquiry  A motion from the floor or from a committee member to ask a question.  Typically, such questions are about such issues as parliamentary procedures or agenda items under consideration.  Determined by the chair.

DAY 2

 Resolution submission

 Regarding the Issue of ____, would the main submitter please approach the podium and read the operative clauses.

 Thank you, delegate. Would the delegate please make his main-submitting speech (3~5 minutes).

“Is the delegate open to any points of information?”  Will the speaker take any question?  Possible Replies:  1. None. (Not recommended!)  2. Any and all.  3. Three (for example).  4. Any pertaining to the resolution/clauses.

 The delegate has opened himself/herself to any and all/one/three points of information. Is there any on the floor?

“Are there any points of information on the floor?”  Are there any questions among the delegates?  So, points of information are supposed to be in question form.

“Delegate, there should be no direct communication between delegates.”  During the conference, no direct conversation between delegates is allowed either publicly or in private. The speaker at the podium should “talk to” another delegate via the chair by saying, “Would the chair ask the delegate to rephrase his point of information?”

“Would the delegate please rephrase the point of information?”  When a delegate does not ask a question clearly enough or when the speaker does not understand a question, the speaker may ask the delegate to rephrase his/her question, that is, to ask the question in another way.

Follow up?  Can the delegate ask a follow-up question?  The chair can deny or grant the follow-up question by saying, “(Follow-up) denied,” or “(Follow-up) granted.”  Only one follow-up can be granted.

“Would the delegate yield the floor to another delegate or back to the chair?”  The chair asks a speaker if he wants to give the right to speak to another delegate or give it back to the chair.  The speaker can yield to another delegate only once.  “The Delegate of X would like to yield the floor to the Delegate of Y.”

(The delegate yields the floor) back to the chair.  “Follow-up denied due to time constraint. Would the delegate please yield the floor back to the chair?”

DEBATE--FOR  “The chairs now set 5 mins FOR the resolution. Is there any delegate who wishes to speak FOR this resolution?”

DEBATE--AGAINST  “The chairs now set 5 mins AGAINST the resolution. Is there any delegate who wishes to SPEAK AGAINST this resolution?”

OPEN DEBATE  “The chairs now set 10mins for open debate. Delegates who wish to speak for or against the resolution, please raise your placard.”

The floor is now open. Does any delegate wish to take the floor?  After one speaker yields the floor back to the chair, the chair may ask if any wants to speak if he sees that there is still time. The chair may also ask some “quiet” delegates to speak so that all delegates contribute to the conference.

Motion to Change Speaking Time  Request to change the length of speaking time.  Requires Seconds.  Determined by the chair.

Motion to Expand Debate Time

Motion for a Roll Call Vote  Votes tabulated by roll call and not by count.  Requires Second.  Majority Vote Overruled by chair.

Motion to deviate from Agenda  Changing agenda.  Requires Second.  Majority vote overruled by chair.

Motion to move to 5 min recess  We are yawning; give us a 5-min break.  Our allies need time to discuss strategy.  Requires Second.  Determined by chair.

Motion to Move Directly to Voting Procedures  Go directly to vote.  Requires Seconds.  Majority Vote.

Objections to the Motions  If you need to say something more about the motion on the floor.

AMENDMENT  A proposal to change the original terms of a bill: grammatical errors, content, wording, etc.  Written on amendment notepaper.  Submitted to chairs in advance.  Made only during “Against” debate.

Voting Order  Amendment  [clause]  resolution  When voting for or against an amendment, no abstention is allowed.

Chair Announcement  The resolution has passed. Clapping is in order.  The resolution failed. Clapping is not in order.

Adjournment  The end of a legislative session, a day’s session, or a committee meeting.

Tips to remember  Refer to yourself and others by country. You are not advised to use personal pronouns.  Except when lobbying, delegates interact with each other only by way of the chair.

Preparation Makes Perfect  Research the issue.  Research your country.  Write your position paper.  Write your draft resolution.  Write your opening speech.

Practice Makes Perfect!  Read your draft resolution out loud.  Memorize your opening speech to ensure confidence and eye contact.  Speak out.  Lobby hard.  Enjoy yourself.

Happy MUNing