Rallying the Herd: How to attract fellow delegates to your resolution
It is the opinion of the Lead Delegate that Model United Nations committees are much like herds of sheep. Each herd has its own flairs and nuances, but in the Lead Delegate’s experience, most herds can be put into one of three categories: Stray Herds, Balanced Herds, and Headstrong Herds. When you try and garner support for your resolution during unmoderated caucuses, taking these herd types into account is critical.
1.) Stray Herds
Do you remember your first MUN conference? Do you remember how nervous you felt, how anxious you were? Or, remember when you went to a committee after only four hours of sleep? Well, take those feelings and distribute them to an entire committee and behold! A Stray Herd will appear!
A Stray Herd is both the easiest herd type to manipulate and the easiest herd type to be ignored by. They amble around aimlessly, desperate for entertainment and companionship. To get them to sign your resolution, you must be energetic and gripping. Do this, and the stray sheep will flock to you in droves! This is the catch: going too deeply into the bureaucratic and formal details of your resolution will bore the herd, and they will go looking for a flashier resolution advertiser. If you consistently entertain the Stray Herd, they will become “repeat customers” that always walk in your footsteps.
Stray Herds most frequently form in General Assemblies, where many beginner delegates are present. However, it is not uncommon to have a stray herd form in a sleep-deprived Crisis or Specialized committee. You can identify if a committee is a Stray Herd by watching individual delegate behavior. Do they listen intently to speakers? Do they sound passionate and inspired? Do they hold a respect for source citation and statistics? If the answer to all these questions is no, then presto! You have identified a Stray Herd.
2.) Headstrong Herds
Headstrong Herds are the hardcore, deeply invested herds of Model United Nations. They usually consist of MUN veterans and prodigies. Look out for them particularly in Crisis Committees.
What do Headstrong Herds like? One word: facts. They like well-researched, cogent delegates who clearly know their stuff. It is easy to secure their attention with some clever world problem-solving ideas. However, it is quite difficult to actually get them to sign a resolution, due to the fact that they are looking to safeguard their own interests as well. It is almost certain that a Headstrong Herd delegate will be advertising resolutions of their own!
Although Headstrong Herds may seem difficult to court at first, the trick is to turn their extensive research against them. Before committee, identify delegations that you have cordial relations with and confront them with your resolution, arguing that your positive relations will decline if they do not sign. This trick has worked for the Lead Delegate countless times!
3.) Balanced Herds
As their name implies, Balanced Herds are a mixture of both Headstrong and Stray Herds. The trick to mastering them is knowing what delegations are Headstrong and what delegations are Stray. That way, you can court each herd type individually, to maximum effectiveness. Balanced Herds can show up in any committee, if the participants are varied enough.
The Essential Task
No matter what herd type you are advertising to, it is essential that you speak in moderated caucuses before you go off and do fancy resolution-promotion shenanigans. Moderated caucus speeches make a name for your delegation, and thus garner you the attention you need for resolution creation.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Like a lotus blossom, the Lead Delegate is always ready to spray their fellow delegates with the pollen of knowledge. Contact them in the comments, or, contact the Enloe MUN club directly at the school.
