Communicating Between Delegates
Speaking in third person
Because you are pretending to represent a country, you refer to yourself in third person.
Instead of saying:
“I would like to propose a solution…”
You would say:
“This delegate would like to propose a solution…”
In practice, this is only done during moderated debates such as the General Speakers’ List and Moderated Caucuses.
Note-passing
Cross-talking refers to verbally or nonverbally communicating to another delegate during moderated debate. Cross-talking is usually not allowed. This includes all forms of online communication, including Google Docs.
To communicate with other delegates, you may write a note and pass it to a note-passer. The note-passer will pass your note to the delegate. Ensure that you write your identity, as well as the identity of the delegate you wish to send the note to.
Note-passers will vet your note. If the note is not relevant to the debate or goes against the code of conduct (e.g. harassment), your note may be reported to the Dais.
During PREPMUN 2019, the Dais asked me to come forward with my laptop, as they suspected that I was cross-talking with other delegates on Google Docs.
This was basically what my Google Doc showed:
P: The proposed solution by the US is viable.
E: The solution allows ECOSOC to maintain…
E: For example, in China…
One of the note-passers had spotted this on my screen, and informed the Dais. The Dais then asked me to show them the Google Doc, asserting that “P” and “E” were some of our initials.
Here was the next line of the Google Doc. I’ll let you determine my innocence yourself.
L: Hence, I support the US’s solution.