When I applied to become part of the be.boosted delegation to Harvard WorldMUN in 2013 (at the time still eMUN-fellows.net delegation), I expected to spend a week full of diplomacy, negotiations and fun in Brussels. What I actually got, was not just a week that helped me grow as a person but in fact whole five months. In the description of the project it said that training was part of the preparation for the conference. However, I had not expected to be boosted the way I was.
During the online and offline sessions we held during the five months prior to WorldMUN, numerous topics were covered not only in great depth but also in a way that made it easy to apply the knowledge just gained.

For example, during our first online sessions, we had talked about concepts for good speeches and practiced formulating speeches following certain patterns. When we met for our first offline session in Heidelberg, we combined the concepts with the second very important aspect of delivering speeches, body language. Thanks to this weekend, I am now more aware of my movements and how other people might perceive them. This did not only help a great deal when standing up and speaking in front of 400 delegates in the DISEC committee in Brussels, but way beyond that. I had mentioned to Project Director and be.boosted founder Tobias during my first ‘individual development call’ that a big struggle for me was to convey messages in a short, emphasized and precise manner. As we constantly reviewed my progress regarding this issue, I am now more confident in my ability to convey messages precisely.

"Diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they’ll look forward to the trip."

Model UN is as much about being a charismatic leader and skillful negotiator as it is about impersonating UN diplomats and hence acting in a diplomatic manner. Throughout a MUN conference one does encounter a considerate level of competitiveness and is hereby facing the task of juggling a multitude of interests, opinions, backgrounds and heterogeneous situational awareness. But just as in our everyday lives and professional experience, in order to succeed, you do need people to cooperate with you, either by building strong alliances, connecting with some people or convincing others. In one of our previous tidbits on persuasion we’ve already tackled the principle of liking as core to persuasive power and key to cooperation.

But how does one generate liking?

Two things out front:

1. Be honest .
   (we’ll come to back to that and I hope that at the end of the article, you’ll have good idea of what I mean by that.)
2. Be good.                
   A phenomenon you’ve very probably observed all too many times:
   Most people don’t reach their true potential. In fact, many people just try to get by: for various reasons they remain behind their original goals and merely wish they had reached their aims instead of striving for them and achieving them.             
   Who do you think will have delivered a better speech? – she who says “I did well” or he who says “Well, this one over with, but...”?       
   It sounds arrogant, to be sure. But remember what a very arrogant man once said:
   “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” (Steve Jobs)

How to be a good speaker        

So, how do you deliver a good speech?

A speech is a product of yourself, that’s a given. It is a piece of art emanating from your very own personality.
  
So, the only way to deliver a good speech is to be a good speaker.              
And the only way to be good speaker is to become one: no one is born a good speaker, no one is born eloquent, no one is born an athlete, no one born sophisticated. These are skills and, if I may say so, traits of personality you acquire and develop. And if you don’t consider yourself to be a great speaker, not even a good speaker – that doesn’t have to bother you, no one started out giving speeches like Barack Obama, certainly not Barack Obama.

What do I mean by that?     

As Christmas is approaching, here are some thoughts on self-control.

Many things can tax our self-control: be it keeping in check the urge to devour tons of gingerbread, or trying hard to remain professional and to use all those rules of procedure, that diplomatic language, etc. etc. 

Psychological research shows that our self-control is a bit like a muscle: use it a lot, and it’ll need to take a rest to replenish. While our self-control is ‘depleted’, we are prone to making pretty bad decisions, and giving in to those influences that require self-control to keep in check (for example, over-eating on Lebkuchen and Dominostein).

How can you give your self-control muscle a boost, to make it grow to the size of this owl’s (see below) self-control? Self-affirmation! 

Self-affirmation is like a highly effective energy drink for your self-control: think about why you’re doing what you’re doing, why this re-affirms your personal values, and why it’s your goal to do as you are doing. That will help you to continue to exercise self-control, to make good decisions, and to continue to keep those influences that require self-control in check.