In young people’s lives, formal education plays an enormously important role. Listening carefully in class, interpreting exam questions correctly, and satisfying the examiner’s expectations, all to get a good grade, and thus a good starting point for job hunting. However, it has often been argued that formal education doesn’t really get you ready for your job. Will you need to remember the details of photosynthesis for your management position at a software company? Probably not, yet we all thoroughly familiarized ourselves with the topic in high school. It would be besides the point to argue that formal education should not teach contents such as photosynthesis anymore. However, there is a clear need to let the teaching of formalized knowledge be supplemented by training young people’s skill sets – one of the many reasons why we founded be.boosted.

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.

It’s no secret that leaders need power. Just like a driver without a steering wheel cannot direct his vehicle in the desired direction, a leader without power cannot influence his followers to work towards a certain goal. But where do leaders get their power from?

There are as many reasons for people to begin MUNing as there are stars in the sky. Read how be.boosted founder Rima-Maria Rahal stumbled into her first MUN experience, and how she thinks about MUNing now.

After a great premiere of eMUN-fellows, starting in September 2013 and working our way up to today, with pit-stops in Munich, Heidelberg, Bonn, our very own conference, heaps of webinars and offline seminars, and - of course! - Harvard WorldMUN in Brussels, eMUN-fellows has tested the waters enough. It's time for us to grow into something bigger! eMUN-fellows.net is growing into be.boosted.

When founding eMUN-fellows.net in the late summer days of 2013 in beatufiul Heidelberg, Germany, we did not only face the challenge of securing funding as well as recruiting the first class of eMUN-fellows in a very short time frame. Additionally, as it was part of the founding vows of the initiative, both fellows as well as team- and board members would be distributed over the whole country at best. Therefore, we also had to make sure both communication and team-work would run smoothly and effectively as well in a manner that allowed for a team-spirit to form.

We conducted approximately 40 online interviews within only 2 days with high profile young leaders in order to recruit the first generation of young leaders to be shaped and refined during their time as eMUN-fellows via Skype. The multifaceted challenges and difficulties made it more than apparent that a more professional solution was dearly needed to communicate with and train the delegation 2014.

So what was it that we were looking for at the time? The online collaboration tool needed to be easy to use, so we could prioritize bringing the project forward, and the newly recruited eMUN-fellows could focus on developing and refining their skills. Furthermore, we needed something both professional to function simply, as well as interactive enough to allow for people to get to know each other way before ever meeting in person and develop trust in their fellows. Giving an identity to the online conferences and calls would help us giving an identity to the group. Additionally, since everyone was going to travel a lot, we needed a cross-platform solution with flexible tools, apps, and ideally, phone dial in. Lastly, cost-efficiency was of course an issue as well, as we essentially started off with no funding whatsoever.

At ModelUN, we simulate the United Nations. A ModelUN conference is a hands-on way to learn how international relations work, how to behave as a diplomat, and - wherever you see your career path take you - a golden opportunity to learn how to be a global leader. After all, slipping into the role of a diplomat to a UN body not only requires you to put your knowledge of current affairs, international relations and the mechanics of being a diplomat into action while aiming to represent your nation's views to your best ability. Being a MUNer also means trying to cut deals that are not only good for you, but good for the simulated international community as a whole, crafting your own network of cooperators and pulling through intrigue and competition. 

But then, is ModelUN really a simulation of the UN? It depends on how you look at it. 

"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?

Every negotiation requires persuasion. Clearly, in a negotiation, your initial position differs from the position of your negotiating partner. Because of this difference in your positions, you convene to negotiate the best possible way to satisfy the interests of both sides involved. In theory, that sounds very clear-cut. However, in reality, you might need to do a lot of persuading to convince your partner that a cooperative approach to negotiating is beneficial, or that a certain alternative that you suggest is indeed as attractive to your partner as you make it sound. Now, how do you do that?