Imagine you are sitting in an MUN committee, palms sweaty, clutching your placard and your name is called on the General Speakers’ List, and suddenly your brain goes blank and your heart starts drumming like a gavel. 

Does this sound familiar? That is stage fright, the most underrated crisis in an MUN. But here’s the plot twist: the same adrenaline that makes your knees shake can also make your speeches unforgettable in the committee. 

With the right mindset, you can transform shaky starts into standing ovations. The path from mumbling like a first-time delegate to thundering like a seasoned speaker is absolutely real, and you can do it. 

Here’s how to flip the script and turn panic into power.

1. Have an attention grabbing first line:The stronger your opening, the easier the rest of your speech flows. Don’t open your speeches with common lines like “Good morning, honorable chair, distinguished delegates…” Everyone says that, and it does not make you stand out. Instead, open with:

• A shocking statistical fact: “Every two minutes, a girl is forced into child marriage. Are we still going to debate semantics?”
• A bold question: “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
• A direct challenge: “To the delegate of China: your solution ignores half the room.”

1. Eye Contact is Everything: To have an instant confidence upgrade, pick three spots in the room: your bloc, your rivals, and the EBs. Cycle your eyes through them while speaking. Connect with the room and look at your allies, challenge your rivals with a strong glance. This helps to make your speech feel more like a conversation, and not a recital. It helps you to put forward your views more confidently. 

1. Make Your “Signature Move”: The best delegates are remembered for something unique and eye-catching like a killer statistic, a fiery rebuttal statement, or even a calm, surgical takedown. You must find your thing and repeat it till people whisper, “That’s classic of him/her”, and fear you. 

• Start your speech with a number that shocks the room: “Every minute, 20 people are displaced by conflict, and yet this committee hesitates.”
• Sit quietly and be observant until the right moment, then deliver a mic dropping 15-second rebuttal that slices through an opponent’s entire argument. 
• Start and end your speeches with lingering lines: “History won’t remember excuses, only action.”

1. Master the first 30 seconds: In an MUN, the committee decides whether to listen to you within your first 30 seconds of speaking. If you waste it on formal greetings or dragging context, you lose them. Thus, load your opening half-minute with impact, because that’s when delegates are freshest, note-pads open, ears up.

• • Weak Start (what most first-timers do): “Honourable chair, esteemed delegates, today we are here to discuss the humanitarian crisis that has been going on for a very long time. The delegate of Kenya believes this issue is very important and should be addressed immediately…”

• Strong Start: 

• “Every two minutes, a girl is forced into child marriage. Two minutes. By the time this speech ends, another child will lose her future.”
  
• “If this committee cannot protect women under authoritarian regimes, then what legitimacy do we even have as the UN?”
• “To the delegates proposing only short-term aid, tell me, how will food parcels stop another massacre?”

5. Borrow the Room’s Energy: Every MUN room has its own vibe and it can make or break your speech. The trick? read it and ride it.

• Flat Room: If delegates are slouched, yawning, or distracted, it’s your moment to inject urgency. Use sharper diction, louder projection, and a gripping stat or question.
• Example: “While we sit quietly debating semantics, 1.2 million refugees go without clean water. How long will we wait?” Suddenly, eyes lift, pens start scribbling, and your bloc sits up.
• Heated Room: If the committee is loud, argumentative, or tense, you become the calm breaker. Slow your pace, lower your tone, and structure your speech clearly to cut through the noise.
• Example: “I understand the passion in this room, but let’s focus on actionable steps. We have a responsibility to save lives, not just argue points.” This pauses the chaos, lets everyone breathe, and makes your words stand out.

6. Own Your Space: Your body speaks before your words. How you carry yourself in the committee can make the difference between being noticed or ignored in committee. Confidence isn’t just a tone,  its posture, movement, and presence. Thus, before the conference, stand in front of a mirror and rehearse your posture, gestures, and steps along with your speech. When you enter the real committee, your body already knows confidence.

7. Plant Verbal Flags: Verbal flags are attention-grabbing phrases that act like road signs for your listeners and signal, “Pay attention, something important is coming.” Use them efficiently by:

1. Highlighting a key point: “Let me be clear; ignoring climate refugees is not an option.”
2. Emphasise urgency: “Here’s the bottom line, unless this committee acts now, thousands more will be displaced.”
3. Give an outstanding takeaway: “Mark my words, delegates, history will remember inaction, not debate.”

8. Personalize Your Speech: A speech that could be said by any country fades into the background. To stand out, add at least one line that ONLY your country could say. It makes your argument authentic, memorable, and impossible to ignore. Like: 

• Kenya: “As a country that has welcomed over 500,000 refugees, we know that displacement is not just a statistic, it’s a lived reality.”
• France: “With centuries of diplomacy shaping our international relations, we urge mediation over military escalation.”
• Brazil: “Having preserved over 60% of the Amazon rainforest, we understand the cost of ignoring climate policy.”
• Japan: “As a nation rebuilt from disaster, we believe resilient infrastructure saves lives.”
• India: “Drawing on our legacy of non-violence, we advocate solutions rooted in dialogue, not force.”

9. Write the speeches yourself:  here’s a secret no one tells you- don’t just google a speech and copy-paste it. Write it yourself, even if it’s messy. Because when the words are yours, you’ll actually know what you’re talking about, and you won’t need to cling to the paper to survive your speech. The best delegates sound real, not rehearsed. 

Every “mic-drop delegate” you admire was once the nervous first-timer afraid of blanking out while speaking. But the difference? They showed up, spoke up, and didn’t let fear keep them in their seats. So next time you feel stage fright creeping in, just smile because that’s just your inner leader warming up for their spotlight.

After all, MUNs are the only place where you can safely face your fear, practice, and walk out of the room having completely conquered it.

Thank you <3