© by Mike Keenan

Assume you are a prosecuting attorney. You try to convict someone for a crime. To convince the jury, you must present proof. Your proof must be factual, supported by credible documents, expert witnesses and other established forms of evidence. When you make your summary statement to the jury, your position will have been carefully built up piece by piece with specific examples, clearly presented and covering all of the issues.

Now, assume that you are the attorney for the defense. Your task is to discredit all of the evidence above and to poke holes into every argument.

These dynamics are part of model U.N. debate. One delegate wants to proceed in one direction and sway others; another delegate is determined to proceed in an opposite direction. Often, because of the country that you represent, you may have to argue for things that you, as a Canadian, do not really believe in. Model U.N. skills allow you to see all sides of an issue and determine the strength and weakness of any stance.

1. Did you use a variety of sources?
2. Do you have documentation ready to prove the validity of your sources?
3. Did you use the original language versus changing it to your own words?
4. Did you use evidence to support an argument? Evidence by itself is not an argument.
5. Does your evidence prove what is claimed?
6. Did you listen carefully to your opponent’s evidence?
7. Did you keep your argument brief?
8. Did you emphasize key words and phrases?
9. Is your evidence accurate?
10. Are your facts and statistics recent?

Some explanations:

1. A variety of sources demonstrate that you are resourceful and have done your homework. This impresses the judges.

2. Do not say that you used CNN or Time magazine. Western popular media is not good proof.

Try to quote from U.N. sources, resolutions, treaties, conventions, and speeches, recognized

documents such as the Declaration of Human Rights, etc.

3. If you do quote from a source such as the U.N. Charter, quote the exact paragraph. 8. A good practice is to use a variation of your topic sentence for your concluding sentence.

10. This can be embarrassing, particularly if things have dramatically changed in your country.