Debate is where a resolution is argued over and decided. You speak for or against the text on the floor, you question other speakers, and you answer questions about your own position.
Everything you say is your country's position. It is not your own opinion.
In MEDIMUN, you need your own device to take part in debate properly. MEDIMUN does not provide one. See What you need to take part.
The chair sets a reading time before debate on a resolution or a clause begins. It exists so that the house arrives at the debate having read the text. See Reading time.
Use it for four things.
Read the whole text once, from the first preambulatory clause to the last operative clause.
Mark the clauses your country supports and the clauses it cannot accept.
Write down one or two points of information, in full, as questions.
Draft any amendment you want to move. See
Writing and moving an amendment.
Each resolution is debated in a vacuum. If a resolution on the same topic has already passed, that does not discredit the one in front of you. Argue this text on its own merits.
Open debate is the normal mode for a resolution. The chair recognises speakers for and against in whatever order they choose. See Debate modes.
Closed debate is used for amendments. It is split into time in favour and time against. If you want to speak against an amendment, wait for time against. Raising your placard during time in favour will not get you the floor. See Time for and time against.
Keep your placard down until the chair asks for speakers. Do not raise it straight after a speech ends. The chair will ask.
In MEDIMUN, the chair may accept speech requests through MediBook. That is one of the few things a chair chooses. Ask at the start of the session how your chairs want speakers to indicate. See Debate for delegates.
The main submitter speaks first on their own resolution. See Speeches.
Address the chair and the house before you start. Then make your argument.
A speech that works usually does these things.
Carries one idea. A speech that lists six objections lands none of them.
Says what your country wants, and why it wants it.
Refers to clauses by number, so the house knows what you are talking about.
Gives evidence for a claim rather than repeating the claim louder.
Ends before the time runs out, so the ending is yours and not the chair's.
Speak in the third person. Say "the honourable delegate" or "fellow delegates". Never say "you" or "I". See Parliamentary language and decorum.
In MEDIMUN, speeches are timed, declared and yielded in MediBook. The record of who spoke, for how long and to whom they yielded comes from there. See Speeches and yields in MediBook.
SCREENSHOT: /medibook/sessions/22/committees/ga1/debate - the delegate debate view during a speech, showing the speaker, the timer and the request controls
After your speech the chair asks whether you are open to points of information. If you say yes, the chair states how many will be taken and asks the house for points. If you say no, the chair asks you to yield.
When you ask a point, it must be a question. A short statement may come before the question. There is no dialogue between the two delegates once your question has been answered. See Point of information to the speaker.
When you answer a point, answer as your country. Keep it short. If your country's position does not cover the question, say what your country's position is and stop there.
A point of information has to be a question. Using one to make a speech against the resolution is out of order, and the chair should stop it.
One follow up point of information may be allowed, at the chair's discretion. The chair checks first that the delegate on the floor is willing to take it. See Follow up points.
When you have finished, you yield the floor to the chair or to another delegation.
The floor may be passed from one delegation to another only once in a row. You cannot yield a floor that was already yielded to you. Points of information are still in order after a yield, and both delegates may take them. See Yielding the floor.
Most of committee is spent listening. Write down which clause is being debated and what has already been decided about it. Debate moves quickly and a delegate who has lost the thread cannot ask a useful question.
If you are unsure where the debate has got to. Raise a point of information to the chair and ask which clause or which amendment is on the floor. That is what the point is for, and the chair answers with facts. See Point of information to the chair.
There is more on this in What to do when you are lost.
There is no dialogue between two delegates. Everything goes through the chair.
You argue against a policy, never against a person. See
Eating and drinking during debate is not in order. Water is the exception.
Clapping is only in order when a resolution as a whole passes. Not after an amendment, and not
when a resolution fails.