Points are how a delegate speaks to the chair or to a speaker without holding the floor. Handling them calmly and consistently is most of what the house judges a chair on.
The full definition of each point is in Points overview. This document is about what the chair does with them.
No point may interrupt a speaker. The one exception is a point of personal privilege about audibility, because a house that cannot hear the speech has no reason to continue.
Points are taken when there is a pause. That means when the speaker yields, to points of information, to another delegation, or to the chair.
If a delegate stands up mid-speech. They are not raising a point of order. They are interrupting. Ask them to wait, and do not hear the point until the speech ends.
A delegate must wait to be recognised before stating a point. Recognise them by delegation, not by pointing.
Do not let the house call points out from their seats. Once one delegate does it and is answered, everyone does it.
Repeat every point back to the house before you answer it. Not everyone will have heard it.
This also buys you five seconds to think, and it makes clear to the delegate that you understood the question they actually asked.
Point of information to the speaker. Only when that delegate has agreed to take points. It must be a question. A short statement may come before the question. There is no dialogue between the two delegates. Once the speaker has answered, the exchange is over.
Point of information to the chair. Answer with facts. Never with an opinion. If you do not know the fact, say you will find out.
Point of parliamentary inquiry. A question about the Rules of Procedure. Answer it for the whole house, since anyone who asked it privately would have got a shorter answer.
Point of order. Used when the chair has made a procedural mistake. It is not debatable. It must refer to something that just happened. Explain your ruling clearly enough that the whole house understands, whether you accept the point or not.
Point of personal privilege. About the comfort or wellbeing of the delegate. It is not debatable and needs no second.
One follow-up point of information may be allowed, at the chair's discretion, if it will make the debate better. Check that the delegate on the floor is willing to take it before you allow it.
See Follow-up points.
This changed. The older MEDIMUN rule was that there were no follow-up points at all. Returning chairs will remember the old rule.
If a point of information attacks the resolution. That is out of order. Stop them, say a point of information must be a question, and ask them to put it as one. If they cannot, move to the next point.
Delegates sometimes invent points, and sometimes use the wrong words for a real one. These are not the same thing.
Inventing a point is not allowed. Getting the words wrong is a mistake.
If you are unsure which one you are hearing. Work out what they meant. Do not overrule a delegate because the wording was unfamiliar to you. Ask them what they are asking, take the point if it is a real one, and tell the house the correct name for it afterwards.
During voting, all points are out of order. The only exception is a point of order about the conduct of the vote itself.
Say this out loud before you open the vote, so that ruling a point out of order mid-vote is not a surprise. See Running voting.
Delegates keep their placards down until the chair asks for them. Placards going up straight after a speech, before you have asked for points, is one of the fastest ways to lose control of the order of debate. Remind them to wait.
In MEDIMUN, speeches are timed, declared and yielded in MediBook. Who spoke, who yielded to whom and who took points is visible to the whole chairing team. The chair on logistics keeps this current while the chair on the floor is answering points. See Chair speakers and timing.