Mastering the Point of Information

If you don’t care about the information, don’t ask the question. Unless the goal is to waste the respondents time make sure that your questions are in an order of importance to what you want to hear. IF you have a few put them in order and choose them as if you only got to ask one.

Use something in the answer to frame your next question. Even if this takes you off your planned path for a while, it shows that you’re listening, not just hammering through your agenda, and it ensures that the conversation flows naturally.

Intonation

Emphasize the important part. Raise volume, slow down, pause, breath, look at the other delegates, let your words sink in. When answering a question, how you did it can be almost as important as what you say. Those who practice public speaking should not forget the rules of public speaking when answering a Point of Information. While it is shorter and faster than a speech, POI’s often have more listeners and, at crunch time, a good answer can sometimes go further than a good speech.

How answer questions

Now that we understand the different types of POI’s, let us learn about how to answer them. The first step to answering questions is to accept that not every answer will be perfect. As we have seen, a good question will often have a goal, and we need to do our best to answer it. As Model UNers, we learn to think on our feet and not accepting POI’s can be both cowardly and costly. As such, when answering a question we should:

•  Answer the actual question – Failing to answer will be noticed and remembered. Unless there is a better reason to completely avid answer, at least a partial answer should be enough to not be seen as someone who does not know the answer of cannot defend their policy.
•  Answer as quickly and completely as needed – While you are answering the question it is about “them” and not about “you”. To move on the taking advantage of the new speakers time you have, try to get the them part finished as quickly as you can. That goes without say that you should only do this if you completely finished answering the question. Hard questions should get more time, as answering them will will serve you better than a partial answer.
• Bring the focus back to you – Once answered, spend the rest of the time developing your case, repeating your important points. If this is answering a Question to Support, your answer should already be about your block from the moment the question is asked. If it is a Question to Challenge, it is likely that your case will need strengthening. If it is a Question to Waste Time, saying the question is irrelevant, or giving a token answer is enough before going back to what is important. In all cases, the important part of making sure that your ideas are the ones fresh on everyone’s mind when your answer is done.
•  Minimally engage with parts that don’t strengthen your case or refute the other side – Be strategic. Sometimes a delegate can ask you multiple questions in one POI (though if they did they did not read this article). In those cases you can choose where to focus and where to engage. Remember that the answer time is yours and use it as you feel best.

6 Types of Answers

While not always applicable, the following list can be mixed and matched to provide the best possible answer to a good POI. Also, while a direct and honest answer is usually best, there are some cases where other types of answer would be more effective.

A Direct Answer – Generally the best type of answer is to actually answer the question. There will usually be nothing to hide and giving a straightforward answer will leave the least room for critique and misinterpretation. A direct and factual answer is especially good for Questions to Clarify and Questions to Support but can be used for all types of questions when relevant. This does not mean your answer cannot be strategic or that you must confess your motives. It simply means that actually answering the question will usually serve you better than an attempt at diversion.

Calling Out of Context – Especially for Questions to Waste Time, calling out the question on irrelevance can be a legitimate tactic. However, sometimes it is just as effective to pretend the question was better than it was. In such cases, it is suggested to reword it, answer it quickly and bring the focus back to you.

Partial Answer – Especially when asked two or more questions, sometimes choosing the most convenient one and answering that can be most effective.

Stalling – Sometimes the question you are asked required research, or more time to put together a position. In these cases, giving an unclear answer, or answer with a question, might be the best option to collect one’s thoughts and give a better answer later.

Avoiding the Answer – Politicians are especially associated with this trait. When asked a ‘difficult question’ which has an answer that would be negative, avoidance can be a useful tact. This can be done by asking a different question within the speech and answering it. Another option is to draw attention to a positive aspect of the topic. Convincing Model UNers using this method rarely works but if the real answer is incriminating this may be the better option.

Refusing to Answer – When all else fails, sometimes you may have to simply refuse to answer. This is extremely rare at a MUN conference but sometimes the best option may by simply saying, ‘I am not answering’.

Conclusion

As we can see, the art of questions and answers at a Model United Nations conference is not simple. However, it is critical and can take up a significant amount of speaking time. Practice makes perfect and knowing what you are doing makes practice easier and more effective. POI’s are not different from speeches, in that they are an important part of the formal public debate. They are also a tool to get in extra time when your speech is further down the speakers list, as well as a way to throw a bone to your block. American Novelist Thomas Berger said “The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge”. Play with asking and answering POI’s. Try out the different types with friends, and society members, to get the hang of it. Even a slight improvement will bring further effectiveness not only in Model UN but also in school university and everywhere else someone might ask questions.

Glossary Of Terms

Open Questions: Allow for a longer response than yes/no or fact requesting questions and therefore, potentially, more creativity and information.
Closed Questions: Invite a short focused answer, often easy to answer as the choice of answers is limited. They can be very useful when getting the other side to establish a position or fact-finding.
Factual Questions: Questions which require specific information. Usually who, what, when, where. Often Yes / No.
Choice Question: Do you want this or that?Inductive: Discovery of a general principle from a collection of specific facts.
Deductive: Logical operation in which the worth of a generalization is tested with specific issues.
Funnelling: Asking a series of questions that become more / less restrictive at each step, starting with an open question and concluding with closed questions or vice-versa.
Divergent Questions: What might happen if.
Higher Order Questions: Need to choose the order of importance
Mood Questions: Questions which elicit expressions of values, attitudes or feelings. Such questions are “How do you feel about that?” and “Why is that important to you?”
Situational questions: what would you do when?
Embedded questions: questions not asked outright but nested within another sentence / question.
Recall and Process Questions: Questions can be categorised by whether they require one to ‘recall’, asking that something be remembered, or ‘process’,requiring some deeper thought analysis.Leading / ‘Loaded’ Questions: A Loaded question points the respondent’s answer, usually subtly, in a certain direction.
Rhetorical Questions: Questions used to get the audience to think and do not require an answer.