Resources · Templates
Model UN Opening Speech Planner
Every effective opening speech in Model UN does three jobs in order: it earns attention, it states a position with evidence, and it tells the room what to do next. This planner holds that hook, policy, call-to-action frame, with word budgets so the speech you write is the speech the timer allows.
Seven finished examples built on this frame, from 30-second to full GSL length, are in Model UN Opening Speeches: Seven Examples You Can Adapt.
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Opening speech planner
One speech per sheet. Draft in fragments here, then write it out and time it.
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Setup
Committee and topic
Country / target length (30, 60, 90s)
What should the room do after this speech? (one sentence)
HookOne sentence. A number, an image, or a question.
Opening line (after 'Honorable Chair, fellow delegates')
PolicyThe middle 60-70% of the speech.
Your country's position, in one sentence
Evidence 1: a fact, vote, or program with a number or date
Evidence 2 (60s+) or the counterargument you disarm
Call to actionName what you propose and who you want with you.
The proposal or bloc invitation, concretely
Closing line + yield (to the chair / to questions)
Word budgets and rehearsal checks
Budgets assume a deliberate committee pace of roughly 140 words per minute.
| Slot | Budget | Where you will use it |
|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | ~70 words | Short speakers lists and moderated caucuses. One point, made once, made well. |
| 60 seconds | ~140 words | The standard opening General Speakers List slot at most conferences. |
| 90 seconds | ~210 words | Longer GSL settings. Room for one piece of evidence per point, never for a second topic. |
Rehearsal checklist
- Spoken out loud, standing, three times; at least once to a listener or a camera.
- Comes in under time with one deliberate pause included.
- Eyes up for the hook and the call to action; notes are for the middle.
- Every sentence survives the question "would this be true from any other country?" If yes, sharpen it.
- You can deliver the first and last sentence from memory.
How to use this sheet
- 1
Write the call to action first
Decide what you want the room to do (support your framework, join your bloc, fund the mechanism), then build the hook and policy lines to point at it. Speeches written front-to-back tend to trail off.
- 2
Keep the hook to one sentence
A number, a short image, or a sharp question. If the hook needs two sentences, it is a paragraph, and it is eating your policy time.
- 3
Time it out loud, standing
Reading speed on paper means nothing. Speak it at committee pace with one deliberate pause; if you run past the budget, cut a clause, not your pace.
- 4
Plan the yield before you speak
Know the closing line and what you will yield (to the chair, to questions, or to another delegate, where the rules allow it). Speeches that end on purpose get remembered; speeches that end at the gavel do not.
Your policy line and evidence should come straight off the country research worksheet. For what happens after you sit down, see the points and motions cheat sheet.