CHAIRING

What makes a good Chair?

By Divya Sharan

 

"Sometimes I find my Chairs are factually wrong."

"My Chair doesn't know the rules!"

"I raised my placard a million times, but my Chair still won't recognize me!"

These are just some of the sentiments that delegates in various committees expressed when asked to offer constructive criticism about their Chairs. Perhaps not the response that the Chairs would have hoped for from the delegates, but Ms. Dubock was of a different opinion about the Chairs saying, "they get better and better every year" and that she was "pleased with the Chairs this year."
She further added that the workshop run by Mr. Ouriel Reshef from the American School of Paris was "very successful." The workshop, she said, doesn't simply teach the Chairs about general procedure, but also teaches them the importance of bonding as a team and about other qualities that make a good student officer. Delegates in different committees seemed to agree with the THIMUN Board's list of qualities in good student officers.
Ms. Dubock said the first quality of a good Chair is impartiality. A Chair should remain unbiased during debate and give all delegates an equal opportunity to speak. If a team of student officers works together well and keeps a list of who has spoken and who has not, then every delegate can get a chance to speak when he or she raises his or her placard. The delegate of Syria in Human Rights Committee, Sagar Khemani, from the International School Manila, agrees that "there is absolutely no need for a Chair to constantly pick on the same delegate in the interest of debate, because even delegates who are not fully pertinent to the topic can often contribute to discussion."
The second quality of a good Chair is knowing the procedures well. A Chair who is well informed about debating procedures can quell the qualms that the delegates in the committee may have. Such a chair gives delegates confidence and helps make debate flow. Ms. Dubock added that "a Chair should show no arrogance and instead should encourage delegates in their committees." Speaking about making delegates comfortable, Ms. Dubock said that "the Chair should put non-native English speakers at ease during debate when they are nervous."
The final quality of a good Chair is being flexible to the delegates' needs depending on the situation, which the Secretary General, Alessandro Guglielmi, feels is the most important quality. Ms. Dubock termed this as being "quietly authoritative." A good chair needs to be firm and also have a sense of humour to appease the committee. Ian Nightingale, delegate of UNCHR in Special Conference 2 from John Burroughs School, agreed saying "laughing is an important part of debating."
With these three qualities, an average Chair can become a good Chair, perhaps even an excellent Chair. These characteristics are what the delegates look for in their Chairs. Perhaps, if Chairs are able to incorporate these three qualities into the manner in which they conduct debate, the delegates too will respond by displaying only those qualities that Chairs look for in delegates. We will leave the final judgment on how the Chairs performed up to you.