40. Classify the basic principles of public speaking

• Clarity of thought and purpose is the first requisite. Before one communicates, either in writing or verbally, one must have a clear idea of the message to be conveyed and how one wants to structure the message.

• Mastering the facts is a prerequisite, and this may call for study, research, and careful analysis. All this comes under the head of advance preparation, and in the case of verbal communication, it is useful to write out and rehearse the basic points in one’s message

• English is today an international communications language and is hardly the property of any one county or people. The BBC implicitly accepted this some years back when it abandoned “Queen’s English” as its universal norm. Whatever our accent, it is essential to speak with clarity and to be understood. Without comprehension, verbal communication is wasted; if the listener misunderstands, it can be a potential disaster in diplomacy

One essential facet of communication is the ability to listen, with patience and understanding, in a way that flatters the other person

41. Tell about the objectives of good speech drafting.

To use a prepared text but to break away from it from time to time, engaging the audience in eye contact and through it getting their feedback as well.

• Memorizing a speech text and delivering it without notes is feasible for one who has such ability as well as extensive practice.

• • It is essential to ascertain in advance the time allotted for the speech, and to stick to this, through rehearsal and self-control.

• It pays to anticipate the interests of the audience and to cater to this as feasible in the speech, or at least to respond to their interests. Humor is a wonderful ally, used well, ideally with a light touch.

• • A question-and-answer session at the end of the speech is the norm at all but the most formal functions. Treating the questioner with respect, avoiding a patronizing tone, and speaking with brevity are among the standard guidelines for such interaction

42. Describe the structure of the resolution

• A resolution containing the decision by a conference; this usually follows a customary format, with a preamble section followed by an operational section

• The entire resolution is one single (very) long sentence. That means that there is only one full stop in the resolution, at the very end of the final paragraph. All other paragraphs end with a semicolon.

• It usually has two parts, the preambular and the operational.

• Each paragraph of the preamble part begins with a participle, such as: “Recalling . . . ”; “Taking into account . . . ”; “Noting. . . . ”

• Each paragraph of the operational section begins with a verb in present active tense: “Requests . . . ”; “Decides . . . ”; “ Recommends . . . ”; “Urges . . . ”; “Further decides . . . ”; “Requires . . . ”; etc

43. Define the 'record of discussion' and explain its necessity.

A basic skill of professional diplomats is an ability to write accurate, well-focused records of discussion or minutes. They may cover any meeting or conversation, usually a dialogue between “principals,” when one high dignitary or senior official meets another. By tradition such dialogue is not recorded electronically—though this is very easy today. Perhaps this old practice has persisted, to preserve flexibility or even “deniability”; the alternative would be to place each bilateral discussion “on record,” making it impossible to explore new ideas or options that are the very stuff of diplomacy. When leaders meet, high officials take on the role of record keepers. For instance, when Henry Kissinger met Premier Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in Beijing during his path-breaking visit of 1971, every member of his delegation took notes, and they worked immediately after the meetings, late into the night, to reconstruct a comprehensive record of these historic discussions.

45. Give a definition of 'demarche'. Give examples.

A “demarche” is a generic term, referring to the act of taking up an issue with another government; it mainly refers to political diplomacy, though the subject taken up may belong to some other field as well. It may relate to bilateral affairs, or to an issue that concerns the home government, or some other international or third country subject. Usually the demarche is made to the MFA of the receiving country, but it may also be made to another ministry or to the office of the head of government. One would not include here issues taken up with parliamentarians or with nonofficial entities. A demarche may be made on instructions from the home government; if the issue is important, the ambassador or other official may leave behind with the official of the receiving country an “aide-memoire” which summarizes the demarche that is usually made verbally. Such a document is not signed (official letterhead paper is also not used); it is simply handed over to ensure that an exact summary of the verbal demarche is available to the recipient. Where issues relating to the foreign policy of the home government are involved, the demarche is almost always made on specific instructions from home.

46. Identify the basics of resolution drafting.

Resolutions are “sponsored” by country delegations that are interested in the subject, and usually have one or more lead sponsor and cosponsors. Sometimes the drafts are prepared by the secretariat, which offers these informally to interested delegations. Several mutually competing drafts may be tabled by different delegations, and these are taken up on the basis of the rules of procedure. Mastery of such rules is one of the core skills of multilateral diplomacy. If acceptable to the sponsors, other delegations may join in as resolution cosponsors; in rare cases, if a draft runs into heavy opposition, cosponsors may also withdraw their support.

Any member of the conference or committee may propose one or more amendments to a resolution. If the resolution sponsors accept these, the resolution stands amended, but if they are not acceptable to some or all the sponsors, a discussion and a vote usually follow. Amendments are unacceptable when they change the intent of the resolution, but there is no hard and fast rule on this. Amendments may include adding a word or a phrase, or deleting a word or phrase, or adding or deleting whole sections. The order in which proposed amendments are taken up depends on the rules, as interpreted by the chair; this also involves the application of conference tactics.