I don’t believe performance to be my strong suit, but below are things I’ve learned from my time in the spoken word scene and I will be forever grateful for the vast improvements I achieved in my poetry and (dare I say) in my confidence from working with members of the spoken word community, even if I’ve been too burnt-out to return. Thinking about how you can work performance into a poem as you are writing it can only enrich your art just as experimenting in different mediums and genres can.
Practice, Practice, Practice
More than ever, I urge you to read your words aloud. See how they feel moving and changing across your tongue to ensure not only that you have a consistent movement and rhythm (unless a lack of rhythm is part of the point), but also to ensure you aren’t surprised by anything when you’re up on stage.
Know your Equipment
I’ve been at too many poetry events when someone stands so close to the microphone that they nearly lick it, too far away so the audience can’t hear them, or watch someone struggle for far too long adjusting that stand to their height. Don’t panic when you get up on stage and think you’re taking up the audience’s time if it takes you a second to take a deep breath and fix the mic to what feels comfortable. If you are able, it really is ideal to have a chance to test out the microphone or play with the stand before performing.
Attempt to Memorize
While practicing, practicing, practicing, you may find you’re starting to know your work off by heart. That’s awesome! If you’re able to memorize your poems before performing, you’ll look that much more put together and professional up on stage.
Look at the Audience
You’re here to share your art with them, so acknowledge your audience. Looking at your feet denotes a lack of confidence. Ideally, you should try to engage with as many members of the audience as possible by looking around the room as you perform. If your stage jitters permit you that, try to focus on a friend or family member in the audience, look at them, and pretend you’re only performing to them. That way, the audience will still feel as if you’re engaging them.
Incorporate Movement and Gestures
I’m not saying you need to vogue every single line of your poem, but perhaps an air-punch if your poem mentions punching, a little wiggle in your hips if you mention dancing, or generally moving your body as if you were telling a dramatic event to a friend is another way to engage the audience and make your performance more dynamic.
Vary the Tone, Volume, and Speed of your Speech
Just like with rhyme, rhythm, punctuation, imagery, and everything else I’ve mentioned to help create emphasis within poetry, don’t be afraid to use every trick in your toolbox to make a more fully dimensional performance. Sound happy, sound sad, sound angry, and turn up your volume and tempo accordingly. Like with other poetic devices, be sure to space out and use these different tools with variety while still being understood by your audience. Fill your speech with the emotion you originally wrote the words to bring the audience temporarily into your world. Performing your art can make you feel raw and vulnerable, but it can be immensely exhilarating at the same time.
Don’t be Afraid to Bring the Drama
You’re performing after all, and for the next few minutes, the audience’s world is your stage! I often have trouble with this, feeling that if I get too exuberant so it’d feel like a pantomime, but work with engaging the audience in whatever way makes you feel comfortable, and their impression of you on that stage will last that much longer.