Five Rules for Performing Poetry
How to Become a Master of the Spoken Word
To read poetry in public effectively, you need to practice the basics of speech and drama.
You’ve made a big decision—to read your poetry, or the work of a favorite poet, before an audience. You’ve sorted out the best venue for your material and done all that you can to reduce performance anxiety.
The next steps relate to the technical aspects of the performance itself. Here are the things you need to think about to make your performance memorable.
1. It’s Not All About You
You are entering into the vital world of interpretation. In his 1964 book Speaking Poetry (London: Dennis Dobson), Geoffrey Crump observes that “the arts can flourish only when there is a healthy tradition of interpretive as well as creative activity.” Remember, however, when you are reading someone else’s work, that the focus should be on the poem, not on your performance.
2. Understand What You Are Reading
This operates on several levels. Although it is seldom possible to completely understand the “meaning” of a poem, you must have made your best effort. You will have analysed it from both a textual perspective—the circumstances in which the poet was writing—and from a formal perspective—the use of language and techniques such as metaphor. Ideally, as you have chosen to read it, you will have developed an emotional connection to the poem.
3. Communicate
The key to this is relaxation and breath control. You want to project your voice. You do not want the last few words of a line to be inaudible or to speak in a combination of breath and voice. Crump advocates “as much informality as circumstances permit”. Focus on engaging your audience and be prepared to change your performance game plan (whether you are sitting or standing, even your choice of material) if necessary.
4. Be Natural
There may be points in your reading when communication requires that you speak in a kind of rhythmic monotone. However, even writing in 1964, Crump observes: “the chanting and mouthing and drawling and vibrato that used to be associated with poetry-speaking belong to the formal ‘recitations’ of past generations”. For all but the most dramatic poetry, you will come across as more sincere if you speak in a comfortable, normal voice.
5. Achieve Variety in Your Voice and Manner of Speaking
This is where a lot of the practice comes in. Whether you are reading your own work or that of another poet, the poem will tell you when you should speed up or pause, speak a bit more loudly or more quietly, change your inflection (the pitch or tone of your voice) or enunciation (how you articulate). Most poems build to one or more high points. Practice how best to convey the intent of the poet with all the resources of voice and techniques of speech that you have available.
There are, of course, special considerations if you perform rap or slam poetry, which combines spoken word with music or other artistic forms. These will feature in a related article on Suite 101. However, according to the Poetry Magic website, the fundamentals are the same, whether you are interpreting Shakespeare or your own boundary-challenging creation. “The elements of performance govern both”.
