Delivery Technique
At the core of spoken word poetry is the ability to communicate an idea, emotion or story to an audience. Whether performed at an open mic night or a coffeehouse, the delivery of a poem and your presence on stage influences how your performance is received and understood. To captivate and move your listeners, work on improving your delivery technique by practicing and adding small elements that to bring out the emotion in your work.
Stage Presence
Stage presence encompasses your body language and facial expressions. Your body language should be confident and composed. Instead of fidgeting, practice conjuring enthusiasm by exuding energy that speaks to the emotion in the poem. Your facial expressions should mirror the content of the words. When your poem exhibits sadness, enact a despondent face, or if it’s a lighthearted piece, evoke a placid, content smile. Enhancing your stage presence will draw attention to what you’re conveying, showing listeners that you have confidence in your art.
Timing
The comedian Chris Rock has compared a great standup experience to a roller coaster; it should move fast, slow down, then pick up speed again. The same principle applies to spoken word poetry – an effective performance includes a dynamic variation in speed and tone. To create a captivating delivery, vary the pacing of your words. Let your words linger as you express emotion or emphasize important ideas. Exploiting the power of pauses in your performance allows listeners to soak in and comprehend what you’re conveying.
Breathing And Projection
Breathing is the foundation of delivering spoken word poetry. Before you even get in front of your audience, practice reciting your piece while focusing on your breathing. Confidence in your spoken words comes from the ability to continuously expel words and ideas, and as with any instrument, breathing correctly and adequately fuels that goal. Once you have mastered breathing, you can project your words to your listeners and hit them with proper emphasis. Swinging the microphone outwards and towards the audience can help with this, allowing less air pressure and providing a full sound.
Slang and Word Choice
Slang and word choice is the most significant factor in spoken word poetry. When you tell a story, the words you use paint a vivid image for the audience, so be aware of the words you choose and do not replace proper speech with basic language. Play with words to keep your words fresh and engaging. If you’re delivering a story of heartbreak, for example, you could select words that counsel or heal instead of words that dismiss and belittle. In this way, your choice of words can become an effective storytelling tool.
Emphasis and Phrasing
It’s not just what you say, but also how you say it. Proper emphasis on words and phrases can move the audience to internalize the poem. Verbal emphasis such as raising the pitch and adding stress to certain sounds helps capture the emotion in thework. Shifting around the rhythm of phrases and syllables in a poem keeps listeners engaged and is an often overlooked skill. Increase the power of a phrase or background sound with repetition, while throwing in subtle changes to keep your listeners alert and aware.
Using Volume To Your Advantage
Volume is a crucial tool in delivering spoken word poetry. The audience often monitors when you put emphasis or perform a crescendo with your voice since these abrupt changes in pitch can create a change in the room’s energy. With that being said, it’s also good to note that loud is not always better; being mindful of the emotion you want your audience to interpret and providing a subtle shift in volume gives your performance clarity.
Vocal Quality
Vocal quality is also critical in spoken word poetry. Multiple resources are available to help poets improve their vocal quality; most are free. Vocal warm-up recordings range from 30 minutes to an hour and help you maintain a comfortable yet controlled voice. There are also resources such as diction-focused vocal exercises and audios designed to overcome shyness. Applying certain techniques and completing the exercises regularly helps poets control the tone and pitch of their vocalizations, allowing them to better control their dynamics and deliver sharp, dynamic performances.
Exploring Different Venues
Poets can explore different venues to deliver their piece, including spoken word events and festivals, which can provide the opportunity to become exposed to different kinds of audiences and art forms. Receiving criticism from others can perpetuate the growth of a poet’s skills and provide a platform for poets to receive the practice, support and recognition they need to progress.
Exploring Writing And Presentation Techniques
Exploring other writing and presentation techniques, such as trying out different ways to present ideas, can be beneficial in developing an overall technique, as well as in understanding the art of communication. Poets can benefit from online classes, workshops or mentorship to enhance their spoken word skills and to gain an overall understanding of the craft.
Developing A Style
Developing a personal style takes time and dedication. Making it a habit to jot down interesting elements gleaned from other spoken word performers, watching their delivery and lateral movements and investing in practice makes up the process of developing one’s own personal style. Reviewing and identifying ways to further improve every spoken word poem is key in creating a distinct style.
Native Language
Experimenting with a native language can bring a refreshingly new perspective to spoken word poetry and help poets reach new heights. While foreign language limits the amount of people who can engage with the poem, language can be used as another form of expression and adds a unique and personal touch. Being exposed to other languages or dialects can also give poets insight and inspiration from the various cultures.
Exploring Other Media To Perform
Poets can explore performing through additional media such as video, where the combination of video and the sound of the poet can be used to express the message across. This technique can help in establishing a wider reach and increase the audience size.
Exploring Thematic Elements
Exploring themes and topics that differ from the norm and exploring ways to capture these in spoken word poetry can produce new and captivating works. Taking a step towards a new form of expression or drawing from different narrative structures will enable poets to create unique pieces and explore the different facets of using the art form to communicate an experience or story.
Engagement With The Audience
Whether it’s an online or in-person performance, engage with your audience. Ask for feedback and ask for their opinion. Make eye contact with people, create a dialogue and listen. Not getting too caught up in your own words and actively engaging your audience with questions and stories can help you receive further insight into your work, while giving your audience the chance to truly engage with your piece.
Film Interpretations
Writing poetry provides a way to capture the world of feelings, emotions and memories. Poets should consider filming interpretations of their works. This technique allows poets to present their works with sound, music, visuals and graphics. Understanding the nuances and nuances of sound and image can help streamline the production process and provide poets a source of insight into new kinds of expression.
Collaboration
Collaboration is one of the most powerful tools for poets and can open up new paths for poets to explore. It’s beneficial for poets to get to exchange ideas and embark into a completely new world guided by the work of another artist. This allows poets to discover new horizons and explore their craft through a different lens.
Practice
Above all, developing the skill and technique to delivering spoken word poems comes from practice and feedback. The only way to build confidence, become comfortable in your technique and gain the ability to critically assess your own work is through providing a consistent effort. Any performance is vulnerable to creative blocks and technical difficulties, however, seeing them as opportunities to evolve is the key to finding success in spoken word.
