Tips for Reading Your Work to an Audience

This weekend I'll be reading at a poetry open mic in my town. As I prepare the poems I'm going to read, I though I'd share with you a few snippets of important info to keep in mind when you do a poetry reading aloud to an audience.


1. Slow Down: It's easy to get caught up in the adrenaline of the moment and race through your poem or short story. But remember, the crowd is gathered to hear your work. They want to be able to absorb and contemplate the beginning, middle, end, and every piece of metaphor and imagery you toss their way. If you speed through your poem, they won't be able to appreciate what you've created. So, take a deep breath and read slowly. You will undoubtedly think that you're reading much too slow for anyone to stay interested. Trust me, this is the correct speed.

2. Make Eye Contact: There's nothing that says amateur like reading your poem, line for line, without ever once making eye contact with the assembled crowd. Not only does it seem awkward, but it bars your listeners from making a connection with you, which means they won't feel connected to your poetry either.

3. Find Your Rhythm: Much like musicians, writers spend hours deciphering the mood of a poem. Read your poetry out loud. Find the correct cadence for each piece (which will be dictated by whether the work is serious, humorous, narrative, lyrical, or a combination of two or more styles). You can even write notes in the margins of your poem to remind yourself when to pause, speed up, and change your tone of voice.


Ready for your own poetry reading? Do a little homework by watching famous poets read their work aloud. Many are readily available on YouTube. Here are a few of my favorites:

Check out Billy Collins reading four poems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTxpQCY7df8&nohtml5=False

And if you're into slam poetry, this one by Lily Myers is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQucWXWXp3k&nohtml5=False


Above it all, though, just relax. The people gathered there do indeed want to hear your point of view and your ideas. Stay confident, stick to what you practiced and the performance will be over before you know it!