How to perform poetry

How to ...
Analyze poetry • Critique poetry Explicate a poem Scan a poem Read poetry aloud Perform poetry Become inspired Master the basics Turn prose into poetry Overcome writer's block Be a poet
How to write ...
A poem • A song A metaphor • A couplet Dark poems • Emo poetry Emotional poetry Gothic poetry Love poetry • Nature poetry Metered verse • Rhyming verse A meaningful poem Good poetry
How to write ...
Acrostic poetry • Ballads Cinquains • Concrete poetry Epic poetry  • Free verse Ghazals • Haiku • Limericks Sestinas • Sonnets • Tanka Tetactrys poetry • Tyburn poetry Villanelles
How to write for PPP
Wikia Help:Contributing Adding articles on poets Adding poems Adding external links

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Alternative poetry
Spoken poetry
Oral tradition Oral interpretation Oral literature Oral poetry • Ethnopoetics Poetry reading How to read poetry out loud Performance poetry How to perform poetry Sound poetry • Slam poetry Spoken word • Rap • Dub
Found poetry
Cento  • Erasure poetry Cut-up technique Flarf • Spoetry
Visual poetry
Pattern poetry Carmen figuratum Diamante • Calligram Concrete poetry How to write a concrete poem Haptic poetry Concrete and visual poets
Digital poetry
Hypertext poetry Interactive poetry

Performing poetry is the most exciting thing to do as the words swim naturally out of your heart and at that moment you feel like you are in another world. It's as if you're lost in your own world.

Steps

1. Read the poem 2 to 3 times and make sure you're familiar with every line, so that you won't stumble or stutter. Read it out to yourself. You can record it and listen for better analysis.
2. Have one or two persons listen to you as you read. Find people who have an interest in poetry and are familiar with it so that they can criticize you constructively where necessary.
3. When performing poetry, bring out every emotion where necessary. Don't just come and read your poem straight without emotions. The emotions help capture your audience.
4. If you have stage fright, calm down, breathe in and out 2-3 times. Just make sure you're calm, compose yourself before you get there because if you go with a racing or pounding heart, you might mess up.

Tips

• When performing poetry, forget you have an audience (even when they complement you i.e during the performance) and be lost in the visionary of your poetry
• No matter how bad you think you did, there must be one person who enjoyed it. Try to find out how you did from some members of your audience.

Warnings

• Do not go to the stage with the thought of impressing your audience --that will put you on edge -- and don't be over confident -- that might make a rubbish of your performance. Be bold, be confident and calm.

See also

• How to read poetry out loud
• Performance poetry
• Poetry reading
• Slam poetry

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