3 superb tips to help you have a successful poetry reading


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being asked to read your work during a poetry reading event can be quite an honour and can increase your chances of getting noticed as a professional poet. However, for the reading to have a positive impact for your career, it needs to go well. Although you may not have control over the planning of the event, you can prepare yourself as poet to give the best performance possible. Doing your best increases your confidence in your abilities and that can greatly affect how you perform even in future poetry competitions. Therefore, if you have a reading coming up, the following can help you make it a success:

1.  Order of poems

Choosing the right order of poems for your reading can really help you to win the audience over. Keep in mind that the first poem you read will set the tone for the rest of the reading. The first poem should not be addressing any controversial subjects as it may start the reading on a negative note. The audience may form preconceived notions about you and remain defensive throughout. Just like making a submission during free poetry competitions, you need to choose your best week to start with then progress from there. Humour will help relax the audience before you can move into serious matters.

2.  Keep emotions in check

During a reading, the audience will rely on your to set the tone. Since you will be doing the reading, you need to find a way to convey the appropriate emotions in your voice without getting carried away. While it is not bad to show emotion during the reading, it may shift focus away from your work. The audience may feel the need to be there for you and shower you with affection rather than feel the impact of your words. You can assume that you are writing the piece for free poetry competitions and let your words make the impact on your behalf.

3.  Audience research

While you may not have control over who exactly attends the poetry reading, you can still do your audience research. Use the location of the reading to help you figure out who your audience is likely to be. The crowd at a bar will be different from that in a library or coffee shop and even in a festival. Choosing the right pieces that suit the event at hand will gain you great favour and even expose you to greater opportunities such as upcoming poetry competitions.

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