From the Page to the Stage

In this section, we are going to look at You - the Performer and your relationship to the Audience - in other words, here's how to put the Performance into your Poetry.

One thing that it took me ages to get my head around, when I started out, was that as soon as I stepped out onto the stage to perform my poem, I became a fictional character. Surely, it was just me, Francesca Beard, reading her work. It didn't matter that I was shy and worried that people would look at me and think I was a) boring b) ugly c) a show-off if I put any effort into trying not to be boring or ugly. No! Wrong! It did matter and as soon as I stopped not trying so hard to be invisible, we all - me and the audience - had a much better time.

Just who do you think you are?

This is what I want you to do:

Go and look long and hard in a mirror
Imagine people looking at you as you read your poem
What do you think they see? Try to be as open and honest as possible - no false modesty, but also, no rose-tinted spectacles. Deal with it.

Now you can start to play to your strengths - and weaknesses.

The fact is that people will start to make assumptions about you as soon as you walk out onto the stage.

Your look. They will form opinions about you based on the colour of your skin, your looks, your clothes, your age, your weight, the way you walk, the way you stand, what you do with your hands, how you deal with the mic - all this before you open your mouth.

Your voice. And when you do open your mouth, it's not just the words you speak that they will hear, it's the tone of your voice, your accent, whether you sound confident or nervous, loud or soft.

All of this might sound super scary, but it's all to your advantage.

Some things are in your control - like what 'costume' you choose to wear, whether you are calm and still or buzzing with twitchy nervous energy and how you pitch your voice. Other things, like your race and sex, you can't change - but you can be aware of how audiences are likely to react to you and take that into account in your performance.

Hi - My Name Is...…

Given that persona is so important to performance, I recommend that you write a piece that introduces yourself to the audience. This Identity Poem can take many forms and I suggest you have as much fun with it as possible.

Two exercises towards an Identity Poem

Try writing a List Poem. This could be a recipe, an instruction manual, a To Do List, 10 Things You Don't Know About Me, 10 Facts About Me. Think about using contrasts, going from silly to sad, truth to lies, political to personal.
Try writing a monologue, the subject of which could be your life story, romantic history, your family background, an anecdote from your childhood or a confession of past misdeeds.

mp3 of Intro To Me

Let me entertain you - or how to prepare for a performance

Practise, practise practise!

If you can, learn your work - if not, be as familiar as possible with the lines - to the extent that you are using the pieces of paper as a prop, rather than a barrier between you and the audience.

Get a look at the performance space beforehand

If you can, arrive in time to do a sound-check. nb If you are using a backing track to accompany your piece, this is really crucial! Try and bring a friend to stand in for the audience so that they can listen to how you sound. What is the mic like? Work out how to adjust it to your height. How will you get on stage? Can you see the audience or are you dazzled by the lights? Can you request that the house-lights be brought up? (House lights are lights that illuminate an audience. In general, you want just enough to be able to make out faces in the crowd.)

Know where you are on the evening's list of readers and plan your performance accordingly.

For example, if you are at the beginning of the bill, you will need to relax the audience and warm them up. If you are closing the night, you might have a dream gig, where the crowd goes wild - or you might have to deal with poetry fatigue and people leaving.

Find a quiet place to do some relaxation exercises before the performance.

Try these simple tricks:
o Breathe in through your nose, hold your breath and count to three - breathe out slowly through your mouth

o Repeat
o Warm up your voice by singing scales - it doesn't matter if they are totally out of tune!
o Shake the tension out of your arms and legs
o Make silly scrunchy faces in the mirror

Do some research - what kind of crowd will be at your performance?

Prepare some introductory banter especially for the night. You could bring along an amusing prop. Try and anticipate what audience reactions might be to your piece(s). Invite people's responses and reply to them - the audience will love you for it.

Make sure that you are not parched with thirst, starving hungry or too full when you go on stage.

No matter how prepared you are, something will go pear-shaped - try to go with it, enjoy the moment - if you are happy, then the audience will be happy.

And FINALLY…

There is no substitute for stage time! What is stage time? Time spent on stage - so sign up for every open mic you can.

At the beginning, I mentioned that we performance poets form a very nurturing community. Each poet has their individual voice - we compete with ourselves to be the best we can and we draw on each other for inspiration and support. Find the poets around you - virtual or physical - that you admire and respect. Form writing groups. Listen to each other's work and give positive critiques and honest feed-back. This kind of support system is priceless.

Interact with your audience - welcome them in! Always remember that the audience is an essential part of any performance poem.

Good luck - I look forward to seeing you out there!