This particular slam that I am putting on differs a little bit from the type of slam you might enter at your local nightclub. In an off site slam you are expected to bring with you prewritten poetry that you will perform in front of a live audience. However, for this on-line slam, i am combining the tradition of slam and rap together. You will be both expected to write and perform your poetry in under 5 minutes for the first round, and under 3 minutes for the second round. It is very high pressured, and will be a process that will hopefully leave only the most serious quick poets remaining.
Do NOT be hard on yourself if you do not perform well in your first slam. This is the first AP slam in history after all, and thus you are all guinea pigs as I will evaluate the slam in detail after it is over. There are always unforeseen problems the first time around for anything, and thus this is a process of learning for both me, and all you who perform in the slam.
The big question is how can you prepare for participating in this slam.
The utmost important point to remember in performing at a slam is that you are engaging the audience. You want to be in as much control of how you do this as possible. This is what this article is going to hopefully help you with. The better you understand it, the more effective you will be on stage.
You have probably heard the saying, "actions speak louder than words". In a slam, your words ARE your actions. You must communicate with your words, effectively, artfully, honestly, and enthusiastically so that you move your audience. Memorize these four words. They are very important concepts.
MOVING YOUR AUDIENCE
The goal in a slam is to move your audience. Doing your very best is the means to this goal. You have two audiences that you will be communicating with - both are absolutely critical to your success. However both will be evaluating you differently, so you must keep this in mind at all times. Lets look at both these audiences.
THE PUBLIC
The first audience is the general audience. The people in this crowd are NOT expert poets- they are your public. The public is very important!!! Your job is to entertain them. They will judge you by how well you entertain them, be assured. It doesn't matter if you have perfect poetry form and use the most elaborate techniques- you can still get booed off the stage by the public. You must keep entertainment in mind at all times.
So what do we mean by entertainment? What does this word bring to mind? Laughter? I think that is an immediate association in most people's minds. And so I need to shatter it, right now, because it will backfire on you as a performer in this slam. Entertainment is not necessarily about laughing or riling up an audience frenzy. When you go to a movie, and tears stream down your cheeks, or when you feel a jolt of fright that stays with you for the next week, YOU have been entertained. Entertainment covers the whole range of emotions.
In a slam you want to consciously create the entertainment effect you want in the audience. The point is not to manipulate them (people aren't stupid
) - but to engage them. That is why I included honesty in the 4 points I told you to memorize. No one likes to be manipulated. People love to be engaged however, and that is what you can have a big part in creating. You do not want to be surprised by the audience's reaction. You want to do everything in your poetry to create the reaction that you intend to. Please take a moment to read my latest poem, which I wrote for the purposes of helping you to understand what slam is all about: all-poetry.com/Poem/757034
I wrote this in under three minutes using only one hint from the contest holder: ESCAPE. This is exactly what you will need to do. Now I kept this bare boned. I did not make use of poetry techniques, nor did I deliberately try to engage the audience in my writing. As a result I got a whole range of responses - from 'very funny' all the way to 'this is different', to what I wanted, 'this is emotionally powerful'. Each person reads through their own lens, and if you are writing poetry for yourself, then you really don't care how they react. But for a slam, you MUST care!!! Using your poetry skills and your personality you can shape this atmosphere of reaction, instead of being surprised by it. It is imperative that you do so, since the public reaction will effect your score.
THE 5 RANDOMLY SELECTED JUDGES
This is your second audience, which you must cater to in the very same moment and with the same poem as the public audience. Both audiences are critical, and both will be weighed in the scoring equally. I must reiterate that 'expert' is not 'better'. Both yield their own power.
The judges will judge you on a scale of 1 to 10, taking into account both your performance and the content of your poem. All three elements will be judged on the same scale, averaged together for a final score. You can read more about this in the column on judging. But for this audience you will want to keep in mind perfect form, spelling, grammar, poetry techniques etc. These elements may in fact be very important to the general audience as well of course, but here they are being formally, and objectively, evaluated. The public score will be solely on the subjective appreciation of the audience.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
As I have mentioned, you can not be in control of audience reaction at all times. For example in my poem 'No Escape'- which I deliberately posted for an illustration for this slam - I got a reaction that I would never have expected in a million years, even if I HAD tried to shape public reaction to it. One commenter found this line funny:
cold Nazis
disguised as family
He said it was so funny that it took the 'edge off the poem'.
Is that what I intended? No. Could I have done something to change his reaction? Probably not. So reaction isn't always in your control. But the better you know yourself, the better you understand and apply the skills of poetry, and the more honest you are in whatever you are writing, the more likely you are to get a reaction that doesn't surprise you. The following points will help you in your performance if you keep them in mind at every stage in the competition.
SPEAKING
It is true that the only mediums we have for the slam is the printed page, and the space around it. (DON'T underestimate space! But that will be discussed later). Be assured that you will be speaking loudly and clearly (whether it is what you intend to say or not), through the microphone of your poetry. So be sure that you are consciously in control of what you are saying. Being aware of the following elements
will help you:
1) Articulating - Articulation does not mean using big words!!! It means using words appropriate to your context and audience, and having the range and skill to do this. It is a skill that is developed. Keep it in mind when you are in each stage of the competition.
2) Tone- Try to use an appropriate tone for what you are writing, and for the effect you want to have. Tone can engage the audience or totally turn them off. As well, tone is the key to either exciting an audience or subduing the crowd. It all depends on your intent.
3) Tempo- Be consciously in control of the speed of your poetry. You can speed it up or slow it down on purpose through the use of language and poetry techniques. You may not always want to have the same speed throughout the poem. You can have a lot of fun with using this!!
4) Gesture- Yes, you can gesture even on-line without using emotives. The screen is your body, and your personal space. Use it to your advantage!! Gesture can dramatically affect your audience. You can gesture through the use of structure, spacing, silences, words, pauses, and all the above elements we have already spoken of.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You the performer want to create the audience atmosphere as much as possible, not be surprised by it. Hopefully this article helped you in this endeavor.
FINAL POINTS
Here are some concrete things you can do to prepare for the slam:
1) Memorize: Effective, Artful, Enthusiastic, Honest
2) Be sure that you are well grounded in poetry devices, forms, and techniques. Not only will they help you create the effect you want, but they will be scored, AND the second half of the show will be directly testing you on these things!! So judges- make sure you are up on these things as well!
3) I suggest that you read over the itinerary very carefully, and make sure that you are grounded in all the techniques you will be asked to perform with on the spot.
4) Enter Contests! Practice all the things in this article by writing and posting poetry in under three minutes. Join contests, and write on their subject in three minutes or less - this will give you EXCELLENT practice. You can also then see how your audience reacts, and rewrite the piece to see if you can shape and get the reaction you would like.
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