Our Masterclass and final slam days are quickly approaching. Here are some tips to remember, which you can practice at school or at home.
- Know Your Poems
- Its important to be as familiar with your poems as possible, this
allows you to give a better performance. If you can, itd be great if you can
learn your poems by heart.
- Add tone, pace and intonation in your delivery of poems
- When reading a poem, try and use as many vocal techniques as you
can. Play with the pace of the poem, some lines you should read quick, some
slow. Experiment with tone, if you are asking a question, make sure you raise
your voice at the end of a sentence. If the poem is a serious piece, make sure
you read it with as much conviction as possible.
- Gesticulation, movement, body posture and eye contact.
- A performance starts as soon as you stand on the stage. When you
start make sure you look confident. Start with your feet a shoulder length
apart, your back straight and your head held high. Remember you are performing
to an audience, so try and make eye contact with different audience members. If
this makes you nervous, concentrate on one space at the back of the room, and
try and project your voice so everyone can hear you. It often works well if you
add hand gestures to certain lines, or can add movement to your performances.
- Enjoy yourself.
- Its not easy to perform to an audience, and you can feel nervous,
especially when reading something you’ve written. But remember the audience want
to see you succeed, and if you are having fun, an audience can tell, and slam
judges will mark your piece accordingly. Also, this is all about self
expression, this is a chance for you to express what you have to say.