I’ve been to quite a few poetry readings over the past twenty years. I’ve seen some really established, acclaimed poets give awful readings (Complacent? Disillusioned? Coasting?), and some unpublished poets command the attention of the whole room. In short, it’s been a real mixed bag. So, drawing on all of these experiences, I thought I’d share my 5 golden rules to live by when reading your work aloud. 

The Difficulty of Poetry Readings

Poetry readings can be hard to get right. After all, in our age of scrolling and flicking and clicking through screens, what could be more static than someone standing up in front of us and reading out words on a page, usually from a lectern for 20-30 minutes? But, it’s the poet’s job to try to navigate this time and keep the audience engaged throughout. A mix of poems, a little bit of  introductory chat but not too much, the right volume and a controlled pace to the reading are all so important. I’d love to say there is no substitute for a well-crafted poem, and that it’s impossible to read out the perfect poem badly, but I just don’t believe that’s true, and have seen many great poems butchered by bad readings. But, first, let’s put things into perspective.

“Not an Add-On”

Being able to read your poetry aloud is not simply an add-on to your craft as a poet, it’s essential, and says everything about how you want to engage with an audience, the respect you have for an audience and how you are seizing the opportunity of being asked to read your work. After all, this might be the only time you get to read your work to these people, so make it count. 

Evolution as a Reader

Beyond these five golden rules, it goes without saying that you should rehearse before you read, and think about the order of the poems, how you’re going to introduce them and whether or not you’re going to memorise them, for example. So far, if you’re reading this and thinking, “Wow, I didn’t realise there’s so much to think about when reading my work aloud!”, yes, there is, you’d be right, and there is a lot to think about if you want to make a success of your reading and stand out from the crowd. So, here are my 5 golden rules.

5 Golden Rules

I’d say these rules, on the face of it, are fairly simple, however you’d be amazed how many poets neglect them when reading their work aloud. Indeed, I’m not saying that I’m the perfect reader of my work, and it’s definitely an area of my craft as a writer that I’m always developing and reflecting on, and, actually, it can be difficult when you get up in front of an audience and you’re nervous, to remember to do all of these things, so I’ve tried to keep it simple. So, follow these 5 golden rules and give your work the platform it deserves by reading well. 

1. Don’t read out a first draft

“I wrote this one earlier today during my lunch break” is a phrase that no audience wants to hear. In fact, it tells the audience the following: you’ve spent next to no time editing the poem; you’ve got a misplaced sense of your own abilities; you don’t care about the audience wanting to hear something that has actually taken time to put together. Instead, draft your work, show it to friends, get their feedback, practise reading it aloud at home (in front of the mirror even) and then read it aloud. 

2. Don’t read off your phone

Reading from your phone says to the audience: I couldn’t be bothered to print out my poems or write them out; I’ve got a pretty casual attitude towards you; I don’t really respect this occasion; I flick through poems like I flick through my Google feed. It’s very difficult to build a genuine connection to an audience if you’ve got a phone in your hand. 

3. Look up from your poem

“Only connect” said E.M. Forster, and it’s difficult to do this if all you do is look at the page in front of you. Looking up and out from your page, to all corners of the room, while reading is important in forging a connection with the audience but also important in checking whether they are listening to you and engaging with you. A poetry reading is a two-way process and you’re not doing anyone any favours by spending the entire length of your set, no matter how short or long, staring into your page. It’s quite a difficult skill to manage as in looking out to the audience you risk losing your place in your poem, so, once again, this is why time given to rehearsing is time well spent. 

4. Keep to Time

As a member of the audience, is there anything worse than someone running over time? Or not reading for long enough, especially if their work is going down a treat? Keeping to time shows respect to the organisers, the other readers on the bill and the audience. And there we come back to that word ‘respect’ again - so much about the craft of giving a good poetry reading is built upon respect. Keeping to time is probably the simplest way of signalling this respect, and everyone will notice it, too.

5. Use the microphone

I once gave a reading to a room full of people, and it wasn’t until the end of the evening that I realised that I stood beside the microphone the whole time, not behind it - what a numpty! Even if you think you have a loud voice, the microphone is there to make sure your voice is heard clearly by everyone and give everyone in the audience the same experience of hearing your work. Also, there will inevitably be moments where you speak quietly so the microphone is definitely your friend.

One Last Thing

Remember to reflect on the reading and how it went. Was there a poem the audience particularly enjoyed? Did someone come up to you afterwards and say they really liked that poem about X? Did someone say “I couldn’t really hear you”? Take onboard the comments and use them to get better - it’s a long process.