On Tuesday 13th August, the Scarborough Writers’ Circle gathered for an interactive poetry workshop led by Felix Hodcroft, a well-known local performer of the spoken word.
Felix began by sharing his insights as a guide for new performers of the spoken word and there were opportunities for members to respond with any questions or ask for specific advice in connection with their own experience of reading poetry/prose aloud.
He said that performing is not the same as performance and that it was constantly changing in line with poetry trends through time. He stated that the most important thing when preparing to share your poem with an audience is to make sure they can hear you! Hence, he brought along his AMP system and encouraged members to use it as they ‘performed’ their poems.
He advised us not to share anything unless we had confidence in sharing our message and that there was no need to have learned the poem/prose. Audiences don’t want you to fail. They don’t mind if you have a script. In fact, they prefer it, as they are confident that they will hear your message through your words, in a clear and concise way.
It is important to keep your audience involved, give a ‘very brief’ intro to your poem, so that they can get used to your voice before you read. Then engage with them throughout by inviting them into your poem with eye contact, body language and voice/rhythm control as you read.
The great thing about using the mic is that it enhances the voice of those poets who are naturally quietly spoken or drop their voice when an intimate line is needed, or raise their voice when a dramatic phrase is called for. Varying the voice like this keeps it interesting for the audience. The AMP system can be adjusted as necessary as you perform, instilling confidence for the poet in knowing it won’t be too low or too loud. It also makes it easier for the use of body posture/language to enforce the emotion of the poem keeping the engagement with the audience.
Felix advised to always take a silent breath in before you start and a silent breath out (for twice the count as the in-breath) to ground yourself in breathing correctly, and to use this technique during your performance if required.
The most crucial point is getting your message across.
The poems written and read by members ranged from blank verse, rhyming stanza, alliteration, rhyme in a line, sonnet, flash fiction, and haiku, with a broad array of subjects from writer’s block to a train journey in the fifties. Most members used the microphone to perform their poems and one or two read the same piece twice, which seemed to slow the performance down a little and enhance the poem’s emotional impact of the message of the poem. This exercise showed the difference in impact between the first nervous reading and the second confident reading.
Everyone had a chance to feedback to the reader (performer) about their performance and the poem’s message, which encouraged brief discussions as the meeting progressed.
It was an enjoyable session, members who don’t normally write poetry were encouraged to do so by Felix, who was impressed by the standard.
It was interesting to witness how much confidence it offered to the performers using a mic to read their work aloud, knowing that the whole room could hear their words.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and productive meeting.
Submitted by Julie Fairweather/Diana Campbell
See Diary page for the next session’s details.
Scarborough Writers' Circle 