Poetry READING

Poetry Reading is an individual speech event in which a student selects at least three poems with a central or unifying theme of interest. The student creates an original speech of no more than eight minutes which introduces and transitions between these three chosen poems. Rather than memorize, the speaker uses a printed manuscript book as a prop for added effect. The speaker focuses on delivering with vocal inflection, facial expression, and gestures to enhance their interpretation and the overall mood of their speech. See the above PDFs for the event rules as well as a sample ballot a judge uses to evaluate a round. 

See the tool to the right for creating an introduction.

See also an example to the right of a compilation of different poems covering the same overall theme.

View the below videos for performance examples.