When we try to study spoken-word poetry or performances of poems, there are a multitude of techniques that are specific to that setting. I compiled this list for students and teachers to improve understanding of these performance and poetic techniques. Hyperlinks will take you to examples on Youtube, which I recommend reviewing for appropriateness before use in the classroom.
Please credit when sharing; and let me know what works.
Glossary: techniques used in spoken-word poetry
* = language or content warning
| Technique | Definition | Example |
| Performance techniques | ||
| Pace | How fast or slowly the poet speaks | The fast pace illustrates Luka Lesson’s virtuosity as a wordsmith – Anonymous.
Slow pace emphasises the seriousness of subject matter –* Anisa Nandaula |
| Tone | How the poet’s voice conveys their attitude to their subject | Taylor Mali’s impassioned tone conveys his passion for teaching – What Teachers Make |
| Gesture | Movements of head, hands or body to express meaning | “I make them understand that if you’ve got this, [pointing to head]
then you follow this, [pointing to heart]” Taylor Mali What Teachers Make |
| Pause / silence | Leaving a short length of time between words or sentences | Luka Lesson pauses after “my friend went into chemotherapy this week” to let it sink in – Antidote |
| Pitch / register | Using high, natural, or low ranges of the speaking voice | The three boys use their voices in unnatural low registers to parody “manly men” – Finalists 2015: ViewBank College |
| Volume | How loud or softly the poet speaks | Kate Tempest’s high volume enhanced by close microphone technique conveys passion – Cannibal Kids |
| Dynamics | Changing volume within the piece | Abe Nouk goes from loud “I know what hatred looks like” to soft “but today that defeats the purpose” – What Love Looks Like |
| Emphasis | Stress given to a word or words indicating importance | Denise Frohm emphasises to create irony in “I mean, straight women” – *Dear Straight People |
| Accent | Distinctive pronunciation, usually indicating the speaker’s country of origin, area, or social class | Abe Nouk’s Sudanese accent reveals his story as a refugee – What Love Looks Like
Kate Tempest’s south London accent aligns her with the ‘oppressed’ she describes – Cannibal Kids |
| Imitation | Performance intending to copy or simulate another voice or person | Taylor Mali imitates the laughter of a dinner guest who criticises teachers, showing how it annoys him – What Teachers Make |
| Multi-vocal | Two or more voices or performers in the piece | OutLoud Australia presents teams of 3 or 4 students in each performance
Race in Australia performed by two poets |
| Unison | Two or more voices say the same words at the same time | The two poets state “I belong” in unison – Race in Australia |
| Vocal sound effects | Using the voice to make non-human sounds | Jesse John Brand makes sound of tape recorder fast-forwarding to indicate time flying past – *Dear Mrs Miller |
| Beatboxing | Imitating sounds of a drum machine with the voice; vocal percussion | Saul Williams uses bursts of beatboxing – Ohm
Sophia Thakur uses beatboxing to represent the blows of an abuser – *Beatbox |
| Singing | The poet sings a word or phrase | The New Crusades opens with singing – Luka Lesson |
| Multimodal | Using more than one performance mode, such as film, lighting, music | Animations of words written on walls and skin is superimposed on the poet – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Improvisation | Any part of the poem created spontaneously or departing from the prepared performance | Kate Tempest jokes “Not you, different strangers!” in a performance of *13 Commandments |
| Audience participation | Listeners are invited to be involved in the performance, perhaps by clapping a beat or repeating key lines. Many poetry slams are participatory in nature, with audiences encouraged to show appreciation during the performance. | The audience responds to Luka Lesson’s performance by calling out, clapping and cheering frequently in May Your Pen Grace the Page – filmed at the Nuyorican Poets Café, home of slam poetry. |
| Call and response | The audience is asked to call back a
response to a key word or words |
Listeners repeat the line “out with the old” – Sarah Temporal End of the Road |
| Cover | Performing a piece written by someone else | Joelle Taylor performs Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen |
| Poetic techniques | ||
| Wordplay | Playful or clever use of words, exploring multiple meanings | “politics being a latin word. ‘Poli’ meaning many, ‘tics’ meaning blood sucking butt lumps” – Shane Koyczan This is my voice |
| Reconstruction | Words or phrases are broken down into parts and recombined to form new meanings | “You look so pretty with straight hair
You look so pretty when you’re straight” – Arielle Cottingham Tramlines |
| Redefinition | Words are redefined to give them new meanings, sometimes by spelling them out, reconstruction, or association. | “May the lead in your lead-pencil lead you astray / We spell it L-E-A-D ‘cause we’ve made leaders this way” – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Iconic substitution | Suggests that a thing is like another thing, through similar sounding words | “I’m basically feeling that art isn’t hard / What’s hard is your heart” – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Incantation | Use of words for magical or prayer-like effect; showing belief that language effects reality | “May you mean every word that you say” – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Invocation | Calling upon a person, spirit or deity by name to lend power, i.e. ‘in the name of…’ | “Thus, in the name of: Robeson, God’s Son, Hurston…and the countless unnamed” -Saul Williams Coded Language |
| Flow | Use of emphasis and pace to create implied rhythms. In hip-hop: the way rhymes are constructed over a beat. | “Potentially my pencil be / the deftest thing you’ve ever seen” – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Rhyme | Repetition of sounds in two or more words | Eyes / disguise / lives / alibis / outside |
| Complete rhyme | Consonant and vowel sounds match identically | Eyes / lies |
| Slant rhyme | Similar but not identical sounds. Either the vowels are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa. | Eyes / chimes
Lives / leaves |
| Multi-syllable rhyme | Rhyming each syllable in words two or more syllables long | Tragedy / cavity / gravity |
| Multi-word rhyme | Rhyming groups of two or more words with another word or word-group | Reeboks / see cops / be shot – Eminem
Monotony / got to me – Patti Smith |
| Internal rhyme | Rhyme occurring within a line | “His palms are sweaty, knees week, arms are heavy” – Eminem *Lose Yourself |
| End rhyme | Rhyme occurring at end of two adjacent lines | “I’m fortunate you believe in a dream / This orphanage we call a ghetto is quite a routine” –Kendrick Lamar *Sing About Me |
| Daisy-chaining | Rhymes link across multiple lines. A new rhyme scheme starts before the first one ends, creating smooth flow. | “Everybody’s a victim in my eyes / When I ride it’s a murderous rhythm / And outside became pitch black / A demon glued to my back whispering, Get ‘em.” – Kendrick Lamar *Sing About Me |
| Holorime | An entire sentence or phrase rhymed perfectly with the next. The ‘holy grail’ of rap rhyming. | “The worst-hated God who perpetrated odd favours / demonstrated in the perforated Rod Lavers” –MF Doom *Meat Grinder |
| Motif / rhythmic motif | A recurring rhythmic pattern or idea | “Potentially” sets up repeating 4-syllable motif È / È È – Luka Lesson May Your Pen Grace the Page |
| Doggerel | Comic verse composed in irregular rhythm | Tug Dumbly *The Dog with the Golden Arse |
| Anaphora | Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines | “I make them question.
I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it.” Taylor Mali What Teachers Make |
| Listing / accumulation | Creating a list or piling up ideas in a way that builds up or emphasizes the main point. List poems are very common in spoken-word poetry. | Accumulation of dedications “this is for…” – Shane Koyczan This is my voice
A numbered list of personal advice – Kate Tempest 13 Commandments |
| Epithet | a word or phrase used to express a certain characteristic of a person or thing. (Derived from ancient storytelling traditions such as Homeric epics) | “rosy-fingered dawn”, “the wine-dark sea”, “loud-thundering Zeus”, “Athena, hope of soldiers” – Homer |
| Zeugma | To yoke together different meanings | “Discarded clothes and ambitions” – Sarah Temporal, Sleeping Beauty |
| Onomatopoeia | Words that mimics the sound they describe | “And let the waves reach the shore with a shhhhhhh…” Lemn Sissay Let There Be Peace |
| First person | The poet speaks from their own point of view, using ‘I’ or ‘we’ | “I too have lived through this long night of the mind” – Sarah Temporal Sleeping Beauty |
| Second person | The poet uses ‘you’ referring to an imagined listener or audience | “may you mean every word that you say” May your pen grace the page Luka Lesson |
| Third person | Referring to someone other than speaker or listener using ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘they’ | “She heard life going on outside” – Sarah Temporal Sleeping Beauty |
| Direct address | The poet speaks directly to the audience using ‘you’. | “This is yours. Make my words worth something.” –Anis Mojgani Shake the Dust |
| Humour | Intended to make the audience laugh | Phil Wilcox *This Microphone Only Tells the Truth
Tug Dumbly *The Dog with the Golden Arse |
| Cliché | A phrase that is so overused it has become meaningless or trite | Sports clichés such as “ball-park figure” “keep your eye on the ball” – Tug Dumbly Sport Talk |
Download: Glossary-Techniques used in SWP
See also:
SlamCraft – the writing and performance craft of spoken-word poetry
For teachers – free resources for teaching spoken-word poetry
Youtube playlists compiled by me:
