Speaking Poetically

Do you ever speak in a manner related to poetry? If you do, whether intentional or not, you may already be speaking poetically. Poetry is an excellent way to release pent-up emotions. It has the power to inspire audiences to change. When your message is delivered poetically with a repeatable rhythm, it compels audiences to act.

Audiences don’t expect an entire speech to be delivered poetically. However, adding some poetry can significantly enhance any presentation. Try adding a few poetic lines to your next speech and observe your audience’s reaction. Think of those lines as the cream you would typically add to your favorite beverage. It doesn’t change the product but adds flavor to enhance the experience for both the speaker and the audience. And as a bonus, it may even increase the clarity of your message.

All speakers know they don’t have to be poets to add poetry to their speaking. Still, there is a resistance to embracing this art form. When our creative juices begin to flow, we seem to resist the urge to “take note” or even acknowledge our creativity. Adding poetry to a speech can be scary and intimidating. However, when poetry is presented as a natural form of self-expression, audiences often remember the moment vividly. They often recall how they felt.

Whether your use of poetry is an innate skill or one learned, it is a skill worth exploring. It encourages speakers to use more vocal variety, emotions, and body language in their delivery. Give it a try, and you will also discover, adding poetry is one of the fastest ways to establish a solid connection with audiences.

Looking back at my primary school days, I remember our teachers using poetry to help us overcome the fear of public speaking. Sometimes I think it achieved the opposite. While those experiences played a significant role in teaching us how to memorize, they failed to focus on the depth and beauty of the poems. Our ability to remember line by line was of the utmost importance. Forget one word, and you were lost and stayed lost.

Many of us never understood or truly appreciated the value of those poems. We were too scared. Like it or not, we had to recite the works of the legends of poetry, like William Wordsworth and Shakespeare, start to finish, as we stood nervously before our teacher and classmates. Who knew? Perhaps that’s where the fear of using poetry and public speaking all began.

It was only later in my cultural development I realized what I was missing. I began exploring metaphors, similes, and imagery in college. I also learned quite a lot while playing music for theatre companies. Then, in the late seventies, I had the opportunity to work with poet and playwright Derek Walcott on some of his plays. That experience was an eye-opener and quite an education.

There, I observed firsthand the value of using the wealth of literary devices available to those who dare to take them to the stage. In his workshops and rehearsals for two of his plays – The Joker of Seville and O’Babylon – Derek showed his creative mastery. He constantly tested the limits of using poetry in his plays and his poetry readings.

Different cultures and accents inspire a varied range of emotions. When communicating in a formal setting, we often speak a bit differently. However, all speakers want to be authentic when they are on the platform. Using a poetic quote can be an excellent interlude, especially when it is in the native language of your audience. There is a profound change in communication styles when native speakers of the same culture meet and speak.

Their confidence, descriptiveness, and vocal variety are more pronounced. Look for those opportunities that open those doors. They offer speakers the ability to be in the moment and to use their poetic license. Then seamlessly, you can flip that inner switch and return to the expectations of the platform and the formality of the occasion. It works every time.

Finally, relevance is essential when speaking poetically. Poetry always takes us back to an appropriate time and place. It can be a time when we were happy or sad. Perhaps it was a moment when we could not find the right words to express our feelings held deep within. In those moments, turn to the power of poetry.

You will discover expressions of emotions that are fitting to express those feelings. When those meaningful events in our lives are expressed poetically, they are cemented in our memoirs forever. Over time, we may forget the details of those events but seldom do we forget how we felt at that moment. Your words of comfort at the right time and in the right place will always remain fresh in our lives when we tell them in a manner related to poetry.