Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

It's Mrs. Butterworth here and I am ready for today's English lesson, and I really hope that you are too.

Today's lesson is all about creating a dynamic slam poetry performance.

So we're going to be thinking about how we can really elevate our poetry through delivery and performance techniques.

Sound good? Fantastic, let's get started.

So in this lesson you will understand how physicality can add to the confident delivery of a slam poem, and you'll also be an effective audience member and provide feedback.

So we've got some key words here that you may spot throughout the lesson and will also help with our understanding.

So these words are physicality, nonverbal features, dynamic, pitch, and pace.

Now, physicality, you'll notice it's almost got the word physical in there in that word, hasn't it? So that physicality refers to the use of body movements, gestures, and facial expressions to enhance the delivery of a presentation.

So as well as the way you say things, you also want to think about the physicality that you present.

We also have nonverbal features, and these are the physical and vocal elements that enhance the performance beyond the words themselves.

So nonverbal features refers to both the physicality and how you use your voice.

Then we've got dynamic, which is a key word for slam poetry, 'cause a dynamic performance is all about being lively, and engaging, full of energy, and everything to keep the audience interested.

So we are aiming for a dynamic performance.

And then we've got pitch and pace, which refers to voice.

So pitch is how high or low your voice is being.

So you want to vary this when you are delivering a poem.

And then we've got pace which refers to the speed.

So you may want to slow down or speed up at significant moments of your poem.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

So we're going to begin by considering the physicality and nonverbal features of our delivery.

And then we're gonna consider confident delivery and audience participation.

So let's get started with our physicality and nonverbal features.

So performing a slam home is about more than just reading the words from a page.

It is about giving a dynamic performance, okay? So I want you to consider what this might mean to you.

So I'd like you to discuss, please, what might you consider to create a dynamic performance? Okay, so you'll need to pause the video so you can discuss your answers, or if that's not available, you can think quietly to yourself, or even jot down some ideas.

So pause the video and off you go.

Okay, some really great ideas being generated there.

Let's just share some of those now.

So we have our own pupil, so we've got Andeep here.

So Andeep says, "A dynamic means using your voice, body, and emotions to bring the poem to life." Which is a really great description from Andeep.

Jacob says that, "Perhaps changing your tone, volume, and pace to make the words powerful." And I think that's a really good point as well.

So thank you to Jacob, because actually your dynamic performance encompasses everything, even how you use your words and your voice.

And Sofia says, "You may want to consider your physicality, using gestures and movement to help the audience feel the poem's message." And I think Sophia's got a really interesting idea there about making the audience feel the poem's message.

So actually giving that dynamic delivery can almost, like, affect how people are feeling in the audience.

So nonverbal features are the physical and vocal elements that enhance the performance beyond the words themselves.

So they include things like facial expressions to convey emotions.

Body language that conveys confidence.

Gestures to emphasise words or points.

Eye contact to help connect with and engage the audience.

And finally, tone of voice.

Now tone of voice can include pitch, so that highness or lowness, volume, and pace, so that's the speed, and these can really help to bring the poem to life, which is exactly what we want.

So we have an image here of someone performing, and I'd like you to discuss, please, without hearing the performance, what nonverbal signs are there that this person is giving a dynamic performance? What can you pick out there? Pause the video to give yourself time to discuss your answer to the question or think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Okay, yeah, lots of you are picking up on the fact that even though we can't hear the performance, we can really see those nonverbal features and that physicality happening.

You can see the expression on this performer's face, the gestures being made, her body language is very confident.

I mean, she's even got a slight lean there, which I think shows how she's really using that physicality in her performance.

You know, she's not making eye contact at this point, 'cause her eyes are closed.

But again, it really shows how dynamic this performance is.

So you can see that everything from, you know, the gestures, her hands, her whole body, her face, everything is being incorporated to ensure that this performance is dynamic and engaging, and that she is obviously really engaged in that performance too.

Okay, so which of the following would not be considered a non-verbal feature of performance? So you need to pick A, B, C, or D.

So choose your answer now.

Okay, so who is feeling confident? Lots of you.

Okay, great, shall we look for the answer? It's C, word choices would not be considered a nonverbal feature of performance, because your word choices are not to do with that physicality or how you use your voice.

It can feel really daunting to perform a slam poem, and you may be feeling nervous, and I totally understand that, it is a nerve wracking thing, but it's important that we try and manage those nerves to give us the best chance at a confident and dynamic performance.

So one of the ways we can do that is just to be prepared and to actually consider our nonverbal features and physicality before we perform.

So I think identifying some opportunities to make particular gestures or certain things with your voice is a really good thing to do.

And one of the ways that you can do this is through annotation.

So annotating your poem with nonverbal features can be a really useful way to help you prepare.

So you can see here that I have a small chunk of my poem in the middle of the page, let's just read it first.

"So flash those happy teeth.

Clap those buoyant hands.

Whoosh into the arms of the best friend you've ever had." And you can see my annotations here.

So I've made a little note to myself to emphasise the underlined words.

So I've underlined some words there, and I now know when I'm practising , or even when I'm performing, that I need to emphasise them.

So I may increase the volume, or the speed, or the pitch, just to make sure I'm doing those things.

I've also made a note to myself that perhaps I'm going to gesture.

When I say the word teeth, I'm gonna point to my mouth, to say happy teeth.

And I've even added here that when I say clap, I might actually, "Clap those buoyant hands." (claps) So you can see how these notes are already getting me to think about those extra things for my performance.

And when it says "Whoosh into the arms of the best friend you've ever had", I'm considering opening my arms wide to really emphasise those last two lines.

And then also I've made a note there just to slow down as I deliver the last line.

So "Whoosh into the arms of the best friend you've ever had." So you can see how these notes are already getting me to think about what this performance is going to look like.

And it won't come as a shock when I come to perform, because I would've thought about it all already.

True or false? Annotating your poem is a good way to prepare for a slam performance? Come up with your answer now.

Okay, well done everyone that said true, but now you need to explain why.

So I'm gonna give you a few moments to come up with your justification.

Off you go.

Okay, so hopefully you have something like this.

Annotating can help you to think about your nonverbal delivery in detail and feel prepared for a performance.

You may have considered as well that it can help alleviate nerves, it can make you feel more prepared.

So there's lots of things there to consider in terms of annotating as good practise.

Okay, so over to you for our first practise task, what I would like you to do, please, is I would like you to annotate your slam poem in the way that we've just looked at.

So you may wish to identify specific gestures, any variation of volume, pitch, and pace, facial expressions, and pauses.

You might want to read your poem out aloud and see what happens naturally first.

So as you're going through, you might go, "Oh, actually, I feel like I want to point there." So read it through first just to give you an idea and then annotate the poem with those key features there.

Okay, so gather everything you need to get this task done, and we'll feed back in a moment.

Pause video and off you go.

Okay, and well done.

So that's part of the preparation done for our dynamic performances.

So now I want you just to practise performing your slam poems using those annotations, okay? So really practise performing using those annotations.

And what you may find is that you may want to change or add to your annotations.

So as you are doing this, do take an opportunity to do that as well.

So pause the video and get practising.

Well done, everyone.

It is so great to hear these poetry performances becoming even more dynamic the more you consider those elements of physicality and voice.

So well done.

So now we're going to move on to consider confident delivery and audience participation.

Now an important part of spoken language is working together.

We can sometimes think of spoken language as being quite an individual activity.

So with tasks like delivering a speech or performing a slam poem, but actually working together is very important because it can be daunting to stand up to perform, can't it? So it's so important that we are all responsible for creating a supportive environment for every single one of us to perform.

So I want us to think, and I'd like you to discuss, how can we create this as an audience member? So what can we do to ensure that we are creating a supportive environment, okay? so I'd like you to pause the video and discuss your ideas to this question.

Pause video, off you go.

Okay, let's feed back some suggestions.

So I think these are some really key ideas here.

Being respectful, absolutely.

Like, we need to understand that at some point we are all going to be stood up performing.

So we need to be respectful for each person.

And this involves listening carefully, okay? So using those active listening skills to show that you are engaged, you are listening, you are present for that person performing.

You can show support in slam poetry by cheering, clapping, or even clicking fingers at key moments.

I love this idea at slam poets, they click their fingers to show that something's good.

So you could try that.

And engaging and reacting to the poem appropriately.

So laughing when it's funny, maybe gasping when it's shocking, you know, so audience participation is really encouraged in slam poetry.

So part of creating this supportive environment can include those elements too.

So just to reiterate, audience participation is an important part of slam poetry, and what this can look like is the following.

So you may join in with refrains or chants when invited to do so.

Now a slam poet may do this by signalling to you as the audience, kind of saying, "Come on, join in." They may even say the words, "Join in on the refrain." So if you are invited to do so, you can join in on those refrains or chants.

They might even give you a gesture of, "Come on, join in." Or audience participation can also look like applauding at impactful moments.

So if someone says something that impacts you, you can give a little round of applause.

Likewise, as I've just said, you can snap your fingers during powerful lines.

So if someone says something and you are like, "Yes, oh, I agree with that", you can click your fingers to show how powerful that is.

And you also can use body language and facial expressions to react appropriately.

So even if you are just sitting quietly and listening to the poem, you want to make sure that your body language, your facial expressions, and everything that you are presenting shows that you are listening and present, okay? So what it does not look like in terms of audience participation is the following.

So talking or whispering during the performance, this can be so distracting, and it is also not very respectful.

So if you are part of an audience, you need to make sure that you are not talking and not whispering, interrupting, or speaking over the poet, no matter how affected you may be by the poem, or excited, or anything, you are not to interrupt or speak over the poet.

You need to wait until the end and that's when you can speak.

And also responding negatively, like booing, absolutely not.

Again, not only is this distractful, but it's really disrespectful and can be quite disconcerting for the person performing.

So booing is not allowed as part of being an audience of a slam poetry performance.

Okay, so we have part of a poem here.

I'm going to read it first, but then I would like you to read it aloud and then discuss this question, where is the opportunity for audience participation? So I'm gonna read it through.

"When the world gets loud and the noise won't quit, take a moment, breathe, and snap to this.

Snap your fingers right now like this.

For the time when silence speaks the truth, and words just miss, don't worry, we got you.

Just snap to this, come on, I wanna hear it, let those fingers twist." Okay, so over to you.

Read the poem out loud, then discuss where is the opportunity for audience participation.

Pause the video so you've got time to complete those tasks.

Off you go.

Okay, thank you.

Some really great reading aloud there and some really interesting feedback.

So some of you may have noticed the snap your fingers.

So it's almost like a command to the audience, isn't it? So it's like then snap to this, snap your fingers right now like this.

So it's almost like asking the audience to join in, isn't it? And then we get the direct address as well, because it's like snap your fingers.

So again, that creates that connection with the audience and encourages them to join in.

So true or false, refrains or chants in slam poems are an appropriate moment to participate as an audience member? Is that true or false? Well done to everyone that said true.

Now you need to come up with your explanation as to why, and I will give you a few moments to come up with your justification.

Off you go.

Okay, so hopefully you have something similar to, slam poets use refrain and chants to engage and encourage audience participation.

They are an effective way to connect and unite an audience.

So hopefully you came up with something similar.

So we have Sam here, and Sam has made this comment, "I'm feeling really nervous.

I find standing up to perform or speak in front of an audience quite scary." So that's really kind of Sam to share that comment.

And I now want you to think to yourselves, how are you feeling about performing your poem? Can you relate to Sam? So pause the video just to give yourself time to think about how you are really feeling.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, so I can imagine that quite a lot of us can relate to Sam and those feelings of nerves, because most people feel nervous before performing or speaking in front of an audience.

It's completely normal, trust me, I know, I have performed in front of hundreds of people over multiple occasions, and I still get really nervous when I have to do it.

So it's completely normal and can be quite helpful.

But what we've gotta think about is we don't just wanna not do anything because we feel nervous, we want to think about ways we can help with those nerves.

So what can help are things like body language and posture.

So one of the things that I like to do is to make sure that my feet are planted firmly on the ground and standing up tall and relaxing your arms by your side.

So as soon as you do this, you already start to feel much more secure, and open, and ready to perform, okay? So even just doing that, making sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground, standing tall, and relaxing your arms can start to alleviate some of those nerves, and kind of trick yourself into feeling really confident.

Breath, now this is a big one, because when you become nervous you can almost feel like your breath becomes more shallow.

So what you can do is before you begin, just make sure you take a few deep breaths, so in and out.

And also pause before you begin.

It can be really tempting just to stand straight up and rush into your poem, but actually just taking a moment to breathe and pause before you start can just really help alleviate those nerves.

And likewise, when you are performing, find opportunities to pause and take a breath.

It can be, again, so tempting just to rush through, but keep up right, keep strong, keep those breaths flowing, and you should start to feel less nervous.

The other thing that can help is to slow down, okay? So really tell yourself this, slow down.

Because spoken language, whether it is performing a poem, delivering a speech, or giving a presentation, it should feel slower than every day speech.

And actually, slowing down can also make you feel calmer.

With nerves, we can end up rushing our words, and rushing through it, and forgetting to breathe, and going on like this.

But actually slowing down and taking your time is much more effective than rushing through.

So remember, plant those feet, take those deep breaths, and really slow it down.

And lastly, try and have fun.

Now I'm sure some of you are sat there thinking, "How am I going to have fun performing a poem?" But actually, you can, so try.

You know, remember slam poetry is all about having fun, so try to enjoy it.

You know, mistakes happen and that's okay.

We aren't striving for perfection or anything like that.

So it's okay if you stumble over your words or mispronounce a word, all of this is absolutely fine.

It's about standing up and having a go, and actually presenting your good work.

So why don't you take a few minutes to practise this now.

So practise how your body language and posture feels.

So are your feet planted firmly on the floor? Is your posture upright and open? Are your arms relaxed by your side? Try lifting your head slightly too.

And then breath, take a few deep breaths and slow your breathing.

So pause the video to give yourself time to practise.

Okay, pause the video and off you go.

Okay, so now you've had a chance to practise.

I'd like you just to think to yourselves, how does this feel? Do you feel ready to perform now? Pause the video just to give yourself time to reflect and think about this.

So considering your body language, posture, and breath can help calm nerves, make you feel more relaxed and confident.

So do give it a go.

True or false time.

Spoken language and everyday speech feel like they are the same pace.

Is that true or false? Give me your answer now.

Hmm, do we think we got it right? Okay, great, well done to everyone that noticed that was false, but now you need to say why.

So just spend a few minutes coming up with your answer.

Okay, so the answer is false, because spoken language should feel slower than everyday speech.

This ensures that you are delivering your poem clearly.

So we've made it to our second practise task, and now it is all over to you.

So I would like you please to perform your slam poem.

Remember to consider that lovely body language and posture.

Take those deep breaths and pause before you begin.

Slow down, and if you can, try and have fun.

I really look forward to hearing all of these.

I wish you the best of luck, you've got this, pause the video and perform your poem.

Off you go.

Well done.

How do you feel? Hopefully you feel very proud for performing, and you should, it is such an achievement to be able to stand up and perform out loud.

So really well done.

And I promise the more you do this, the easier it will get.

It doesn't always mean that you will never feel nervous again, but that practise just means that you'll get better and better at managing those nerves.

So well done.

So what I would like you to do now is to self-assess your performance using these sentence starters.

I am proud.

So what are you proud of? And next time I will.

So what are you going to do for next time? Pause the video to get that self-assessment done.

Off you go.

Again, a very well done.

You have made it to the end of the lesson and you are now all slam poetry performers, so a very well done.

So remember that performing a slam poem is about more than just reading the words from a page.

It's all about that dynamic performance, which we have just seen in action.

Considering nonverbal features and physicality can elevate your performance, and we've seen that as well.

Annotating your poem with nonverbal features can be a useful way to help prepare for performance and manage those nerves.

Audience participation is a part of slam poetry, but it must be respectful and supportive.

And like I keep saying, it is okay to feel nervous, considering your body language, posture, and breath can help.

I really hope to see you all again in a lesson soon.

But until then I'll say goodbye.

So, goodbye.