Here’s 5 things you can do to deliver a unforgettable performance at an open mic.
(Even if you are a beginner)
Outlining your material is a crucial step in ensuring that it is well-structured and that your thoughts are organised. Use headers and subheadings to divide your information into an outline with an introduction, main points, and conclusion.
Composing, editing, and revising are crucial phases in producing content of the highest calibre. Draft your material first, then revise it for impact, consistency, and clarity. Make sure your writing flows seamlessly from one idea to the next by removing superfluous words and phrases. Next, edit your text to make sure it satisfies your requirements and is free of errors.
Employ images and other multimedia to enhance your content’s visual appeal and retention.
Making an emotional connection with the audience while maintaining eye contact and a smile is necessary for engaging them. The performance will consequently become more distinctive and memorable.
To perform better, use your body language. Moving around the stage, making gestures, or expressing one’s emotions are all ways to do this. The audience will be able to experience the emotion and intensity of your performance more readily as a result.
Be sincere and confident, and show this confidence in your work. To accomplish this, you must be faithful to your artistic vision and to who you are; do not try to be like or please others. By being sincere, self-assured, and giving an interesting presentation, you may engage the audience.
Open mics might seem cheesy to outsiders, but they serve a bunch of purposes quite elegantly, to many old souls, like you and me. We attend open mics not just for criticism and appreciation of our hobby or passion but moreover, to express our hearts out. For many, open mics are simply stress bursting agents against the happenings in their personal lives or social issues similarly.
But, if you are a beginner and exploring the concepts called Open Mics and Slam Poems or Writer communities, here’s all you need to know. Providing a fantastic platform, too, to gird yourself with a firm foundation before you begin!
1. Prepare your piece thoroughly!
The thing about open mics is that the stage is open, the mic is tested and the audience is in high spirits, ready to be entertained but the performer who is blinded by the spotlight, however, is often nervous. He’s nervous because he’s been harbouring his talent in secret for a long time and this, probably, is his first appearance on stage. Nervous because he will now know if his skill set will elicit applause.
The solution is simple! Just like a humble kid, stand before the mirror till you are familiar with the small twitches while smiling and the way your eyebrows are pulled together when you are expressing disgust, the way your fingers close into a fist or wave in the thin air while you speak.
Practice, practice , practice! Prcatice to express, not to recite!
2. Build your confidence!
Next is building your confidence. Your breath is humming through the speakers and curious eyes are waiting for magical words to flow…
Even if you have practiced your piece a 100 times over before the mirror, now you seem lost, is that what’s bugging you? Do you have stage fright?
Well, then start by performing before people you know. Family, Friends, your pets and plants or a little kid who will look at you with equal curiosity like any person in the audience. But we might all not have acquaintances who are poets and at some point, their honest views can be clouded by sympathy, right? Then maybe, you need a writer’s community with poet friends. Confused? Check out My City My Voice.
3. Join Writers’ and poets’ communities!
Let me introduce you to one interesting platform here when we are talking about communities.
Check out My City My Voice. They have writer communities in all A-tier cities of India.
These communities consists of like-minded people from your very own cities which eventually feel not any less than a family.
Writers, poets, spoken word performers and also listeners from unlimited age groups, backgrounds, undefined genders, professional fields and of course, multi lingual in nature.
These communities organize meets and open mics among the members of the community which is your chance to muster up some courage and give your shot!
You can hunt down some more similar communities to keep the confidence up and stay in practice.
What about these difficult times like now? Do you stop working on your interests? NO! If the doors are locked, open windows. Virtual windows! Correct, virtual Open mics is the answer.
4. Grab every opportunity you cross paths with!
We know that the traditional “On Stage Performance” has been retracted to Virtual World which has slightly changed the essence of our regular Open Mics and though it is difficult to create the same environment, Remember, amidst adversities, flowers bloom the brightest, right? And what’s better than performing from the comfort of your house walls and cozy couches before you are confident enough to stand before the mic?
You can look at yourself while performing or record the performance for later analysis and sleep over ways to grow. Learning to maintain eye contact with a few similar faces before scanning through a crowd of hungry poetic scavengers is another tip for an engaging performance! So, try with a colorful note card, a scarf, or hold your stuffed teddy bear tightly in your hand while sweat drips along you forehead and relatable words flow through you. With virtual Open mics, though it is new for you, it’s new for the audience too, we all recognize that.
5. Sway along the music and climb along the critics!
Another aspect of the recent open mics is background scores through the strumming of guitar and ukulele and Guest performers! Though it’s not a competition, who would mind to hear feedbacks from experts in the art, right? But what if, the music just adds to your nervousness? Or the notion that the guest will be scrutinising our performance meddles with our confidence?
Musicians and Guest Performers are usually considered to add golden feathers to your performance. Remember, it’s not a competition and people are there to listen to your words, emotions and YOUR POEM! Not for the music. Just like any other listener, the guest is here to listen too! Remember The Secret then- “The universe exists for you!” As I said, this is not a competition and the audience is not judging you. They are there to make a connection with you and have fun.
The above are some basic ways to begin and it’s not just restricted for poets but also for a story teller or a rapper or a musician who wants to win hearts of strangers with their talents at an open mic event. So, now, “take the stage” and share your talent!
Check out MCMV to establish your hobbies and give it a recognition
