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Poetics

Glennis Hobbs

Yes, Virginia, You Can Find Some Help With Public Speaking Before Doing A Poetry Reading

Sooner or later after a poet publishes a poetry book, he or she will be asked to do a book launch and/or a book reading. The thought of getting up before an audience paralyzes many people with fear. Is there any help for overcoming the fear of speaking in public?

In his article “Painless Book Signings - A Little Pizzazz Never Hurts,” Steven Vernon (Freelance. May/June 2005. Saskatchewan Writers Guild) suggests enrolling in a Toastmasters class.

Toastmasters International is an organization dedicated to helping its members improve speaking skills, listening and thinking skills and helping improve leadership skills.

A Toastmaster who embodies these skills is Dallas Bagby. I first met her at a Toastmasters breakfast in Winnipeg.

At the time of the writing of this article, Dallas Bagby is currently serving as District Governor of District 64 which includes all of Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, Canada and is a part of Region IV. The District is composed of 100+ clubs.

Bagby is a retired librarian who received her MLS from Dalhousie University and worked as a medical records librarian at St. Boniface Hospital. She has been a member of Toastmasters since 1991. While living in Arizona from 1996-2000 she served as an Area Governor. She has been a member of the District 64 Executive for four years. She is a member of the Goodbye Jitters, On Track and Crossroads Toastmaster Clubs in Winnipeg. She has also achieved her Distinguished Toastmaster’s status.

I had the further opportunity to meet with Dallas in April, 2004. She had always wanted to visit Flin Flon. She and a companion motored 500 miles (783km) to take part in the third annual poetry reading in honour of National Poetry Month (April). This is an event sponsored annually by Flin Flon Toastmasters Club #2065, the Flin Flon Writers Guild and the Flin Flon Public Library.

For Bagby, attending the poetry event was a way of adding more oomph to the trip.

When asked what her impressions of the reading were, she replied that it was a surprise. She had expected poetry to be so serious. There was more laughter and it was fun.

In fact, she enjoyed it so much that after participating, she took the idea back home and she and her Toastmasters colleagues did a poetry reading at the Daytimers’ Club in Winnipeg.

Again, April, 2005, Bagby and another Toastmasters colleague, Bev Phillips, journeyed to Flin Flon to take part in the fourth annual poetry reading held at the Flin Flon Public Library.

Bagby defines a poem as “words put together so that they stir the soul.”

Her favourite poets are Irving Layton, Ogden Nash and Glenda Walker-Hobbs.

Bagby feels that there is a correlation between poetry and public speaking. She says that “the best speeches have a cadence that sounds poetic, a message bigger than the individual words. The best speeches like effective poems impact the listener. The delivery can add so much to the words in both cases.”

A good speaker can add so much value to the written words’ messages. Some have animated sense of timing. Most of us have to learn it by trial and error.”

There is also a relationship between reading and public speaking. Toastmasters requires giving presentations and reading written material. Adding interest is not easy when you did not write the material.

Some of the Toastmaster Program requires steps which can be used for reading poetry. For example, in the Advanced Communication and Leadership program, the manual “Specialty Speeches” includes a step called Read out Loud, "the purpose of which is to communicate the thoughts, emotions, attitudes and intentions of an author through a reader’s performance.” Another manual, “Interpretive Reading,” also includes a step on the dramatic reading of a poem.

When asked what advice about public speaking she would give to a would-be poetry reader, Bagby replied: “Practice, practice, practice. It takes so much trial and error to find the best delivery that reaches the audience.”

Bagby feels that she still has a lot to learn both for reading and for public speaking. She says that the use of vocal variety, pauses and emphasis are crucial to succeed in both means of communications. The best speeches transcend the written words just as poetry can. Pacing and pauses are key, best it’s not obvious, how to pace or when to pause. Practice develops those skills in readers and speakers.

It takes time to arrive at a reading style. An artificial declamatory style delivered in a pseudo intellectual manner or a loud shouted poem will turn off your listeners. Practice is important as is knowing your material. If you can, practice in front of a mirror. Better still, tape yourself on a tape or CD or videotape yourself and listen to or watch the playback. Be your own best critic.

You’re not alone in having a fear of speaking in public. Toastmasters International is an excellent organization to check out. Check out their web page at http://www.toastmasters.org and the District 64 web page at http://ti64.org.

Bagby says that good speeches and good poems do the same thing: they move the audience, touch the experience, and convey more than one expected at first contact.