My Own Shakesperian Asides Part One:Scientific Evidence That Talented Poetry Slam Poets in Poetry Should Focus on More than Talent...well, sort of

By Brother Said

This is an aside from my series of articles on the seven principles of poetry slam. In the article on the 1st principle of poetry slam (that first and foremost poetry slam is a game for poets) I made a point about newcomers to slam leaning solely on their talent, and how that approach usually leads to those poets becoming disenchanted with the art form when their talent doesn't always get the results that fills their ego with the affirmation and acceptance they have longed for since being snotty nosed kids. Well, there seems to be a scientific basis for my assertion which I discovered in an article from Scientific American entitled The Secret to Raising Smart Kids . Now before you roll your eyes heavenward and shake your head is disbelief, disgust, and disdain - check out this excerpt. The bold emphasis is me imposing editorial omnipotence:

Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings. The result plays out in children,..... who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them. Praising children’s innate abilities.....reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.

Alright?! Got the point. You should have since I put a lot of key points in bold. Focusing on talent alone tends to make one not want to put forth effort. So whether you are talented or not, don't be afraid to try poetry slam. There is so much more involved than winning first, second, or third. There is a far greater prize that results from putting forth the effort to really focus on the game and the art form of performance poetry.

If you'd like to read the whole article here's the link:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids

Poetry Slam Principle 1: The Game

By Brother Said

I call poetry slam the sport of poets. If you want to slam you have to learn how to play the game of what Poetry Slam Incorporated defines as "the art form of competitive performance poetry". Poetry slam is not a poetry reading with judges. It's competitive. That means there are winners and losers. It also means there are strategic aspects to winning and losing. You will need to become a student of the game if you're serious about winning and avoiding losing. By losing, I mean you don't finish in the top three. But along the way you will lose poetry slams. Most poets, especially the novice slammers - are going to lose more slams than they win. Don't let the prospect of losing effect whether or not you slam. Don't be afraid to lose. This doesn't mean you should plan on being a loser. It means that most of the time, because this is a game and games have losers, you might lose and you shouldn't take it personally. It means you should study the game. The real issue is not the loss, but what you learn from losing. You will learn virtually nothing about the beautiful game of poetry slam if you lean only on your talent as a poet. Part of being a good student of slam is realizing early on: you will lose poetry slams despite how talented a poet you are.


Too many poets get involved in slam and lean only on their talent. Slam is a game involving a lot of luck, so good writers can get use to coming in first in a slam and think it's just their talent that's getting them wins. But when they finally do lose they let go of their composure and may even stop slamming altogether. The same goes for some poets that never win. They start slamming, thinking their talent will get them hi scores, then they don't get the scores - and they stop slamming. Neither of the foregoing types of poets, those that win too much early in their slam career and those that lose too much early in their slam career, were serious about the art form of performance poetry. They were good at performance poetry, and that's important - but not all there is to slam. They were'nt serious students of the competitive part of poetry slam, and probably didn't want to be serious students of the competitive part of the game. They want easy wins. Such people inspired the title for this blog: "justaslam". After losing a slam they suddenly wax philosophical and tell you “this is just poetry” or “just slam”. Do you think Tom Brady or Bret Favre say that about football? Do you think Miles Davis or Duke Ellington or even Prince said “this is just music”? Look, anything can be “just” when compared to war or hunger or natural disaster - in which case if you really feel being a poet is a waste of time or not as important as natural disasters, then go work as a fireman, or in emergency response or join the UN. Don't be “just a poet”.

Do you want to be a poetry slammer? Then don't say stuff like: "it's just a poetry slam " or “it's just poetry”. Don't be afraid to lose a poetry slam. You may come in first a lot, but you will lose eventually. You may lose a lot, but if you become a student of the game you will win eventually. Either way never give up. Remember, there are really three winners in a slam, so don't view coming in second or third as losing. Losing is not making the top three. Don't get discouraged when you don't make the top three. The poetry slam game is 70% situational. Sometimes the judges do give stupid scores. Sometimes you get consistently bad position throughout a slam. But 30% of the poetry slam is you. Students of the game really look at why they lost: whether it was the 70% situational which you have no control over; or the 30% personal which you do have control over. You have to write good poetry. You have to give better and better performances. You can't go over time. You have to apply at least basic slam strategy and learn to develop advanced strategy. You have to learn how to play the game of "competitive performance poetry".

In future articles I will detail the remaining six principles of poetry slam.

Welcome To Justaslamblog

I'm Brother Said, Slammaster for Houston Poetry Slam the original certified poetry slam in Houston, Texas. This is the blog for Houston Poetry Slam named Justaslamblog and it's dedicated especially to poetry slammers in Houston, Texas and the surrounding area. Of course if you are a slammer from somewhere else in the nation of Texas, that's fine. Of course if you're a slammer from somewhere else in the United States that's fine too. All slammers are welcome to Justaslamblog.

The first goal of this blog is to encourage Houston poets to get involved in poetry slam. The existing slam community is way to small for a city of 2,144,491 million people. The poetry slam community never tried to reach out to poets beyond the loop - hell, to reach out to poets beyond the central district (now called Midtown. Bull!) Maybe the poetry slam community here didn't know how to go beyond those geographical limits. I suspect they didn't want to for purely selfish reasons - but that's another post. When I became Slammaster for Houston Poetry Slam I made it my goal to create a true city wide slam.

I know a lot of poets everywhere are turned off by the competitive nature of poetry slam. They are turned off by the judging. Most poets feel that 5 strangers picked from the audience can't possibly judge their poetry. What that really mean is they feel their poetry is too good to be judged at all. There are those poets who have a philosophical feeling: that poetry like any other art form cannot be judged. And for those who feel that way, all I can say is I hope you change your mind. I use to have those thoughts and I got over it once I got involved, and slowly came to the realization of what slam truly is.

The rest of you probably don't have philosophical misgivings, and you probably don't give a crap what anybody says about your poetry. Good, you're a writer. Your main concern is probably more mundane and practical: what is a slam? Why bother? And something you're probably not willing to admit: you're afraid of losing.

Losing is a part of any competition. Don't be turned off by the competitive nature of poetry slam, because the possibility exists you could lose. As for what slam is: poetry slam is first and foremost a game. If you approach it as a game instead of a means to validate yourself as a poet or a writer you will be much better off in the long run. If you stick with it you will get better at the slam game.

Which brings me to the other goal of this blog. With this blog we want to feature advice on tips and tricks to get you up to speed on that troubling competitive nature of poetry slam and the fear you might have of losing. And most people don't fear losing. You probably are afraid that you will be a consistent loser. We will try to get some of the most experienced slammers to give you the advice you need to be competitive and not lose consistently.

The Houston Poetry Slam Super Slam Week is January 22-26, 2008 and out of that festival will come the 2008 Houston Slam Team. This blog will be one place you can get the advice you need to compete. For more details on Super Slam Week go to www.houstonpoetryslam.org for info on how to register.