How to Prepare for a Five-Minute Open Mic Reading...

There is no more plaintive cry than one heard at a recent Words Out Loud event “...ohhh, just when I was getting to the good part.”

You may know the feeling—you’re up there, reading your piece, and suddenly you’re running out of time. With one eye on the host, you read faster and faster, trying to get to the good part before they stand up to say, “Thank you, reader, your five minutes are up.”

Here are a few tips to help you avoid that sad scenario and make the most of your five minutes. With thanks to several pros, including Ivan Coyote (ivancoyote.com) and Rachel Thompson (rachelthompson.co).

Selection:

● If you’re reading from a longer piece, find the gems; the parts of the story where your heart quickens, the parts that are essential to the meaning of the story. Don’t be afraid to jump from one to the next, leaving out the middle bits. Bonus: you might discover that you don’t need some of those middle bits, and can cut them completely on your next revision, or at least whittle them down.

● If you’re reading a short piece, make every word count. Get rid of draggy adjectives and adverbs; choose your nouns and verbs carefully so they do the work. (Simple example: “she sprinted” rather than “she ran quickly.”)

Preparation:

● Read your work out loud—before you even start timing yourself. Record yourself on your phone and play the recording back. Note the awkward phrases, the baggy language, the places you swallow your words. Revise.

● Preamble: your 5 minutes includes your preamble, so keep it short—two sentences max. The poet Patrick Friesen would just step up to the mic and launch, without any preamble at all.

● Write out your preamble and practice it every time you practice reading your piece. It’s the piece that sinks most open mic readers - the piece they don’t plan and thus it goes on too long.

Practice:

● Time yourself, not just once, but each time you read out loud. If you’re consistently coming out at 5 minutes 30 seconds, revise. Aim for 4 minutes 30 seconds, so you can take your time. When you’re rushed, the audience feels it. They start feeling anxious for you. Which means they’re not listening to your words anymore.

● How many times should you practice? There’s a sweet spot, different for every writer, usually between three and seven times. You want to know your piece well, but you need to keep the freshness, too; you need to be engaged in what you’re saying. When you feel your attention wandering during practice (and you know it’s not because the words aren’t good) stop. Maybe try again later, or tomorrow. Or maybe you’re ready.

● Read to a friend, your roommate, or your family. It’s amazing how much nervousness you can get out of your system by reading to a real person.

Prepping your manuscript:

● If you’re reading from paper, use a big font. Make page breaks at the end, not in the middle, of a sentence or paragraph.

● Decide whether you will hold the pages in your hand and put each one on the music stand as you’re finished, or whether you’ll set the pages on the stand and slide each one to the right as you’re finished, or if you’ll hold all the pages in your hand and move the finished page to the bottom of the pile. (It will be a small pile, of course, because you’ve only got 5 minutes.)

● Whatever your choice, practice turning the pages.

● If you’re reading from a tablet, phone, or computer (not the best choice, because technology), practice scrolling and finding your place when the page changes.

At the Event

● If you’re comfortable, give your first name and your last name to the host. Folks in your audience might want to follow you, to keep an eye out for your byline. They can’t do that if they just have your first name.

● When you get to the mic, let the host adjust it for you, unless you’re proficient at mic stands and mics. That will give you less chance to get flustered.

● If you’re reading from a computer or a phone (not the best choice), have your piece cued up before you arrive at the mic.

● Look at the audience. Greet them in whatever way you feel comfortable. A simple “Hi everybody” is great.

● Take your time. You have the luxury, because you know you’re under 5 minutes by a safe margin (You planned it that way!). Know that the audience is here because they want to hear you. They are eager to hear you. Enjoy that feeling. Let the work breathe.

● Say a quick thank you, and look at the audience while you do it. Then get the heck off the stage, sit down, and rest on your laurels. You did it, and you did it well!

Overall tips:

● Remember your audience. Many of them are anxious clock-watchers. They are fine-tuned to know when you’re going over your time. Give them the best experience you can. We want them to keep coming back!

● Remember your fellow artists. If you go over your time, they might not get to read. Or, worse, they’ll have to edit down their piece in the moment—that piece

they’ve worked so hard to get right.

● Remember that the open mic is for creative work—it’s not a forum for political views, or a soapbox, or a place for public announcements or the launch of your business. Turn it into art, then share it.

● If you want to share an announcement about an upcoming event, do it within your timed five minutes. Alternatively, post it on social media on the “Friends of Yukon Words” page.