What is Spoken Word?

A craft that uses poetry, performance, and oration. A faucet of juice with creative flavors that are never the same, like a snowflake that falls in mid-December. Poetry is directed to the eye, while spoken word is favored to the ear. However, they both use techniques such as simile, metaphor, alliteration, assonance, imagery, and many more.

When grouped, it becomes an art that invokes thoughts, questions, and emotions. Other techniques include story-telling, monologue, comedy, jazz, and hip-hop.

Benefits include:

• Self-awareness
• Communication skills
• Literary skills
• Confidence
• Social and emotional awareness

Personal example:

Spoken word is all around us and gets easier to catch once you know how to listen. Other factors include tone, pace, and a series of words that play with each other. An example is ‘Poet Behind a Register’ by C.R. Angel, which tells a story between family, food, and a cashier with rhythm, rhyme, and imagery.

Listen to more by C.R. Angel and his spoken word podcast.

Writing Exercise:

• Incorporate a literary technique three different times.
• Incorporate three different techniques at least once.
• Read other examples of literary techniques.