Poetry Slam Rules
In short:
No costumes
No props
No musical accompaniment
No plagiarism (70% original work)
3-minute time limit
In long:
No costumes or accessories may be worn that are referenced in your piece.
This includes any type of onesie costume or outfit that is referenced or aligning to a theme within your poem. If your poem is about a circus and you have a top-hat on, you will be disqualified for a costume. If your poem is about wearing a pair of old sneakers, or a particular jacket, it will be considered a costume violation and you will be disqualified. This includes jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings, piercings), pants, shirts, jackets, outerwear, hats, shoes, boots, socks, and anything else that is subject to being worn. Event staff (Host, Slam Master, Timekeeper, Scorekeeper) will convene to decide on whether something constitutes a costume or not. An announcement will not be made; the poet will be notified in private and, if having made it, not qualified to compete in round 2. The poet is welcome to return to any other poetry slam; the disqualification does not extend beyond the show the violation has occurred.
No props may be used outside of what is available on stage.
References to items that other competing poets do not have access to will result in a disqualification of the competition. This includes cellphones, notebooks, pens, or other personal accessory that is not available for all poets in the competition. This also includes the articles of clothing mentioned above - should any reference to clothing be made, even innocuously, and a gesture to said article happen, this will be considered a prop violation. A poet may not procure a prop and leave it on stage for all competitors. If your poem happens to reference a journal, notebook, page, paper, cellphone, or “notes app” and you are reading from any of these items, it will be considered a prop violation and you will be disqualified. To be clear: reading from any of these items IS allowed - just don’t reference it in your piece. An announcement will not be made; the poet will be notified in private and, if having made it, not qualified to compete in round 2. The poet is welcome to return to any other poetry slam; the disqualification does not extend beyond the show the violation has occurred.
Accessories and items that are available to all competitors are considered fair play. This includes any sort of table, chair, stage, rug, Milton (the pig), microphone, mic stand, or anything else within view of the audience and available for all competitors to reference.
No musical accompaniment nor instruments may be used.
Fairly self-explanatory: no guitars, drums, external sound makers, DJ sound boards, assistance from the sound tech to play a song on cue, or other help from the audience beyond that which organically occurs. This does not include humming, singing, stomping, snapping, clapping, beatboxing, or other sounds a poet can make with their body/voice. This also does not include sounds produced with the microphone, mic stand, or any combination of these things and that mentioned previously. Should external sounds be made from the bar, street, audience, or random disrupters (i.e. shouting, glass breaking, stomping, sirens) and this is either referenced in your piece on sheer happenstance or you decide to make a quick improvised line of poetry, consider that a freak act of nature that may enhance your piece - this will not constitute a violation.
No plagiarism - work must be original.
Poems can be about any subject but typically are supposed to be the creation of the performing poet. Poets are permitted to quote or sample specific lines or stanzas from other work, but are not permitted to have more than 30% of their poem sampled from that work. This includes but is not limited to: lyrics, quotes, taglines, stanzas, rhymes, stories, or words that are belonging to any other artist, living or dead. Poetry must be 70% original. Violation of this rule results in disqualification from the slam competition.
Poems must not exceed 3 minutes.
Upon engagement with the audience*, the timekeeper starts the timer. Poets are given a 10-second grace period, but should not come to rely on this grace. After 10 seconds and for every subsequent 10 seconds over, 0.5 points are deducted from the overall score. Explicitly, at approximately 03 minutes and 10 seconds, 0.5 points are deducted. If a piece goes on to 03 minutes 45 seconds, 2 full points are deducted. Poets have dropped several places in rank due to going over the time limit.
After scores are called out, the Timekeeper will hold up a hand for the Host. The Host will announce that theres a time penalty and ask the Timekeeper to announce the final time. The Host will then make some sort of commiserating sound and continue the show, not announcing any final score or deduction amount.
*Engagement with the audience includes addressing the audience in any pre-amble (“This is my first time…” or “This piece is called…” or providing trigger warnings will initiate the timer) as well as eye-contact with any specific member, or looking out over the general vicinity. Adjusting the mic stand, taking a deep breath, facing away from the audience, or unfolding any notes does not initiate the timer. Speaking any variation of “Check check” into the microphone will initiate the timer, even if you are adjusting the microphone after or continuing to prepare.
How does the judging and scoring and rounds work?
Poet scores will be determined by 5 random audience judges
Judges will be selected by the host prior to the beginning of the slam by asking event attendees (non-competitors) if they are willing to volunteer and if they are familiar with anyone in the competition. The host will then provide them an option of either score flip cards or a whiteboard and marker to perform the task of scoring each poem.
The goal is to find volunteers who have no personal relationship or connection to any of the competitors. However, based on audience numbers and who is in attendance/competing, they may take part with the understanding that they must maintain a non-bias and consistency in their scoring.
The best judges are those who have come to a slam for the first time! They will be encouraged to use whatever reference or rubric for “a good poem” they choose. Basically, it comes from the gut.
Any one score ranges from 0.0 to 10.0
The host will call poets to the stage in order of random draw. Following each poem, as soon as the competitor leaves the stage, the host will take the mic and instruct judges, “Up with your scores!” then read out the numbers for the scorekeeper to track. The audience is free to react to the scores as they are called out, either saying “Higher!” or making other sounds of either disapproval or agreement.
From the scorecard, the lowest and highest scores are dropped. The total score of each poem is the sum of the middle 3 scores for a potential of 30 points. If poet scores, in no particular order, an 8.5, a 9.2, a 7.1, a 9.5, and a 7.9, the final score will be 25.6 as the lowest score (7.1) and highest score (9.5) are dropped.
There are 2 rounds of competition:
The first round features 12 poets. Names are randomly drawn and the host will make it clear which poet is to follow the upcoming one by announcing who is “on deck”.
After the round is complete, the host will cater to any community announcements or upcoming shows while the scorekeeper tabulates scores. After this is complete, the host will announce the top 6 poets from round 1 that will move on to round 2.
After these announcements is a 10-15 minute intermission, allowing round 2 poets to prepare their next piece if need be. Following the intermission, there may be a featured poet or the second round may begin promptly.
The judging and scoring process is repeated, meaning another 30 points may be sequestered for a total of 60 points across the 2 rounds. NOTE: This does not apply during Qualifier slams, where instead the round 2 scores alone (out of 30) determine final rank for poets, rather than a cumulative score out of 60. This means you need a solid piece in round 1 to just get to round 2, and an extra good piece during round 2 to score high and achieve a high ranking.
After the second round is completed, scores are tallied and the top 3 poets are announced.
Anyone, regardless of age, race, sex, education, class, disability, gender, or sexuality, can compete in a Poetry Slam. Per Winnipeg Poetry Slam and Handsome Daughter policy, hate speech towards any specific group of people will not be tolerated and will constitute an immediate ban.
