Stand up with a slam poem against "it's just a phase."Out loud: name the phases that were supposed to pass, and after each one say "still here."
Perform a slam poem about a name you gave: to a pet, a bike, a band or a younger child's toy.Out loud: tell the thing why, as if it were standing in front of you.
Perform a slam poem to "no offense, but" and everything that follows it.Out loud: say the phrase and leave a silence where the rest would go. The room fills it in.
Answer "are you even listening" with a slam poem made of everything you heard.Out loud: repeat back the small things first: the sigh, the keys, the chair.
Answer "that's not how we do things here" in a slam poem spoken by the new kid.Out loud: say "here" like a place the first time and like a wall the last time.
Answer "what do you want to be when you grow up" with a slam poem about what you already are.Out loud: begin every answer with "I am," never with "I will be."
Answer "you have so much potential" with a slam poem about what you are doing right now.Out loud: end every line of the last stanza on "right now."
Give "kids these days" back in a slam poem about what kids these days carry.Out loud: face a different part of the room for each thing carried.
In a slam poem, tell about being told to speak up, and then being told you are too loud.Out loud: do both volumes, and let the room hear how little space lies between them.
Perform a slam poem for everyone who has told you that you are too quiet.Out loud: begin close to a whisper and make the room lean in.
Perform a slam poem to "no offense, but" and everything that follows it.Out loud: say the phrase and leave a silence where the rest would go. The room fills it in.
Speak a slam poem for the youngest in a family, who keeps hearing "you'll understand when you're older."Out loud: count your age up one year a stanza and report what you understand.
Stand up with a slam poem against "it's just a phase."Out loud: name the phases that were supposed to pass, and after each one say "still here."
Stand up with a slam poem against the words "good enough."Out loud: pause between "good" and "enough," a beat longer each time.
Take "when I was your age" and finish the sentence nine ways in a slam poem.Out loud: say the phrase in the same flat voice each time, a little faster as you go.
Take "you're so mature for your age" and say in a slam poem what you would like to be instead.Out loud: name three childish things you want back, one to a breath.
Write a slam poem that answers "because I said so" with every reason you were never given.Out loud: open each stanza with "Because," and stop the last one right after the word.
Write a slam poem that talks back to "calm down."Out loud: repeat the two words more quietly each time, until the calm is yours.
A list that builds 15
Build a slam poem from every place you have waited: lines, lobbies, back seats, benches.Out loud: repeat "and I waited" after each place, slower every time.
Build a slam poem from everything you have been late for, from the smallest to the largest.Out loud: repeat "I was late for," and drop to a normal speaking voice for the final one.
Build a slam poem from the dishes on your family's table and who taught whom to make each one.Out loud: say the name of each dish the way it is said at home.
Build a slam poem from things you know how to do that nobody taught you.Out loud: start every line with "I know how to," then say the last skill with no lead-in.
Count down from ten in a slam poem, letting one thing go at each number.Out loud: the numbers loud, the things soft. At one, switch them.
For a slam poem, list the rules of your house that are not written down, and build to the one that matters most.Out loud: number them aloud, and skip a number just before the last.
For a slam poem, list what your neighborhood sounds like at six in the morning, each line a word longer than the last.Out loud: let the growing lines run you short of breath on purpose.
In a slam poem that gets quieter, list everything you can hear when the power goes out.Out loud: finish below speaking volume, on the smallest sound.
In a slam poem, list what your lunch table talks about from Monday to Friday, louder each day.Out loud: Friday at full voice, then one quiet line about the weekend.
Perform a slam poem listing what you are good at that never shows up on a report card.Out loud: read each skill like a grade being announced.
Perform a slam poem listing what your hands did today.Out loud: hold your hands still at your sides until the last line.
Stand up with a slam poem that lists the questions you did not ask in class this year.Out loud: ask each one to the room and wait a beat, as if a hand might go up.
Write a slam poem of small things that are not fair, building to one large thing.Out loud: repeat "it's not fair" for the small ones only. The large one needs no label.
Write a slam poem of things you would carry out of your room, and let the list get stranger.Out loud: one item to a breath. The stranger the item, the plainer the voice.
Write a slam poem that lists everything in your backpack, ending on the one thing that is not an object.Out loud: speed up through the objects, then stop dead before the last one.
My name 15
In a slam poem, say how your name sounds when your grandmother says it, and when a stranger does.Out loud: say it both ways, back to back, and let the room hear the gap.
In a slam poem, tell about seeing your name spelled wrong on something that mattered.Out loud: spell the wrong version, then the right one, slower.
In a slam poem, tell about the day a substitute teacher read your name off the list.Out loud: do the pause before the attempt. The pause is the first line.
Make a slam poem about sharing your first name with someone else in the room.Out loud: say the name twice, in two tones, so nobody could mix up the two.
Make a slam poem about signing your name: the first time, the fast way, the careful way.Out loud: write it in the air with one finger as you speak the last stanza.
Perform a slam poem about a name you gave: to a pet, a bike, a band or a younger child's toy.Out loud: tell the thing why, as if it were standing in front of you.
Perform a slam poem of every nickname you have had, each in the voice of whoever gave it.Out loud: say the last one, the one you chose yourself, in your own voice.
Speak a slam poem about who chose your name and what they were hoping for.Out loud: speak to them directly: you chose, you hoped, you could not have known.
Speak a slam poem about your last name and the places it has lived.Out loud: one place to a line, each begun with "It lived in."
Spell your name aloud in a slam poem and hang a line on each letter.Out loud: letters sharp, lines slow. End by saying the whole name once.
Stand up with a slam poem about the name you nearly had, and the person who would have worn it.Out loud: introduce yourself by that name once, and take it back.
Tell the room, in a slam poem, what your name is not.Out loud: repeat "My name is not," and say what it is only in the last line.
Write a slam poem in which your name is called three times: by a coach, by a parent, by a friend.Out loud: the same word at three volumes. The friend's is the quietest.
Write a slam poem on what your name means, or what you have decided it means.Out loud: repeat "my name means," with a different ending each time.
Write a slam poem that teaches the room how to say your name.Out loud: break it into syllables, then say it whole, the way it is said at home.
A letter out loud 15
Address a slam poem to whoever sits in your seat next year.Out loud: point at an empty chair in the room and speak to it.
Address a slam poem to your own stage fright.Out loud: let your voice shake in the first stanza on purpose, and steady it by the third.
Address a slam poem to yourself at seven.Out loud: crouch a little, as if talking to someone that height, then stand for the last line.
Address a slam poem, as a letter, to the street you grew up on.Out loud: begin each stanza with "Dear" and a different thing on the street.
Make a slam poem that is a letter to a city you have only seen on a screen.Out loud: repeat "I have never," then turn it to "but I know."
Make a slam poem that is a letter to whoever invented homework.Out loud: stay mock-polite: Dear Sir or Madam, with respect, I must ask.
Make a slam poem that is a letter to your alarm clock.Out loud: start furious, end grateful, and let the change come in the middle.
Perform a thank-you letter, as a slam poem, to someone who never knew they helped.Out loud: say "thank you" only at the end, after the whole story of what they did.
Speak a slam poem as a letter to the audience hearing it, in this room, today.Out loud: look at one person for each line and call the room you.
Speak a slam poem as a letter to the team that did not pick you.Out loud: no shouting. Repeat "you should know," and hold the room with a level voice.
Speak a slam poem to the mirror, and let the mirror answer.Out loud: two voices. Turn your head a little for each, and give the mirror the last word.
Stand up with a slam poem that is a letter to whoever gets your bedroom after you.Out loud: repeat "You will find," and end on the one thing you are taking with you.
Write a letter to your older self and perform it as a slam poem.Out loud: say "Dear me" once, and after that only "you, you, you."
Write a slam poem as a letter to a language you wish you spoke better.Out loud: use the words of it you do have, and do not translate them.
Write a slam poem as a letter to the bus driver who waits when she sees you running.Out loud: the running lines come fast and out of breath, the thanks slowly.
How it works
These slam poetry writing prompts start from things people say: because I said so, a name read off an attendance list, a letter to the team that did not pick you. The line underneath says how to perform it.
Read the full guide
Written for the ear
Slam poems are judged as much on the manner and enthusiasm of their performance as on their content or style, and many are not meant to be read silently from the page. So every prompt leans on what a listener can follow: a repeated phrase, a list, someone spoken to directly.
Three minutes
Props, costumes and music are typically forbidden at a slam, which leaves a voice, a body and a clock. The timer here is set to three minutes, the standard limit: read your draft against it.
Read every draft aloud, standing. Cut any line you run out of breath on, unless running out of breath is the point.
Pick one phrase to repeat and decide how it changes: louder, slower, or said once to a single person.
Questions and answers
What is slam poetry?
Poetry written to be performed at a slam, a competition in which poets perform original work alone or in teams before an audience. Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s.
How long should a slam poem be?
Short enough to perform inside the time limit, which is usually three to four minutes. Three minutes with a ten-second grace period is the standard, and running over can cost points.
How is a poetry slam judged?
Often by a panel of five judges chosen from the audience. Scores generally run from zero to ten, and the highest and lowest are often dropped.
What should I write a slam poem about?
Something you would tell a room that had to listen. Start from a sentence you are tired of hearing, your own name, or a letter to someone who is not there.