6 Tips for Using Multimedia to Enhance Your Poems

We all know that writing poetry is an amazing, creative way to express ourselves, but have you ever thought about what you can do with your poems after you have written them? There is so much technology that surrounds us every day, so why not put it to use? Combining our poems with different forms of multimedia is a fun way to take our poetry to the next level.

1. Video. Try using your phone, computer, or camera to record a video of yourself reading one of your poems. This way, people can actually hear you speak your own words and the emotions of the poem will come across much stronger than if people were to simply read your poem themselves.
2. Slam. You might have been part of an online poetry slam, but have you ever been to one in person? Well why not make your own? Decide on an issue that is important to you, and invite a bunch of your friends to read poetry they have written about that issue and record a video of yourselves doing so. You will have created your own live poetry slam, and once the video is ready you can edit it, and add extra components, like background music.
3. Voice. Nervous about being seen on camera but still want people to hear you read your own poetry? No problem! You can use a microphone connected to your computer, or even your cell phone to record yourself reading your poems. Using your own voice will definitely add a new dimension to your poem! Check out how these poets use their voices to contribute an extra layer to their work.
4. PowerPoint. You may have used the PowerPoint program to make presentations for school, but have you ever thought about combining it with your poetry? You can put the text of one of your poems on different slides, and add pictures to the slides that match the words. These pictures can be ones you find online or that you take yourself.
5. Song. Turn your poem into a song, or to take that one step further, a music video. You can take a video of yourself singing your poem to music you have recorded, or you can even get up and dance!
6. Power Poetry. Whatever ways you choose to enhance your poems through multimedia, remember to have fun and upload them to Power Poetry.org so that everyone can see your new creations!