The open mic

Nobody auditions you, nobody reads the work in advance, and nobody scores it. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the open mic is the ordinary front door to every other room in spoken word: a poem that has only ever been read to a bedroom wall gets said to 20 strangers, and the writer finds out in 3 minutes which lines were really there.

What an open mic night means, and what it is not

An open mic night means an event where the microphone is open to the floor rather than reserved for booked performers, so the phrase describes a sign-up policy and not an art form. That matters, because four different scenes use it. Comedy open mics, music open mics, storytelling nights and poetry nights all run on an open list, and walking into the wrong one is the commonest first mistake anybody makes. Every open mic described here is a poetry night; if a listing says comedy, it is a comedy night, and reading a poem at one is a hard and unkind way to spend 3 minutes.

Some nights advertise a spoken word and poetry open mic, which is the same thing said twice and is a useful signal: the room expects performed work as well as read work, and a poem said from memory will surprise nobody. A night calling itself a reading is usually quieter, more page facing, and more likely to be in a library or a bookshop. Every other room a poem can be said in, from a lunchtime circle to a national festival, is mapped in The stage and its circuit, and two of them run on different rules altogether: a slam scores you, and Recitation contests ask you to say a poem somebody else wrote, from memory, against a printed text.

How the sign-up list works

The sign-up list is a piece of paper on a table near the door, and it is the only competitive part of the night. Most rooms take between 12 and 20 names, the list opens when the doors do, and it closes the moment it is full, which at a busy night can be 20 minutes before the first poem. Arriving early is not politeness, it is the whole strategy.

• Get there when doors open, normally 30 to 60 minutes before the poetry starts.
• Write the name you want said out loud, not your legal name, and write it clearly, because the host reads exactly what is on the paper.
• Say if it is your first time, where the sheet asks, because most hosts put first timers early and warm the room up for them.
• Check whether names are drawn at random rather than read in order, which some nights do to stop people leaving after their own slot.
• Stay for the whole night once you have signed, because leaving straight after your 3 minutes is the one thing regulars genuinely resent.

Some venues have moved the list to an online form that opens a few days ahead, and a few draw from a hat on the night. The principle holds either way: places are limited, they go in the order people ask, and nobody is holding one for you. If the list is full, ask about a reserve slot and then stay and watch anyway, which is worth more than the 3 minutes you missed.

How long you get, and what to bring

You get 3 to 5 minutes at almost every poetry open mic, and the honest way to read that is as one poem, or two short ones, never a set. The host is timing the night backwards from when the venue needs the room, so an overrun by one poet is taken out of the last poet on the list. Time yourself out loud at home, standing up, and take the longer of two attempts, because everybody slows down in front of people.

Bring the poem on paper, printed large enough to read in a dark room, and the phone as a backup with the brightness up and notifications off. Bring water, and a couple of pounds or dollars for the door. Check the venue's age policy before setting out, because a licensed bar may be over 18 or over 21 regardless of what is on stage, while libraries, bookshops, cafes, arts centres and youth clubs are usually open to all ages and are where most young writers should start.

The four minutes before your name is called

In the 4 minutes before your name is called, do 6 specific things rather than rehearsing the poem again, which at that point can only frighten you.

1. Go to the toilet during the poet two slots ahead of you, not the one immediately before.
2. Stand at the back and say your first line under your breath, twice.
3. Pick two faces you will look at, one on each side of the room, and nothing else.
4. Check the paper is the poem you meant to bring, and the right way up.
5. Breathe out for longer than you breathe in, 5 times, which slows a heart rate adrenaline has already raised.
6. Walk up when the host says your name, set the microphone to your mouth, and then speak, in that order.

The first 10 seconds are the whole difficulty, and they are survivable because the room is on your side. Say your name and the title, wait for quiet, and start. Do not apologise, do not explain the poem, and do not mention that it is your first time unless you want the applause that follows. A poem dense with images and carrying one clear turn lands at speaking speed better than a clever one, which is why Metaphor is the device most writers lean on when choosing what to read.

How to find a poetry open mic, without a directory

To find a poetry open mic near you, ask 5 kinds of local people, because this reference holds no listings, no calendar and no venue database, and it will not pretend to be a directory. Nights move venue, change date and stop without warning, and any national list of them is wrong within a month.

• Ask the events desk at the public library, which frequently hosts a night and always knows who does.
• Ask in an independent bookshop, a cafe with a back room, an arts centre or a youth theatre.
• Ask the creative writing society at a nearby college or university, where student nights are often free and open to visitors.
• Follow the host rather than the venue online, because the host carries the night away when a venue closes.
• Ask at the end of the first night you attend, which is the fastest method there is.

What changes from place to place is density, not method. A large city such as New York, with long standing nights across Brooklyn, or Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas or Denver, will have several poetry events a week and at least one weekly open mic that has run for years. A small town may have one a month in an urban regeneration space or the back of a coffee house. Both are found by asking a librarian. If your area genuinely has nothing, the remaining option is to start one, and Hosting the room sets out what that takes.