#56 The Line Between Vulnerability and Performance

What does it mean to fully step into a poem, on the page and on the stage? In this episode, we explore vulnerability and spoken word performance, the courage it takes to share your work, and how embodiment can deepen a poem's emotional impact.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

The poem asks more of you than performance. This episode explores what it means to meet it there.

02:30 — Performance as Power
What it means to take the stage and center your voice in a world that rarely lets you.

04:20 — Where Vulnerability Lives in the Work
How embodiment and emotional truth make a poem land and stay with an audience.

05:30 — When Performance Takes Over
How fear, validation, and audience perception can distort the truth of the poem.

06:40 — The Line Between Vulnerability and Performance
Not retraumatizing yourself, but allowing yourself to testify from a place of truth.

07:40 — Stop Editing for the Audience
Why your work has to sit right with you before it can reach anyone else.

08:40 — A Practice in Vulnerability
A guided writing exercise to reconnect with the soul of your work.

10:00 — Tools for Creative Trust
How resources like The Artist's Way and Steal Like an Artist support deeper, more honest creation.

***

If this episode sparked something, get our free Creative Care Package with tools, prompts, and checklists to help you keep writing.