SLAM RULES | home

B.O.S.S. SLAM RULES

Original Work in Any Style. Poems can be on any subject and in any style. Each poet must perform work that they've has created.

Judging - All efforts shall be made to select five members of the audience to act as judges who will be fair for the event. We try to create “diverse” judging panels. Once chosen, the judges will have a private, verbal crash course by the host/emcee on the do’s and don’t’s of poetry slam judging (where they can ask questions). If the time is available, competing poets are given the opportunity to see the judges to verify that they will be impartial. Protests. Complaints, problems, and/or disagreements regarding the impartiality of the judges should be brought privately to the attention of the host/emcee BEFORE the bout begins. Having heard and understood the complaint, the host\emcee or will then make a decision (also privately) that cannot be further challenged

Scoring. The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to avoid the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together. If a Poet is given the scores 10 9.5 9.3 9.0 8.9 the 10 and 8.9 will be dropped giving them a score of 27.8

Before the competition begins, a “calibration poet”, whom the judges will score in order to calibrate their judging.

Time Limit - The Three-Minute Rule. Performances will be timed by a timekeeper. No performance should last longer than three minutes. The time begins when the performance begins, which may well be before the first utterance is made. A poet is certainly allowed time to adjust the microphone and get them-self settled & ready, but as soon as they make a connection with the audience (“Hey look, she’s been standing there for 10 seconds and hasn’t even moved”), the timekeeper can start the clock. The poet does not have an unlimited amount of “mime time.” Poets with ambiguous beginnings & endings to their performances should seek out the timekeeper at the venue to settle on a starting & ending time. After three minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (up to and including 3:10.00). Starting at 3:10.01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet’s overall score.The announcement of the time penalty and its consequent deduction will be made by the emcee or scorekeeper after all the judges have reported their scores. The judges should not even be told that a poet went overtime until it is too late for them to adjust their scores.If you go over 3 the host has the right to cut you off and end your poem prematurely.

A single round at a poetry slam consists of performances by all eligible poets. Slams last multiple rounds, and many involve the elimination of lower-scoring poets in successive rounds. An elimination rubric might run 10-6-3, with ten poets in the first round, six in the second, and three in the last.

Props - No Props. Generally, poets are allowed to use their given environment and the things it offers – microphones, mic stands, the stage itself, chairs on stage, a table or bar top, the aisle – as long as these things are available to other competitors as well.

Costumes - No Costumes. If you wear something all day, and it is a part of your regular wardrobe, you can wear it when performing your poem. Be careful… if you direct attention to the article of clothing, or point directly at it, it will become a prop, and will be breaking the prop rule. Thus, you can’t change into a special outfit for a specific poem. However, if you wear a black hat every day and want to write a poem about wearing a black hat, we won’t make you take it off before performing, nor penalize you for talking about it.

Music - No Music. No musical instruments or pre-recorded music. You may use music created with your own body.