If you’re looking to become a better public speaker, there are few things that will increase your natural ability faster than continually reading poetry out loud. Here is our list of the 10 best poems to read out loud.
Top 10 Poems to Read Out Loud
Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
You’ve heard it, you’ve quoted it, but have you really read it? Take some time and thank us later.
Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death –”
Number 479, considered to be a nearly perfect poem. Emily Dickinson takes a clear look at her mortality in this stunning poem. Once you’ve finished with this one, read 480, 481, 482, 483, and everything else she ever wrote.
Langston Hughes, “Harlem”
Don’t just read this one. Instead, eat it. Drink it. Memorize it. Let this one really hit you.
Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”
Still I Rise is one of the most influential poems of the 20th century. It’s not every day that a Formula 1 racing driver gets a poem tattooed on them, but such is the power of Maya Angelou’s words that that very thing happened.
Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
You can feel how each word is filled with such passion and emotion. There’s a fight and a struggle in these words.
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”
Next time you’re sitting around a campfire telling scary stories, pull out some Poe and watch the terror settle in. Nothing competes with The Raven.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask“
Undeniably of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s most well known pieces of work, this is a true masterpiece. Dunbar was a master of not only poetry but storytelling in all its forms.
William Blake, “The Tyger”
” Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Before you try and read this one out loud, make sure you brew some tea and have some cough drops, you’ll be reading awhile. But read it nonetheless. Whitman was a legend.
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”
Read this and try not to fall in love, I dare you.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee“
The love poem that all the other love poems try to be.
There it is, our top 10 best poems to read out loud to make you a better public speaker. Curious to learn other tips and tricks to become a better public speakers? Check out some of our other tips and tricks here.
