Visit the National Endowment for the Arts’ YouTube channel to watch videos of past state and national champions. (Please note: These poems were eligible at the time they were performed but aren’t necessarily still part of the competition.)

What makes a performance compelling? Sometimes it’s hard to put into words exactly why you can’t take your eyes off a recitation. Watch these recitations and evaluate the strengths (and weaknesses!) of each, according to Poetry Out Loud evaluation criteria. Discuss the merits of these performances, which ones you like best and why and how the poems are different when read versus recited.