It all started out in November of 1984 in Chicago when a Marc Smith started the Poetry Slam in Get Me High Lounge, to be specific.  By July of 1986, poetry slam moved into its permanent home in Chicago called, the Green Mill Jazz Club.  The first national competition of poetry slam was held in Fort Mason, in the state of San Francisco by the year 1990.  It comprised of several teams from San Francisco, Chicago and individual poets from New York.  From then on, National Poetry Slam grows bigger with a current record of 75 teams participating every year.  The competition usually lasted for five days. 

In a poetry slam, the host or an emcee will pick out several persons from the audience to judge in the event.  After every poet had delivered his or her piece, the judges will provide a numeric score to the entry.  Scores are usually based on the scale of 0 to 10 with ten as the highest.  In a standard poetry slam, only five judges are needed and the lowest and highest scores are dropped, bequeathing every performance with a rate between 0 and 30 points.

Usually, a single round of a poetry slam event will consists of eligible poets performances.  Most slams will last up to multiple rounds, eliminating low-scored poets after each round.  Generally, the elimination is based on the 8-4-2 levels, wherein eight poets will be retained in the first round, then 4our in the next round and then two on the last round.  However, there are some poetry slams that do not eliminate poets at all.  In addition, any form of props such as music and costumes are prohibited in slams.  In general, such poetry slams are time limited, with three minutes as the usual running of each entry.

Poetry slams stress out wide range of styles, voices, approaches and cultural traditions to performance and writing.  There are poets who are associated with a vocal delivery style connected to hip hop music, while others rely heavily on dub poetry.  Dub poetry refers to the politicized and rhythmic genre that belongs to the West Indian culture.  Others also practice the narrative formula without the use of rhymes.  Since diverse poets have their own style, it is not surprising to hear of poets collaborating theatric devices in such a way that they shift their tone of voice, while the others deliver their poem in an ironic monotone.  Sometimes, poets just used their own words and style in reciting their pieces while at some point, there are poets that go beyond the extremes by beat-boxing or tap dancing or using any well-choreographed moves.

Poetry slams come with goals, and one of which is to challenge anyone with authority claiming to hold any position over literary value.  Every poet depends on the goodwill of the viewing public.  Since the only poets to advance to the final round in a poetry slam are those who accumulated the best scores, structure of the event reassures that the audience will get to choose the poet by whom they hear more poetry.  Therefore, each member of the audience will somehow become so much part of every poem, breaking down the wall among critic, audience and the poet performer. 

However, just like almost anything, a poetry slam does not go without its own share of critics.  And favorably, it also found its way to fondness among teenagers as their form of expressing themselves.  In 1996, a non-profitable literary organization was founded by James Kass, serving as one of the biggest poetry organizations among youths in the United States.  The organization offers opportunities for youngsters aging from 13 to 19 years old to openly express their ideas and feelings on stage and paper.

Youth Speaks was just one of the many poetry organizations incessant worldwide.  With poetry slam on the picture, people have been provided with a unique chance to artistically express their thoughts and feelings before the contemplating public.