Baritone
The Soft Mic
Baritone is an emotionally honest soft mic for men. It’s a space to reflect, respond, and be real without having to perform. We welcome men who are healing, growing, grieving, learning, unlearning, or just trying to be present in their own skin. Baritone brings vulnerability with bass.
At Softspoke, we feel the culture around a lot of open mics can turn into lyrical arm-wrestling. Baritone isn’t about being the best; it’s about bringing it back to basics and writing in a deeper register. This soft mic is open to all men, with a special invitation to Black, Brown, and other marginalized men who don’t always get the chance to speak without performance or pressure. This is a space for honesty, not audience.
For each mic night, a new prompt set is shared in advance to help poets reflect and prepare something to share. They can choose any prompt from the set provided.
On mic night, speakers have 5 minutes to share their response to the prompt through a poem, journal entry, or even a letter.
Anyone can attend. Only men will speak.
Soft Prompt Sets
Prompts will be released in advance, usually about a month prior to the soft mic night. Example prompts are:
“I don’t want to become him.”
“If I cry, then what?”
“No one asked how I was.”
Speakers are asked to write new material based on the prompt provided. This gives the speaker the chance to be open and real, and gives the audience the excitement of knowing they are hearing brand new material. No old classics here! (But maybe a new classic!)
Every voice speaks to the same prompt, but no two responses sound the same. The audience gets to experience many different takes on the same prompt and connect with each speaker in a different way.
You’re not just hearing poetry. You’re hearing perspective.