Practice your voice. Read the poem as many times as possible to become familiar with it, and then pay attention to your tone and modulation. Remember to vary your voice's pitch and volume depending on the meaning of the verse. Emphasize the words that hide emotions, and try to set the mood and atmosphere that the poem creates for you. Try to imagine what the writer or main character of the poem is feeling and what meaning he is trying to get across. Think of how the author or narrator would move or speak if he was given the chance to recite this poem. You may want to underline some words that you think are stronger or should be performed more intensely. Or, you might want to write yourself notes to help you with your reading, such as "slow down" or "faster."
Work on your posture, gestures and movement. Stand up with your back straight and your head facing forward and practice reading the poem out loud as if you were standing in front of an audience. Maintain a balanced position without moving too much; for the majority of the performance, keep your hands resting down at your sides in a relaxed manner. Avoid unnecessary gestures, unless of course the text calls for it. Remember that what is more important is the facial expressions that accompany your reading. Add an occasional eye contact with the audience, but make sure you are able to continue reading the text when you look back to it without interruption. Unjustified pauses do not look good and will interrupt the flow of your reading.
Pay attention to the punctuation. Keep in mind that a comma means a brief pause and a period a complete stop. Just because a line ends, this does not mean that the writer has finished his thought, so keep looking for that punctuation mark that will tell you where to pause or stop. Also, some poems have capitalized letters mid-sentence, urging you to put emphasis on those words. It usually means that you should recite this part of the poem louder and slightly more dramatically, coming across as surprised or angry. Pay attention to the little signs that the poet gave you.