If you want to reach Gen Z, you better come correct. Don’t show up with bullet points when they’re looking for bulletproof truth. You need rhythm. You need realness. You need resonance. And poetry? Poetry is that trifecta. It doesn’t just speak to them—it spits with them.
This generation isn’t just consuming content—they’re feeling it. They’re decoding heartbreak through memes, delivering purpose in poems, and building identities in 15-second soundbites that punch harder than your last marketing campaign. And when I step on a stage—or into their scroll—I know: spoken word hits different.
Why? Because it’s raw. Rhythmic. Real. It doesn’t wait to be approved by legal. It skips the filters and goes straight to the soul. And in a world drowning in data, poetry gives them something they can feel.
But don’t get it twisted—this isn’t just about Gen Z. Poetry is a multigenerational connector. Millennials vibe with its vulnerability. Gen X hears its hustle. Boomers recognize its roots. When I use poetry in the boardroom, the classroom, or the breakroom, it becomes a bridge—one that stretches across decades without cracking under the weight of disconnect.
I’ve dropped poems for presidents and principals. I’ve rocked Fortune 500s and fed the For You Page. Because truth? Truth don’t age. And storytelling? That’s eternal. Poetry just happens to be its most powerful microphone.
So when leaders ask me how to really connect—how to move hearts, not just manage headcount—I tell them this: don’t just throw people data. Throw them depth. Don’t just email them a memo. Drop them a metaphor. Let your message beat like a heart, not tick like a clock.
Because no matter their generation, people don’t want to be talked at—they want to be spoken to.
Better yet… spoken for.
