It allows space around the words for the ideas and sounds to sink in. What matters is that the words are said clearly, and often slowly, enough that they can be heard. The surprise element in their unique presentation often captures attention. The pacing was fast, the music was interesting, the effect worked. McMaster also makes a clear distinction between performance poetry and plain old singing.
Songs extend single words, have a repeated chorus, and use end-rhymes.
Besides avoiding the conventions of singing, performance poetry also uses the spoken voice as its main instrument. Something about the tone just grabs people's attention. Many of the groups in Ottawa seem to base much of their performances on jazz. The image of a poet grooving to the sounds of a trio of musicians in some smoky cafe may call to mind the work of Leonard Cohen or Jack Kerouac and the beat poets of the '50s, but Ottawa writer Colin Morton says there is a distinction. Poets often worked with musicians, long before beat.