I Love to Listen is pleased to announce that this year’s I Love to Listen Day will be observed on May 16, 2021. This is the 16th year that the power of listening is being celebrated. This yearly celebration was established in 2005 and is certainly not a day of silence. Rather, it offers data that is shared all over the world for all people to commit to establishing a culture where listening is regarded as a core value. To celebrate I Love to Listen Day, the International Listening Association will be holding a zoom meeting and the Seventh-day Adventist Church Organization has been sharing the information all over the world.

I Love to Listen Day is the primary international listening day that is focused on strengthening the ideals of listening around the world. This is to make up for the tendency all over the world to focus only on reading, writing and speaking, and forget about the first communication and relationship skill, which is listening.

For 2021, the the activity theme for I Love to Listen Day is poetry. The poem “Today I Will Listen” was specifically written to celebrate the occasion. It was written in English and it has been translated into 16 languages and interpreted in Braille, American Sign language and with a talking drum.

Marva McIntosh, founder of I Love to Listen, says, “Join us on May 16th by reciting, recording, reflecting, and recommending this poem or creating your own.” Marva McIntosh is a nationally certified Speech Language Pathologist and an internationally Certified Listening Professional. She is currently working for the District of Columbia Public Schools. She is an active member of the International Listening Association, the District of Columbia Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. She has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Distinguished Educator Award from the International Listening Association and the 2013 Distinguished Leadership Award for the District of Columbia Speech-Language Hearing Association.

The poem “Today I Will Listen” was written by Marva MacIntosh and she gives expressed permission for anyone to use the poem as long as certain guidelines are followed. These guidelines are: sharing their identity and where they are reading from; using the hashtag #TodayIWillListen; mentioning I Love to Listen Day; sharing the video with Marva McIntosh through her email; and ensuring that the poem will be used freely and not to be sold or used for profit in any manner.

Some listening poetry prompts are recommended. These include: writing a poem in response to “Today I Will Listen”; writing a poem in response to any particular line of the poem, focusing on the one that feels most natural or the thing that is most challenging; writing a funny poem about a listening mistake due to an assumption or misheard word; thinking about a particular time when listening carefully cause a change in mind; writing a poem in which each line starts with the letters of the word “listen”; and more.

I Love to Listen suggests a number of things to do to celebrate I Love to Listen Day. These include: stopping for a moment what one is doing and then listening to someone; organizing a party where participant play listening games; sending a card, letter or email to thank someone who listened to what one was saying; committing to actively embrace listening as an important component of one’s leadership style; starting a family tradition of “listening time”; developing one’s own definition of listening; listening to a book on tape or audiobook with someone else; learning something new about listening, by taking a class or reading a book; educators teaching about the various types of listening and playing listening comprehension games; counselors teaching and encouraging the use of reflective listening; visiting elderly people and just listening to them; visiting with children and just listening to them; writing a poem, letter or song about listening; and more.

Those who are interested in learning more Listening Day or I Love to Listen Day can check out the I Love to Listen website or contact them on the phone or through email.

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For more information about I Love to Listen, contact the company here:

I Love to Listen
Marva McIntosh
202 550 3342
listenmay16@gmail.com