The International Listening Association advances

Listening Practice, Training, and Research worldwide.

In all we do, we strive to Learn, Teach, Inspire, Collaborate.

TThanks to those who submitted news items: Receiving news items from members lets the ILA Listening Times newsletter work toward strengthening our community through sharing information about their listening activities. So, thank you to all who sent news item. Anyone with listening-related news (events, call for submissions, etc…) items, please send them to beatrice.welch.6890@gmail.com

Important information about the newsletter’s schedule: So that listening events are able to be included in the appropriate newsletter, here is the schedule of the Listening Times newsletter:

•  1st of each month: a call for news items is emailed to members. 

  On the 10th or 11th of each month: a draft of the newsletter is sent to the BOD for approval.

  On the 20th or 21st of each month: the final version of the newsletter is emailed to members.

   

  (The only variation of this schedule occurs in March & August when I am out of town for 10 days with no internet access.)

   

  So, if an event is scheduled for the 17th, I will need to receive the information in the previous month’s call for news items. I have a folder for each month and will place the information in the next month’s folder to make sure it gets posted.

  Interested in helping with the convention (July 30-Aug 2, 2025)? Here are some specific ways that you can help: 1) Make a donation to support student participation in convention listening activities. Your contribution will make this event even more impactful and inclusive. 2) Secure sponsorshipsto support student participation and convention listening activities. Your contributions and connections can help make this event even more impactful and inclusive. To help with any of these, contact Convention Coordinators: Marva Shand McIntosh (1st VP) shand-mcintosh@listen.org  or Annie Rappeport (1st VP elect) arappepo@terpmail.umd.edu for more information.

Convention workshop co-facilitator opportunity: ILA member, Kathy O’Brien is seeking 6 new ILA members (student members are welcome) to collaborate on interactive sessions on language patterns that strengthen listening behavior. Pre-conference Zoom meetings and in-person on-site collaboration sessions are required. Contact Kathy O’Brien for more information and to self-nominate.

ILA awards nominations: Nominations for ILA awards are now open until July 1, 2025. The awards will be announced at the ILA convention. Nominations can be sent to me (scottdr@hawaii.edu).

Important updates from the ILA Board: (a separate email was sent on 5/9/2025):

• The search for an Executive Director: Dr. Margarete Imhof has graciously agreed to continue serving as the interim Executive Director.

• A new position has been established: Operations Manager. Tendo Mutandafrom Newark (Essex, New Jersey, United States) is our new Operations Manager. You can contact her via operations@listen.org.

• ILA Secretary and Financial Manager: Thank you to Ingrid Nordli who had to resign from the office as ILA secretary. We are grateful for her diligent and creative contributions. Michael Gingerich (from Someone-to-tell-it-to) has stepped in as ILA secretary. He has also agreed to serve as the ILA financial manager. You can contact Michael via michael@someonetotellitto.org

• Listening Education and Training Online Publication: Michael Gilbert has resigned as editor of this publication. We are grateful to Michael for his extensive work as editor. Michael recommended (temporarily) suspending the publication and to reconsider its purpose and format. This is because of the sporadic rate of submissions causing problems and delays with timely publication.

Listening Circle workshop: ILA member Lori Joubert conducted a workshop on “Effective Listening Circles” for the Women in Medicine and Science faculty leadership series at the University of Washington School of Medicine on April 8, 2025. Lori’s presentation can be seen here.

2-week listening course available: ILA member Arthur Grygierczyk is conducting a listening course on the psychology and sociology of listening. Anyone who is a university student or has a university degree is eligible to take the class. The course begins August 4 and registration is open until July 4, 2025.

Listening with War and Peace article: ILA member Dr. Michael Purdy wrote an article, Listening with War and Peace for The Global Listener newsletter (published by the Global Listener Centre based in London and Kolkata, India). The article focuses on how we listen when the history of an event, like a war, is occurring.

Listening and caregiving:  ILA member Laura Janusik offers tips for connecting with those in cognitive decline through her caregivers’ email listand social media accounts. Click on the links or contact Laura here.

Call for submissions: ILA member Elizabeth Parks who serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Listening (IJL) in collaboration with Associate Editor Michael Humphrey, Ph.D. and Manuscript Coordinator Brandon Shanks, announce an upcoming special issue of the journal focusing on Listening theory. Abstracts are due in August, 2025. More information can be found here.

Walk, talk and listen: ILA member, Tom Kaden, co-founder of someone to tell it to    hosted a walk, talk, and listen event on May 17, 2025. This event had people all around the world meeting to walk and talk. Groups were encouraged to send photos of their groups to someone to tell it to.

Listening class: Past President Raquel Ark taught a class at Hochschule Fresenius. This Managerial Listening Skills course puts theory into practice through structured listening exercises.  You can read about the course at LinkedIn. Raquel invites anyone with case studies to post them in the ILA discussion board within her post.

Listening and neurodiversity: ILA member Beatrice Welch found these tips for conversational listening for neurodivergent individuals.

Better writing through improved listening: ILA member Michael Z Murphy found this article on improving writing skills by improving listening.

Even in the comics:  ILA member Beatrice Welch saw the value of listening addressed in the comic strip, Sally Forth.

Mark your calendars

May 27, 2025 (4pm UK time) FREE Listening Circle experience and training:

• Join ILA members Colin Smith and past president Raquel Ark in exploring in-depth discussions on various listening topics (each session begins with a vote on the topic) in a safe, supportive, and confidential setting. In addition, these listening circles also provide training in facilitating a Listening Circle for those who wish. The Zoom link is here.

May 27, 2025 (noon-1:30 pm US EDT): FREE Introduction to Playback Theatre (an ILA partner):  Attendees will experience a quick taste of this world-wide form of improvisational story-telling theatre. Click here to register.

May 29, 2025 (noon-1:30 pm US EDT): FREE Introduction to Embodied Empathy hosted by Playback Theatre (an ILA partner) in collaboration with Global Play Brigade: In this Embodied Empathy workshop, you’ll try on a full-bodied, creative listening practice, derived from Playback and other improv, that you can bring into your daily life and work. Click here to register.

June 1-June 30, 2025: Month-long listening experience:

Are you creating something? Does being listened to by a supportive person move your creative process forward? 

Do you enjoy encouraging other people’s creativity and productivity by being a supportive listener?

Do you just love the experience of listening and being listened to?  

If yes, then, then consider joining Idea Sharpener for equally reciprocal one on one Zoom sessions during the month of June 2025. These events are hosted by ILA members, Cassandra O’Neill and Melina Ponak, co-founders of Idea Sharpener. Contact Melina melinaclaire@gmail.com for more information.

July 30-Aug 2, 2025: ILA’s 46th annual convention. Click here to register.

   Want to learn about more upcoming ILA events before the next newsletter?

    Log into your ILA profile and look for “Events” on the left side menu.

Stay tuned …..new events are added in each newsletter!

Please send any news item (there are no deadlines) to the ILA Listening Times Editor: Beatrice.welch.6890@gmail.com OR post an item in the discussion post about the Listening Times.