Day of Listening or National Day of Listening is annually celebrated concurrently with the Black Friday in the United States which means this year it falls on November 25th.
It is an unofficial day of observance where Americans are encouraged to set aside time to record the stories of their families, friends, and local communities.
It was first launched by the national oral history project StoryCorps in 2008 and now recurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, when families are more likely to spend time together. It was proposed as an alternative to "Black Friday", a day many businesses see as a high volume pre-Christmas sale day.
| Event | Day of Listening |
|---|---|
| Date | November 25, 2022 |
| Day | Friday |
| Significance | The day encourage the young generation to record the stories of their families, friends, and local communities. |
| Observed by | United States |
Day of Listening History:
This unofficial holiday was started back in 2008 by StoryCorps, a non-profit organization whose mission is to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans. National Day of Listening is focused on family members, where people are prompted to interview their family members and listen to their stories. library. StoryCorps is a national nonprofit organization modeled after the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. In addition to collecting and archiving interviews at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, StoryCorps helps Americans engage with oral histories at the grassroots level.
Radio personality Dave Isay founded the organization in 2003. He adored his grandparents and loved spending time listening to their stories in his childhood. He decided to record the stories they told, the things they had to say about life in general, and everyone who listened loved them. Unfortunately, he lost the tape after they passed. That inspired him to come up with the genius idea behind StoryCorps. The organization duly noted that people love to be listened to because it gives them a sense of importance. When listened to, people naturally feel important to the listener, whether it is their loved ones, neighbors, or the community as a whole.
Tens of thousands of Americans interviewed one another as part of the National Day of Listening in 2008, including President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, who were interviewed by President Bush's sister Dorothy Bush Koch. National Public Radio personalities including Scott Simon, Liane Hansen, Steve Inskeep, Renée Montagne, Frank Deford, Susan Stamberg, and Noah Adams also conducted National Day of Listening interviews and broadcast them on the air.
By sharing these stories with others, the aim of this holiday and the organization connected to it is to share the stories of all kinds of people in hopes of connecting people with their humanity. According to their webpage, data from the StoryCorps Online Listener Surveys were collected from nearly 600 listeners between May 2014 and November 2015. It revealed that listeners gained more understanding of people of different races, ethnicities and religious backgrounds and many had started to think about how important people are and how people can help one another.
Day of Listening Significance:
Dialogue takes place everywhere in our world, be it at home, on social media, on the beach, on a bus, or on the train. We often engage in conversations with those around us unintentionally. It is naturally a simple, but amazingly subtle concept. National Day of Listening helps us spread genuine insight across cultures and generations, giving us a beneficial connection and vision that we can pass on to coming generations. As often opening up to each other can really help greatly in changing one's perception of life.
Careful listening helps you clearly understand what people are trying to say and therefore assists to avoid some of the confusion, misunderstandings and potential conflicts that are common in conversations. Careful listening offers an opportunity to really understand. People want to do business with people they like. You may also find that as you listen to people more, you find more in common, really understand their views and actually, you like them more.
National Day of Listening is all about giving the time for other people to share stories about themselves. Part of our humanity is about stories and being able to understand one another, and this day allows people to do just that. And it becomes even more important if that person is close to you like family or friend amd that's why this day is celebrated a day after Thanksgiving which is a gathering of our loved ones so through this day we get nice opportunity to build a connection with them by listening to some of their stories.
In this era of social media and internet, it is mostly seen that people spends more time on their smartphones especially the younger generation so this day encourages people to spend that same time for communicating with their loved ones and strengthening their relationship with them. It coincides with Black Friday so this day also encourages people to spend time with their lived ones instead of wasting it all on limitless shopping.
Day of Listening Activities:
The easiest way to start is by getting a recording device and listening to either one of your relatives or a close friend and ask them questions. One of the easiest ways to frame interviews like these is to start off with basic questions and then move on with personal stories.
Use the StoryCorps DIY guide, yes download the do-it-yourself guide that the organizers of this special day designed to help you develop your own interview collection projects. You can interview anyone, of any age, in any place. It's that easy.
If you wish, you can also implement this day in your workforce, where co-workers can interview one another and possibly help better work relations. Just remember that there's nothing like a willing ear to help people through their concerns and resolve conflicts.
Most Searched FAQs on Day of Listening:
1. When is Day of Listening celebrated?
Day of Listening is annually celebrated on concurrently with Black Friday in US.
2. What is the advantage of listening attentively?
Active listening allows the speaker to vent off his feelings. Active listening defuses conflict and helps you to understand and comprehend the discussion better. Another benefit of active listening is that the listener stays focused on the conversation.
3. What are the three A's of active listening?
Attention, adjustment, and attitude. Listening is a conscious action that depends on these three fundamental skills collectively known as Triple-A Listening.