Loving Out Loud: The Power of a Kind Word

by Robyn Spizman, Dawna Markova

The author has appeared more than 30 times on NBC's Today Show as "gift expert" and is a New York Times bestselling author whose When Words Matter Most and The Thank You Book have sold 275,000 copies Reminds readers of their everyday power to make someone, from beloved family members to virtual strangers, smile, have a better day, and create a domino effect of joy Specific suggestions for deeper bonding with children, grandchildren, parents, teachers, coworkers, and more

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2019

Reviews

[Tristy at New World Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endorsements:
“This warm, wise, delightfully practical book is certain to brighten your days and those of everyone around you.”
— Dawn Raffel, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies

“In our current culture of chaos, kindness is in short supply, though it’s needed now more than ever. With Loving Out Loud, my friend Robyn Spizman delivers simple steps for all of us to make kindness a way of life.”
— Tory Johnson, Good Morning America Deals & Steals curator

“Thank you, Robyn, for inspiring us to be the best version of ourselves. . . . Written in a way that is insightful and actionable, Loving Out Loud is a gem!”
— Nadia Bilchik, CNN editorial producer and author of Own Your Network: Expert Networking in Person & Online and Own Your Space: The Toolkit for the Working Woman

“Helps us infuse each day with kindness and thoughtfulness and helps us build and strengthen connections with people who are important to us. A big thank-you to the ‘gifting guru’ who has gifted us this delightful guide to showing and sharing our love in the most meaningful ways.”
— Esther Levine, founder of Book Atlanta Inc.

“Everyone needs a copy of this book because it is certainly life-changing!”
— Cindy Simmons, media personality

“Robyn Spizman embodies community. She is a master connector and consistently engages with enthusiasm and kindness.”
— Cheryl Kortemeier, executive director, Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta

“I wish I had written this book. I am so glad that Robyn Spizman did.”
— from the foreword by Dawna Markova, PhD, cocreator of Random Acts of Kindness

“Robyn Spizman is one of the kindest guests we have on the show. It’s no wonder she holds the title of ‘TV’s Ambassador of Smiles.’ She knows so much about so many things. It’s a dream for producers.”
— Chris von Seeger, director of creative content, 11 Alive Atlanta

“I got to know Robyn Spizman while overseeing the 9 o’clock hour of NBC’s Today. . . . It’s rare you come across a person more concerned with content than Robyn. She is one of the very few who gets the job done from start to finish, adds her own signature, and on top of that, is always such a pleasure to work with.”
— Jo Mathisen, cohost, Today Show Radio, SiriusXM, and podcaster, Podclair.com

[Richard Propes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted desperately to fall madly in love with Robyn Spizman's "Loving Out Loud: The Power of a Kind Word."

I mean, seriously. The thought of an unkind review kind of horrifies me.

At its essence, "Loving Out Loud" is a book about kindness and how to incorporate it into every aspect of your daily life including work, parenting, relationships, friendships, and more. The book is chock full of tips and suggestions and ideas about ways to incorporate a wide variety of acts of kindness into daily life and, to a lesser degree, why it's important to do so.

The book includes "LOL Snapshots" and "LOL Daily Suggestions." The "LOL" is an obvious spin-off from the web's "Laughing Out Loud" and it provides the basic structure for everything that unfolds in the book.

The concept of the book? That's actually why I picked it up. On the day I picked up the book, I had just completed a social justice event that included, quite literally, hundreds of acts of kindness. So, the idea of incorporating acts of kindness into daily life is incredibly appealing. The simple truth is that I don't really think "Loving Out Loud" quite lives into its description and it was entirely different from what I expected.

For example, "The power of a kind word." I can't help but think this is leaning the book into an exploration of the importance of kind words and language, but very little of the book really delves into this kind of thing. Oh sure, some of the acts of kindness suggested involve our language but it's simply not the central focus of the book.

I appreciated the material in the book. I wouldn't necessarily "not recommend" it. I simply found it somewhat fundamental in its approach, overly long despite being a quick read, and written in such a way that it never really has a flow to it.

It's weird to say, but the book's overall positive vibe feels somewhat forced. I never felt immersed in it and I'd have expected to feel somewhat more swept up in the positivity.

There were also times when Spizman makes very concrete statements about the effects of kindness, but there's no sense of research or "fact" to actually support the concrete statements. They feel more like "this is only logical" statements rather than evidence-based. There is, of course, evidence of the impact of kindness on one's well-being, but that kind of information is more often left on the side of the road here. For me, that reduces the effectiveness of the material. It's not that I wanted a "research" book, but I need more than a generalized impact statement.

Overall, there's no question that "Loving Out Loud" will resonate with certain readers. I think it could be a valuable tool for families, children's ministry leaders, and others who work with small groups. I can easily see it leading to valuable, interactive exercises. However, for me, it was more of a fundamental, surface-level primer that I appreciated but didn't particularly enjoy and didn't really get anything new out of in terms of my approach to daily life.

Here's hoping, however, the book finds its audience because in our current times there's no question more kindness is definitely needed.