‘I Love to Listen Day’

CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR ON MAY 16th

I Love to Listen Day is a global initiative that is designed to include citizens from every country. It is a day to inspire, inform, practice, and create a heightened sense of awareness of the importance and power of listening in our lives.
JOIN THE CELEBRATION OF THE 20TH ANNUAL

I Love to Listen Day on May 16th, 2025!

Theme: Listening Garden
Slogan: We Grow Listeners

In 2025, we proudly celebrate the 20th anniversary of I Love to Listen Day, a global event dedicated to fostering the power of listening in our homes, schools, and communities. Since its inception, individuals from numerous countries have embraced this day, reinforcing the vital role listening plays in building understanding and connection.

This year, we honor our theme, Listening Garden, by cultivating listening legacies worldwide. A special gathering will take place at the University of Maryland’s Listening Garden in College Park, Maryland, where participants will engage in reflective listening practices, interactive activities, and celebrations of listening excellence.

Global Recognition & Impact

Over the past 20 years, I Love to Listen Day has received official recognition through Listening Proclamations from esteemed leaders, including:

        • The Governor General of Jamaica
        • The Mayors of Washington, D.C., and Bowie, Maryland
        • Senator Glenn Ivy’s representative in the U.S. Congress
Additionally, schoolchildren from Maryland, Jamaica, Nevis, and Michigan have engaged in meaningful activities, including writing and reciting poetry about listening, fostering a new generation of active listeners.

A Message from the Founder

Marva Shand-McIntosh, the visionary behind I Love to Listen Day, emphasizes:

“I Love to Listen Day is not a day of silence but the premiere listening day that creates awareness for the power of listening. We Grow Listeners.”

How You Can Participate

This year, we encourage individuals and organizations worldwide to embrace the Listening Garden theme by:

✅ Planting seeds of listening in homes, workplaces, and communities.

✅ Creating and sharing personal or collective listening pledges.
✅ Organizing listening circles and discussions on the impact of deep listening.
✅ Promoting listening activities in schools, worship, and public spaces.
✅ Sharing your listening moments on social media using #WeGrowListeners #ListeningGarden

Join us as we celebrate 20 years of listening advocacy and plant the seeds for a future of deeper connection, empathy, and understanding.

Let’s grow listeners together!

Today I Will Listen

A Journal for Reflection, Inspiration, and Growth

Embark on a transformative journey with “Today I Will Listen,” a journal curated by the remarkable Marva Shand-McIntosh, a true changemaker and visionary in the realm of communication.

Inside this journal – Today, I Will Listen: A Journal for Reflection, Inspiration, and Growth – you will find a listening poem, a collection of original listening quotes, and The Listening Affirmation.

These listening prompts are designed to encourage and inspire you as you explore your listening journey. The quotes can also be used to start meaningful conversations about listening. There’s plenty of space in the journal for your creativity and to mark your unique listening discoveries as they unfold.

Listening Tools

Listening can feel challenging at times especially when you are starting from scratch. Here are a few tools to help you enhance your listening skills

Listening
Activities

Listening
CHallenge

Listening
Poem

Listening 
Proverbs

About I Love to Listen Day

Marva Shand-McIntosh
Marva Shand- McIntosh
Founder of I Love to Listen Day

 

I Love to Listen Day was established in 2005 by Marva Shand McIntosh, who emphasized that this is not a day of silence. Instead, it is an opportunity to commit to building a culture where listening is a core value. Let’s take this chance to reflect on how we can improve our listening skills, be present with one another, and create meaningful connections in our personal and professional lives.

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear from someone whose life has been changed by just the awareness of listening.

A call to listen is a call to action.

Let’s celebrate Listening!

Cheers!!!

Stories of I Love to Listen Day

PARTICIPATION FROM AROUND THE WORLD
We gathered to take a photograph to commemorate the celebration of the first “I Love To Listen Day on May 16, 2006. Participants came from countries all over the world – Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Africa, USA, Malaysia, Peru, Canada, and Brazil. We also distributed I Love To Listen buttons to everyone.
Dr. S Lam-Phoon, Director, Northern Asia-Pacific Division, Republic of Korea

“Thank you Marva for all that you are doing to help “Advance Listening Around the World.”

Dr. Lynman K. (Manny) Steil, CEO of International Listening Leadership Institute.

I’ve sent the listening day information to Holland, Suriname, Guyana, South Africa, St. Maarten, and to other friends around the world and in the USA.

Monkou from Maryland

We did celebrate “I Love to Listen Day” in my class at Florida Gulf Coast University 

Dr. Maria Roca, President, International Listening Association

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