Join us for the Listening Challenge 2025 as part of World Listening Day 18th July
The Listening Challenge 2025
What can you do in 60 minutes? That's the equivalent of the time it takes to:
- Cook and eat your evening meal.
- Tidy your kitchen and sort your laundry.
- Deep condition your hair whilst replying to emails.
Or you can use those 60 minutes to gifting others the space to speak with minimal interruption and get a taster of what it feels like to be an oral historian.
We live in a world where everyone is clamoring to be heard. Yet how much of each other's real life experiences do we actually hear? And how many of these accounts of everyday life end up being recorded? This is where oral history comes in. As oral historians, we create dedicated listening spaces so our narrators can share their life experiences with us free from interruptions. To create more listening spaces, we need more oral historians - it's as simple as that.
In support of World Listening Day on 18th July 2025, we have teamed up with the organisers of World Listening Day 2025 for the Oral History Made Easy Listening Challenge 2025.
Listening is a discipline and it is one of the core competencies we teach on Oral History Made Easy. For some people, listening comes relatively easily. For others, it is more challenging. The ability to listen is one of the core skills students learn on Oral History Made Easy. By following a handful of golden rules, you too can develop the ability to listen to others with attention and intention - and then gift others the space to be truly heard.
We warmly invite you to join us for the Oral History Made Easy Listening Challenge 2025 To be part of this extraordinary experience, you need to do three things:
(i) Join us for one of our special Listening Challenging 2025 online briefings
(i) Find 30 minutes in your diary to really listen to someone with you full attention implementing the listening tips you will have learnt in the briefing.
(iii) Join us for a special celebration of the power of listening on World Listening Day Friday 18th July 18.00 hrs GMT where you will meet everyone else who has taken part in the challenge and have the chance to share your experiences.
To get ahead of the game, download some tips on effective listening here.