Read our latest testimonials from schools and academic bodies based in the South East. We have readily-available reviews about our workshops from schools right across the country. Please click here to return to the root testimonial page.
Amazing! The trainer’s delivery and approach to the students was brilliant. All students engaged and working hard. This training will definitely stay with them and benefit their lives. The trainer was outstanding.
Emily Covell, PE, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School
Well planned and structured. Provides students with the opportunity to reflect, practise and develop their communication skills and gives them confidence.
Lewis Rainbow, Head of Geography, Icknield High School
The workshop was fantastic. The growth in confidence was evident when observing the students throughout the day. The trainer’s energy and humour made the day seem to fly by. His passion for improving young people’s Oracy is inspiring.
Mark Brookman, Head of English, Chiltern Academy
As a school we had decided that Oracy was a focus and a priority for our students. We wanted to equip them with a narrative and a reference for speaking in front of others and we wanted the staff to have the knowledge and the passion to help them flourish. Then Covid hit!
We could have deferred or cancelled but decided that we would push ahead and Talk the Talk were very supportive and flexible and worked with us to adhere to our COVID risk assessment. The communication before the event was excellent and the paperwork was straightforward yet thorough.
The day was fantastic- the students were fully engaged throughout the whole day and our staff were so impressed with the quality and the stamina of the trainers! They were professional, well prepared, adaptable and our students responded brilliantly to their techniques and training
Helen Fay, Vice Principal, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Thank you for your work with our new Year 7 cohort. Not only did our students learn important Oracy skills, they began to build new relationships with their peers. The trainer was very engaging and supportive. He was very patient and encouraging with our nervous speakers.
Kirstie Aldritt, Literacy and Reading Coordinator, Lealands School
Lovely pace, engagement and energy. The session was informative and layered - helping the students to build their presentation skills with good support.
C. Dollar, Teacher of Social Anthropology, Hockerill Anglo-European College
The trainer was friendly and handled the behaviour issues in the class in a calm and effective way
Sophie Palmer, Geography Teacher, Icknield High School
Done extremely well addressing the entire room, involved everybody – students and staff, explained things really well. Gave great realistic examples, supported all students verbally and visually. The content was great and well-delivered.
Maria-Jane Sargeant, Teacher, UTC Reading
The Year 13s were engaged and enthusiastic. Some tasks pushed them out of their comfort zones but when completed you could see how their confidence had grown through talking with their peers.
L Blackmore, Sociology Teacher, The Langley Academy
The trainer was an inspirational tutor and coach to teenagers who are approaching GCSE’s and the prospect of their first job. He made a real difference to their confidence and self-esteem
Teacher, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School
Fantastic day! Really worthwhile session and such important skills. The trainer was really engaging and the students confidence increased.
Geography Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
The training was pitched perfectly for the boys. They had respect and admiration for the trainer and this meant that they listened and learnt so much from him.
K. Whitby, English teacher, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School
It was fabulous! The students were very engaged and enjoyed the challenges.
Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
English Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
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Excellent presentation; students were actively involved and engaged in the various activities and games. These activities challenged our students to project their voices and speak confidently when delivering their presentations. The activities were beneficial to the shy and less confident students who were very attentive to the skills and tips to perfect their end of day individual speech
J Reid-Nevard, Librarian, Chiltern Academy
Really engaging for all pupils in the room with varying levels of confidence. Pushing the students out of their comfort zone so early on will definitely be beneficial to their future learning. Touched on essential key skills that will serve them well throughout their time here.
Suki Randhova, LSA, The Langley Academy
Pupils were engaged with the fun drama activities. It’s so important for the pupils to have good Oracy skills so the session was very beneficial to them.
Lauren Bunker, Literacy Catch-Up Co-ordinator., Chiltern Academy
The trainer was fantastic with our pupils, very engaging and fun. He was able to work on the strengths and weaknesses of the pupils, those who don’t naturally talk were getting involved.
Razia Latif, Assistant Headteacher, Icknield High School
I believe this course was fantastically led and all students were engaged and participating. They have learned and declared some valuable skills to support them in their transition to high school!
Max O’Brien, Pastoral Leader, Putteridge High School
Excellent! The trainer was lovely and engaging. She had a tough group full of SEN students and she had them all hooked and working well.
Victoria Wilson, 2nd in English, Holmer Green Senior School
All the students were engaged with this training. You could clearly see their confidence improve as the session progressed. I feel this will feed into all of their lessons and assist in all areas of communication.
Chris Ferrin, Assistant RSL Year 10, Langley Academy
Well organised with lots of tasks that kept the class busy and engaged. Students really enjoyed the session
Paul Maddock, Leader of PE, The Beaconsfield School
The training boosted the confidence and public speaking of the students. The activities were exciting and the students engaged enthusiastically,
Gideon Aghonghor, Trainee Science Teacher, Icknield High School
A really good workshop. A great way to help Year 7’s communication through school. Good interaction with the students helping to boost confidence. This training could be provided to other year groups too!
Maths Teacher, Icknield High School
Students were really engaged and the trainer really motivated them to get involved through his positive energy
Danielle McDonnell, RSL Year 8, The Langley Academy
Really engaging and useful for the students. Activities and tasks were well received and students made progress in confidence
Gemma Durnford, English Teacher, Chiltern Academy
The trainer delivered a brilliant session today. These students started off quite shy, but throughout the workshop his confident and lovely persona with them made all our students feel at ease and confident. This was a really well delivered, structured and informative workshop.
Miss Georgina Adby, Cover Teacher, Burnham Grammar School
The trainer was thoroughly engaging and put the students at ease immediately. His personal anecdotes were entertaining and helped ‘break the ice’. The students responded to the tasks well and felt supported throughout the day
Janna Wallington-Smith, Head of Drama, Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls
Good enthusiasm from the trainer. The pace appeared to be right. At this time it is really important to develop oral confidence.
Giles Whittaker, Assistant Headteacher, Herschel Grammar School, Slough
I enjoyed the ice breaker activity as it got the pupils engaged and focused on their confidence communicating with one another. Great active listening skills
Toyin Okusanya, English Teacher, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Students were given the tools to be great presenters. There was high participation. The trainer was really positive, building the students’ confidence massively. Great stuff. We need this for 6th form students as well!
Economics Teacher, Herschel Grammar School
Well-structured workshops. Students were engaged despite their low ability and/or low confidence starting point. The trainers were supportive and encouraging of all students and especially effective at managing students with ‘more character’. Great pace
Jake Clarke, English Teacher, Oriel High School
Absolutely brilliant. Children were massively engaged and enjoyed it. They took it seriously; every student participated with passion. The workshop helped them to grow in confidence and have self-belief. I noticed even shy, quiet children were taking an active part presenting and sharing their work with classmates. I would recommend this is offered to every school year group. Very supportive.
Sylvia Wiazowska, Teaching Assistant, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Well delivered. Students engaged. Workbook very helpful – allowed students to stay on task
Geography Teacher, Herschel Grammar School
Excellent, clear delivery from the trainer who came across as extremely personable, and related well to the pupils who worked very effectively with her.
Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls, MFL Teacher
Fantastic, engaging sessions. Taught students great skills, developed their confidence and ability to
build well-constructed arguments. This challenging group engaged well.
Art Teacher, Icknield High School
Students were engaged. Clear presentation. Useful resources and clear instructions. Students felt valued, their opinions counted. More workshops throughout the year please.
Mr Fanyo, Mathematics Teacher, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Good enthusiasm from the trainer. The pace appeared to be right. At this time it is really important to develop oral confidence
Herschel Grammar School, Giles Whittaker, Assistant Headteacher
Very thorough and engaging. All students got a lot out of the session and you could see their confidence increase. The trainer was very informative, knowledgeable, fun and interactive with the class always giving feedback to help them improve I would definitely recommend.
Amelia Knibbs, Deputy Head of PE, Burnham Grammar School
Really well presented. The trainer was both enthusiastic and engaging. She spoke well and the students gained a lot from the session.
Spencer James, Deputy House Leader, Kennet School
Good interaction. Lively activities. Class engaged throughout workshop. Good pace. All girls willing to participate. Good group work. Good clear instructions. Girls were more confident speakers by the end of the workshop.
Teacher, Baylis Court School
Talk the Talk provided a workshop that was hugely beneficial to our students at UTC Reading.
The atmosphere on the day was relaxed and allowed our students to work outside of their comfort zone and improve their communication skills across a variety of topics, and in a really engaging way.
The final presentations given by students were brilliant and showed just how confident our students were at the end of the day. The stand out moment for us is when a student who has anxiety about speaking in public, stood up in front of a group of 25 peers and spoke clearly and confidently – a brilliant achievement.
We would recommend the workshop for all age groups as the transferable skills gained in the session can be used across the whole curriculum.
Joanne Harper, Principal, UTC Reading
The training has been excellent. The students were a little excitable in a new environment but the trainer managed them expertly with his calm and personable approach. The approach to communication is effective and repeatable.
Mark Brookman, Head of English, Chiltern Academy
The trainer engaged all students and was incredibly approachable throughout. He supported all students and encouraged the more anxious well. A great range of activities.
Jake Clarke, English Teacher, Oriel High School
The trainer’s commitment to the sessions was reciprocated with the students’ enthusiasm. All contributions, constructive to silly, were met with praise and developed accordingly. The students clearly learned from and enjoyed their day. The trainer knows how to deliver these workshops, maintain the focus of the students and encourage confidence
Samuel Joseph Clarke, English Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Very helpful and great delivery of the workshop provided. The girls were very engaged all the time. Recommend for future programmes.
A Icocollain, Food Technology Teacher, Baylis Court School
Fantastic. Highly engaging. Well-structured and perfectly pitched at our girls’ ability level. Lots of
enthusiasm. Very impressive subject knowledge.
Kate Brown, Assistant Headteacher, Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls
Good communication with students. They were engaged with the trainer, listening and paying attention
J Bond, Cover Supervisor, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Clear objectives, engaging presentation, variety of activities which allowed students to practise the new skills and improve while reflecting.
Carmen Millan, Director of Improvement, Hockerill Anglo-European College
Excellent session, great trainer and interaction with students. All students were fully involved with the session.
Roisin Brisbourne, Maths Teacher, The Langley Academy
Very engaging. Some students improved massively. Great manner with the students – all on task – and interested by the topic. Valuable skills!
Eleanor Tarr, English Teacher, Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls
Instructions clear – tasks and exercises broken down really well. Really engaging and stimulating. Students felt acknowledged as the trainer referred to them by name which made the workshop feel very personalised.
Faizah Khatun, English Teacher, Chiltern Academy
Great engaging activities that pushed students past their comfort zone but supported their progress with praise and scaffolding for those that struggled.
E Farnham, Teacher of Art, Cardinal Newman Catholic High School
Excellent content and delivery. All students received individual feedback and targets for improvement
E Wineberg, English Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Head of Year
Teacher, Cardinal Newman Catholic High School
Excellent day – pupils got lots of tips and confidence from the training. Really enjoyable and worthwhile.
Carol Stevens, Head of English, Chesham Grammar School
Excellent explanation of each of the tasks. Excellent with the students, helping them when they needed support. Very clear instruction given. Encouraged the children to do well. He had an excellent relationship with the class. An excellent course very well delivered.
Head of Year, Cardinal Newman Catholic High School
Really engaging. All the students were able to get involved and participate in all the activities
Miss Kerimova, DT & Art Teacher, The Gatwick School
Great, engaging! The trainer managed a chatty and opinionated class really well. All students were involved. A really positive vibe and energy.
S Dorban, Literacy Co-ordinator, Icknield High School
Great enthusiasm and as a result it was infectious to the students. They got a lot out of the day and you could see their confidence grow.
Victoria Wells, Vice Principal, Cowes Enterprise College
Pupils very responsive and clearly enjoying using their newly acquired skills. Even the shyest pupils made a presentation in front of their peers. What a success!
Mrs N Chauhan, Head of Geography, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
It has been excellent. Students have been engaged throughout and I feel it has been very informative with lots of tips and tricks for the students to take away from them – even if they already feel confident.
Laura Sutherland, Music Teacher, Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls
Activities were structured, all-inclusive and suitable for the students’ growth in presentations. Lots of student performance was required. Students grew in confidence.
Russell Anderson, Teacher, UTC Reading
Very positive, friendly and accessible. Excellent engagement of remote learners. Students engaged and participating in all activities.
Drama Department, Baylis Court School
Very positive, friendly and accessible. Students engaged and participating in all activities.
Head of Department, Baylis Court School
The trainer delivered his sessions well and the girls were attentive and engaged. He was friendly and approachable and therefore the class were confident to ask for advice and support.
Premises co-ordinator, Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls
Excellent. I could see the students changing throughout the day. As I teach this group I knew that listening skills would be an issue but the trainer took this on board and made this much more of a focus.
I loved the whole interactive approach. In the words of one student who had said to me at the beginning of the day that they were confident in primary school but had lost it, they said they now had it back. A successful day!
English Department, Medina College
The pupils and I really enjoyed the day. The pupils really liked the trainer’s approach and style, which I also felt was purposeful and goal-driven (I really liked that she established the expectation early on that everyone would 'present' in some form during the day), whilst being very supportive.
She was excellent at giving constructive feedback which pupils can easily work from in a lesson context going forward.
Bhavini Goldman, Head of English, Upper Shirley High School
Last week, a student in my Year 7 group wouldn't do her Speaking & Listening assessment to the group and ended up in tears, so did it to me at lunch.
She arrived today and asked if following her work in yesterday’s workshop she could redo her presentation to those of the group who were present. She did brilliantly- still ended up in tears but she told me these were tears of happiness!
English Teacher, The Littlehampton Academy
Skilled delivery. Excellent pace and pupils were kept involved with activities. Good discipline management.
S Carter, Head of Music, Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Really wonderful engagement of students and met their oracy skills needs. A positive atmosphere for all to share.
Rosalind Tingle, Transition Leader/English Teacher, The Littlehampton Academy
The content was brilliant – built up throughout the day to build confident communication skills in public speaking, culminating in individual presentations. The trainer was excellent and modelled everything being taught. He had an excellent connection with the students helping 100% of students to present – they felt safe doing so and more confident. Thank you!
Debbie Lackey, Year 10 Tutor, Langtree School
The trainer interacted very well with the students. There was a very positive atmosphere throughout the session. She encouraged all students to participate. They really liked the workshop. Keep up the good work motivating students.
Sonia Manni, Teacher, Baylis Court School
I really appreciated the change in confidence in the students from the start of the day to the end.
Grace Young, Assistant Head of English, Herschel Grammar School
A well-focussed day for our pupils who were engaged and supported each other. They achieved well and gained in self-confidence.
Louise Evans, Head of English, Herschel Grammar School
Students were given the tools to be great presenters. There was high participation. The trainer was really positive, building the students’ confidence massively. Great stuff. We need this for 6th form students as well!
Economics Teacher, Herschel Grammar School, Slough
A fantastic experience for all students involved. Really motivational for all abilities and levels of confidence. Incredibly valuable for all subjects, not just English. Brilliant. I only wish all students could benefit from the experience!
Sally Conneley, Assistant Head, Little Heath School
I thought the day was excellently organised and resourced throughout. The trainer was inspiring and consistently modelled really high level oracy to the girls. All girls were able to access the training in some way.
Lara Klinpikuln, Teacher of English, Didcot Girls’ School
Very lively, animated and engaging. Pupils really enjoyed the day.
Helen Bolton, Head of English, Springfield School
Fantastic trainer – really engaged a difficult group and it was lovely seeing the confidence of the students grow.
Carrie Nuamah, Head of English, Wheatley Park School
The workshops provided a valuable opportunity for our students to develop their confidence and skills in public speaking.
The trainers related very well to our students, quickly generating rapport and brought the best out of them. The activities and techniques were carefully planned and executed. The students grew in confidence during the day and saw the value of the programme.
David Harding, Deputy Headteacher, Langley Grammar School
Excellent. I didn’t know what to expect but really enjoyed the workshops and the students were very responsive.
Kamona Karim, Teacher of Computing, Icknield High School
Well-structured workshops. Students were engaged despite their low ability and/or low confidence starting point. The trainers were supportive and encouraging of all students and incredibly approachable throughout. They were especially effective at managing the more anxious students and those with ‘more character’. Great pace and range of activities.
Jake Clarke, English Teacher, Oriel High School, West Sussex
Engaged class well. Taught good speaking skills. Disciplined class well. Good confidence amongst class
W Milne, MFL Teacher, The Langley Academy
Very well received by students. Very encouraging etc.
Shoib Awan, LSA, The Langley Academy
My class and I really enjoyed the day. It was an emotional rollercoaster and I was so pleased with the progress that all of my pupils made, but the impact on the quieter students was immense.
The trainer was fabulous and really encouraged and praised all pupils. I also moved around all 10 classes and was very pleased. I really cannot think of any improvements.
Ali Reeves, Head of English , Cams Hill School
Highly personable and very engaging with the students. Controls and leads all sessions and debates very well, taking care to include everyone. Great focus on respect and inclusivity. Builds rigor into the sessions whilst keeping them relatable and enjoyable.
Edward Clayton, Form Tutor, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School
A very good structure to the day. Engaging delivery booklets and activities overall. Friendly, approachable trainers with good classroom control and delivery.
Sarah Towers, Head of English, Holmer Green Senior School
Excellent! Students engaged. The trainer valued their opinions and motivated them. I enjoyed listening to the students’ ideas.
, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
The trainer was very engaging with all of our students; He was extremely resourceful, professional and approachable. He built rapport very quickly and made ‘employability’ fun. We could not have asked for a better facilitator. You could see their employability skills develop over the day. I really enjoyed being a part of the workshop as well.
I am always impressed by the quality of training delivered by Talk The Talk trainers. I was particularly impressed by the wider messages about taking risks and embracing learning opportunities.
Kate Brown, Assistant Headteacher, Dr Challoner’s High School
Wow! What a fantastic day. My students looked at what they are good at and where they want to go. Really insightful for me as their mentor. Follow up visits please. Thank you.
T Hopkins, Lead Teacher, Park Community School
We have explored oracy training before thanks to informal volunteers. However, it is clear that the well-led expert training offered here was well worth it, with a clearly well-devised and well refined format. The 50% Four Acre Trust funding was instrumental in our initial booking of this opportunity, thank you.
David Dwight, Head of 6th Form, The Misbourne School
Great to see all the students getting involved. They all shared their ideas and had the confidence to talk to their class. Student were very enthusiastic when they had to write their own talk.
Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
The trainers delivered enthusiastically a range of extremely useful activities for our new Year 12 students. The training was well-suited to the students - lots of relevant skills supported with great real-life examples – generating a real buzz in the room!
Dee Fanchi, Head of Sixth Form, John Colet School
Brilliant! The trainer was so enthusiastic and full of energy. Even the most unlikely (shy) students got involved, and although some didn’t stand and present in front of the whole group they did engage with the activities. Areas of discussion were relevant and really helped.
Stephanie Rackett, Teacher of English, Medina College
Excellent engagement of students and outstanding rapport built up with them across two days. Real presence and excellent demeanour with students. Real progress evident in students’ learning.
Richard Gledhill, Careers Lead and Assistant Director of Sixth Form, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School
An enthusiastic and stimulating trainer. The session was well paced with a good variety of trainer led and student focused activities.
English Teacher, Bucks UTC
Excellent range of activities and ways of engaging boys who were not the most enthused about the idea of spending a whole day ‘doing English.
Sally Carter-Tabasso, Head of English, St Birinus
Phenomenal training! It’s been fantastic to see the students blossom through the development of ideas and encouragement offered by the trainers
K Sheppard-Davis, Teacher of English, Chiltern Academy
Students engaged and taking part proactively. Effective techniques being taught and the activities are interactive. Impressive energy and enthusiasm from the trainer.
Debra Jewell, Head of English, Wycombe High School
The trainer was fantastic. He displayed great patience and empathy and engaged the students very well.
Christopher Febvre, Ormiston Six Villages Academy
Students that I know that are very quiet in lessons spoke confidently. The trainer was very engaging and got students involved, maintaining their interest. He was very positive and encouraging.
Faculty Leader MFL, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School Graham Maddocks
The trainer’s rapport with the class was amazing to watch. His natural flair and sense of humour was refreshing. The students responded really well to him and I enjoyed it!
Sadia Sahi, English Teacher, Herschel Grammar School
Good pace to the session, engaging and nice rapport with the students. Like the workbooks and the games interweaved to break the day up.
Michelle Burnt, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Great behaviour for learning. Pupils engaged in all activities and understood the benefits of the workshop. Pupils were given opportunities to present.
Extremely engaging and well-structured. Broke down tasks really well and challenged students to think outside the box. Excellent questioning and use of games.
Faaizah Khatun, English Teacher, Chiltern Academy
This was an excellent session. All students were engaged and enjoyed the work and the participation. I would like to stay for the presentations but can’t!
Keith Dyke, Teacher of Maths, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Good pace, activities are timed well giving enough opportunity for pupils to explore the topic without getting bored. All pupils engaged and contributing to whole class work.
V Topa, Teacher, Cardinal Newman Catholic High School
Lots of useful techniques for increasing confident speaking. Exercises were engaging and even some of the shy students seemed to enjoy the sessions.
Sarah Gamble, Graduate Tutor, Chiltern Academy
Fantastic, engaging, relevant, clear explanation of intentions and skills. Positive feedback given to the students.
Hazel Oster, English Teacher, Littlehampton Academy
Very interactive. Students were happy to contribute. Felt comfortable to express their ideas and work with the trainer. A lively atmosphere,
Despoina Metochianaki, English Teacher, The Langley Academy
Very useful and relevant for students to be practising skills, rather than ‘told’ them. Can apply their experiences/stories and prepare for interviews. This worked very well.
Stephanie Mitchell, Director of Industry Relations, UTC Reading