{"id":7122,"date":"2017-12-01T09:40:10","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T09:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/?p=7122"},"modified":"2025-12-09T12:18:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T12:18:06","slug":"do-you-need-training-to-use-talking-mats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/do-you-need-training-to-use-talking-mats\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you need training to use Talking Mats?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Communicating\u2014and supporting people who have difficulty communicating\u2014can be complicated. Talking Mats was developed through lots of research looking at who can use it and how to use it well in different situations. Because of that, it\u2019s really important to keep the core Talking Mats approach true to what the research shows. Our training is designed to make sure people learn the Talking Mats process that comes from this evidence.<a>&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:25% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/reward.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170067 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Foundation training takes participants through all aspects of the Talking Mats process<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Introductions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chosing the right Top Scale<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Control<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using open questions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Personalising the mat<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reviewing and reflecting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recording and agreeing next steps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All our training courses include hands-on practice and video examples as well as reflection on all these aspects of using Talking Mats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Talking mat creates a space that enables the person who is thinking about the Topic (the Thinker) to reflect and express themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Training gives the Listener (the person facilitating the mat) time to reflect on the components of an effective Talking Mats conversation and identify which ones they are already skilled in and which ones they need to develop further. There are no short cuts to reflective practice training and we know Talking Mats foundation training has impact. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170059\" style=\"width:692px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-192x192.jpg 192w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-512x512.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-767x767.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training-425x425.jpg 425w, https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Face-to-face-Foundation-Training.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So do you need training to use Talking Mats ? The answer is a resounding &nbsp;yes . Training supports you to be an effective Talking Mats listener and get the most out of this versatile communication framework. So if you have not attended a course find out more about all the ways to become Foundation Trained below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>All our trainers are registered with Talking Mats and provide high quality training based on robust research findings. Only trainers accredited by Talking Mats are eligible to train others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/training\/foundation\/\" style=\"color:#584974;background-color:#52d6bf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Read more here<\/strong> <\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/shop\/\" style=\"color:#584974;background-color:#52d6bf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Book here<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Communicating\u2014and supporting people who have difficulty communicating\u2014can be complicated. Talking Mats was developed through lots of research looking at who&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,24,54,21],"tags":[13,20,23],"class_list":["post-7122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-communication-difficulties","category-talking-mats-principles","category-training","tag-talking-mats","tag-training","tag-communication-difficulties"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do you need training to use Talking Mats? - Improving Communication, Improving Lives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"alking Mats training teaches the principles developed from our evidence base.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/do-you-need-training-to-use-talking-mats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do you need training to use Talking Mats? 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