Testimonials
I worked with a wide range of clients in both the public and private sector. Please read some of the testimonials below to find out what others think of my training courses.
Rokshana Hussain
Team Leader
"WOW!!
The training course was very insightful and interesting. There was a good balance between theory and practice/application. I genuinely enjoyed every moment of the two and half days.
The course content was very informative and applicable.
Steven is a very engaging trainer who successfully made the training both well structured and interactive. His role playing was extremely helpful in developing the learners
understanding of the various customers they may face and how best to approach the situation. Steven had a very comprehensive understanding of our work and his course
material was well suited to help develop our skills.
The use of videos and various tasks throughout kept everyone stimulated and motivated to learn.
Steven’s training not only related to my work but also my personal life and allowed me to better equip myself with the various ways I can handle situations. I would recommend this course to all my colleagues and friends because it was delivered in a very interesting and fun way and equips everyone with the skills of how to provide support
to others.
I personally would love to participate in future training courses organised by Steven. I have attended several training sessions before and by far this is the best training I have been on. Thank you Steven, your insight and knowledge is invaluable."
Becky
Shropshire Council
“Steven was absolutely fantastic! Steven has a great way of engaging people and keeping people motivated throughout training. I would definitely look forward to more training sessions with him on a number of different topics.
Despite the training being online, it was interactive, fun and really informative. I’ve taken so much out of the training that if I sat here and listed it all, I would be here all day.
However, the main thing that I have taken and will take forward into my practice are the various ways of reflecting information back to an individual.”
Lewis
Shropshire Council
“Steven provided us with really engaging and beneficial 2 day Motivational Interviewing training for our Local Authority Children’s Services. Steven really understood our needs and directed the training for our staff and used his own experiences with a range of service users throughout to highlight the benefits of using the techniques he introduced.
Steven was able to work with the internet issues we faced, as we were conducting this training remotely. He was able to be flexible and used lot of activities throughout so that we didn’t feel that we lost out by doing this training online.
Really fantastic training that will enable us to have more effective conversations and help to develop relationships to bring about positive outcomes with the children, young people and families we are working with.”
Caroline
Staffordshire Police
“I have previously attended this training and I felt it was really useful to brush up on the skills. I do use a lot of the skills we went over on the 2 day coarse, but I forgot some of the reasoning behind what we do and the names of what it was like amplified.
Steven is very engaging, and training went by quickly because there was a nice flow to it. I didn’t know how it would go on Zoom as this is my first group experience. I felt it went very well and I enjoyed the training. There was nothing in the training a felt was useless or just padding to pass the time.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has a public facing role.”
Andrew
Staffordshire Police
“I found the course informative and delivered brilliantly and it kept me interested I have learnt new skills and it has opened my eyes to how I can use everything I have learnt to my day to day life. Will take some practising but with time I am hopeful these new skills will become the normal and I use them without having to think about it. Thanks Steve loved this course.”
Lauren Mullan
Cheshire East Council
“The training was great, and Steven is absolutely fab at delivering training. The hard thing about virtual training is remaining engaged throughout and Steven made it very interactive which meant this was dead easy. It was great to hear some real-life examples and help tie the information Steven was given us to the examples we were hearing.
Another difficult thing about virtual training is really feeling like you can get to know the people you are on training with. The small groups made this easier on the whole, as some trainings I have attended can have in excess of 30 people. After the end of the 2 days I had spoken to everyone in the training due to Steven’s use of breakout rooms, and always mixing up who we were with which made the experience much better too.
Steven shared elements of his own experiences to help us understand and acknowledged that this way of working will take time and didn’t expect us to be experts at the end of the training which can often be the case.
I wish there was more training delivered by Steven.”
Nicola Hyde
Cheshire East Council
“I thoroughly enjoyed the training course! Steven was extremely passionate, engaging and entertaining, and the range of activities and mixing of groups kept the whole group feeling very involved. There was a really good use of examples and a lot of reinforcement and practice of the skills we were developing. The amount of group- and pair work was pitched very well – it enabled me to get to know colleagues whose paths perhaps I would not normally cross, and I was able to learn skills from them too.
I have previously trained as a Samaritan Listening Volunteer (a good while ago) , and it was brilliant to be able to recognise some of the skills that I used back then and develop and improve them for my professional and personal life.
The training course was very intense, but extremely professional and very accessible, with lots of humour and relatable examples. I think everyone should do this course, regardless of their role, as I think it would have a huge impact on workplace motivation and build better relationships! I feel very motivated and looking forward to using these skills more as I develop in my (relatively new) role at Cheshire East. Thank you for a fantastic course, and I look forward to signing up for further sessions in the future.”
Kim Stanton
City of Wolverhampton Council
“I would like to thank Steven for a most enjoyable day. The training was the most informative I’ve attended in a long time. It was focussed, interesting and Steven ensured it was explained clearly. Steven was able to maintain the interest by utilising groupwork and videos with excellent course material and the added bonus of good examples of his own work practice.
I intend to use the skills and techniques gained today within my own work practice and feel they will be most beneficial during Mediation and Family Group Conference.
Today was a positive learning experience and rewarding day.
I look forward to attending further training delivered by Steven Talbot.”
Emma Thomas
City of Wolverhampton Council
“Excellent training, Steven was very engaging and knowledgeable.
Virtual training usually involves keeping your camera and microphone off which wasn’t the case here and whilst I initially felt reluctant about having my camera and microphone on throughout the training, I quickly realised that this helped with my engagement and enjoyment of the training. The training was very useful to my role and I would recommend it to any of my colleagues to complete.
Steven is an excellent trainer, who kept everybody fully engaged throughout the day. I would be interested in attending any other training he delivers as I feel he supports the restorative practice approach that Wolverhampton is trying to embed.
Today was the best training event I have attended in some time.
Thank you Steven!!!”
Antoinette Booth
City of Wolverhampton Council
“This is the best virtual training that I have attended. Steven was very engaging and skilled in promoting attendee participation. There were lots of activities, anecdotes to link theory to practice, and reflections throughout the day. I would highly recommend this training.”
Anita Lawrence
City of Wolverhampton Council
“Really enjoyed the training today. To have training via zoom on a Friday doesn’t sound that much fun but I was engaged at every section.
Training was balanced in terms of teaching and tasks to demonstrate what was being taught. I liked the way we got to work with everyone and there was a good mix of people on the training.
Steven was knowledgeable, shared his experiences and is funny and easy to listen to. I didn’t feel stressed or under any pressure. I just need to put it all into practice now.”
Caroline
Saint John Fisher Catholic College
“Fantastic online training. Very well organised and planned, evident in delivery. Completely engaged throughout with interesting examples given to demonstrate application of knowledge and concepts, which is always very helpful. Loved the combined visual tools throughout to support delivery, including slides with your own pictures and own videos with local people making the training very relevant and interesting. Breakout rooms to work in smaller groups and with different people was very helpful to share thoughts and ideas. Thoroughly enjoyed the session and a huge thank you Steven. Would love to attend more training delivered by you!”
Sarah
Staffordshire County Council
“Steven, you made todays training pleasurable 😊. When it comes to supporting my tenants with hoarding, I now have so much more knowledge. Before, there was nothing for us as support officers to guide us, but now I feel like I have some useful tools to make use of. You are doing a great job and sharing your expertise with us, in the hoarding field, will definitely help us as support officers, make a difference to somebody’s else’s life. Thank you.”
Jayne Stone
Staffordshire County Council
“I really enjoyed this training and the way in which it was delivered. I think this training worked well being delivered online as there were clear breaks throughout and built in exercises to helped break up the content. Steven clearly knew how to use Zoom and this contributed to a positive experience of using the ‘break out’ functions to enable discussion and mixing with other members of the training.
I enjoyed that this was delivered on a smaller scale. I had previously attended another training session (delivered by another agency) which was delivered internationally with over 100 participants. This was not a pleased experience as it had little to no interaction between attendees.
I liked the delivery style, and this worked with my own learning style. I was able to make notes and use the handouts throughout. I enjoyed the content throughout and felt that I had achieve what I had wanted from the session. Steven provided a positive and supportive environment for open and honest discussion about what can be quite a challenging topic.
This training has identified tools and refreshed other learning in supporting me to taking care of my own emotional wellbeing. In my role as a Supervising Social Worker for Foster Carers, not only does this apply to me but also to my Foster Carers in supporting them.
Thank you Steven – I will definitely be recommending this training to my team.”
Lynne Pellington
Staffordshire County Council
“Brilliant. Lots of reflection on how I work with my team and the parents.
Consideration given to my own well being and how this could impact on my work/life balance.
Excellent presentation of the training by Steven who made this engaging, fun and made the training interesting.”
Stacey
Cheshire East Council
“Absolutely amazing training by Steven YET AGAIN! I just love his training. He is so knowledgeable and delivers the training in such a way that it is enjoyable as well as informative. Online training can sometimes be demotivating and tedious; NOT WITH STEVEN! Thank You again for an amazing training session. This will be recommended.”
Hazel
Cheshire East Council
“The session was very information and engaging as there were break out rooms which enabled to have discussions with others attending the training. This enabled to have the opportunity to network with others and to hear their views on the subjects that were being discussed. Lots of interactive work. The trainer encouraged all to participate in the training felt that all were listen to their views. The Trainer was very knowledgeable and had a great deal of experience in presenting this training. The trainer gave lots of examples which were Beneficial throughout. The Trainer was clean in providing the Objectives of the training. Excellent handouts which were used in the training. Equality and Diversity were fully embedded in this training. The training has enabled me to gain a further understanding of Empathy, Diversity throughout this training. I will share this information with team members and will discuss in Peer Supervision and will recommend to others to attend this informative training. Thank You.”
Maxine
Cheshire East Council
“This was the first training session I have attended over the past 18 months that was able to keep my attention throughout, something that has proved difficult for me with online training. The format was a good mix of knowledge and interaction, with the interaction building on the learning and further embedding it. I believe that the training has provided with a range of skills to enable me to be kinder to myself and the knowledge to understand what may impact on my wellbeing and to be able to recognise it. I will be sharing the information from this training with the rest of my team and highly recommend it to anyone as a positive way of promoting their own wellbeing and increasing your knowledge that can only have a positive impact on professional relationships.”
Nicola
Hanley Economic Building Society
“Gosh, what a session! I have never attended a training course like this before 😊. The time simply flew by, you had real examples to bring the learning to life, I loved the breakout sessions were mixed up so that you got to see how others were thinking and feeling. You are so right when, under your title you have Training Motivational and Inspirational. Because after today’s session I have been trained, but I also feel motivated and inspired. Your way of training has ticked all of my boxes. Thank you.”
Lovemore
Birmingham City Council
“It was quite an informative and detailed training course, which I really enjoyed. The training was very useful and interactive as well with fellow participants. It also taught me relevant skills to my job role as a BCC Senior Housing Solution and Support Caseworker, where I have regular interactions on daily basis with numerous applicants with a diversity of needs.
The skills I learnt from this course, which I intend to use in my day to work with applicants, such as use of open-ended questions, paraphrasing, summarising and motivational interviewing, am certain will go a long way in improving my interactions with them and help in working towards achievement of goals set/agreed.”
Rokshana Hussain
Team Leader
"WOW!!
The training course was very insightful and interesting. There was a good balance between theory and practice/application. I genuinely enjoyed every moment of the two and half days.
The course content was very informative and applicable.
Steven is a very engaging trainer who successfully made the training both well structured and interactive. His role playing was extremely helpful in developing the learners
understanding of the various customers they may face and how best to approach the situation. Steven had a very comprehensive understanding of our work and his course
material was well suited to help develop our skills.
The use of videos and various tasks throughout kept everyone stimulated and motivated to learn.
Steven’s training not only related to my work but also my personal life and allowed me to better equip myself with the various ways I can handle situations. I would recommend this course to all my colleagues and friends because it was delivered in a very interesting and fun way and equips everyone with the skills of how to provide support
to others.
I personally would love to participate in future training courses organised by Steven. I have attended several training sessions before and by far this is the best training I have been on. Thank you Steven, your insight and knowledge is invaluable."
Sarah
Staffordshire Police
"This was a great day and training session, probably one of the best I’ve been to for a long time. Really informative and thought provoking, I will definitely take on board some of the learning around how others may perceive me and try consider how I am might be a bit much for some. Steven was amazing and definitely made the day more enjoyable. Thank you.”
Stacey Morris
City of Wolverhampton Council
“Absolutely amazing training by Steven YET AGAIN! I just love his training. He is so knowledgeable and delivers the training in such a way that it is enjoyable as well as informative. Online training can sometimes be demotivating and tedious; NOT WITH STEVEN!
Thank You again for an amazing training session.
This will be recommended.”
Kimberley
Stoke on Trent City Council
“Steven had the ability to keep me interested throughout. The training was inspiring in that I was compelled to make changed to my practice and do better than I am currently doing.
Video’s helped to in bed the learning so for me visually watching the videos of Steven putting the techniques into practice really helped me to know how I would put motivational interviewing into practice.
I have completed this training a number of times before and I always learn something new, I had forgotten about the S.M.O.G language and reflected back to a conversation I had with a family yesterday and the training has helped me to think about how I will do things differently moving forward.
Thank you!”
Amy
Stoke on Trent City Council
“The training that was completed today was really informative. Steven was knowledgeable and able to engage everyone within the learning. I feel I have gained skills that will allow me to develop my practice further.
I would just like to say, this has been the best training I have been on to date. Thank you very much Steven.”
Tamsin
Stoke on Trent City Council
“The training over the last 2 days has been amazing. Over the last year it has been so strange to change how we do training but this has been different all together and has kept me engaged throughout the last 2 days. Steven is knowledgeable and has kept the training interesting and energetic to ensure we have gained what we needed to achieve. I have learnt so much and will take this forward into my job and working with the children and families. Thank you again.”
Becky
Stoke on Trent City Council
“Steven is knowledgeable and engaging and made the training thoroughly enjoyable. Virtual training has been difficult during the pandemic, however, this training was still very interactive which for me makes learning easier and more fun. Steven’s range of resources including films and drawings were excellent and again made the training more interesting and engaging. Steven put me at ease when completing some of the activities that I was a bit more unsure of and explained without judgement. Motivational interviewing is definitely something that I will continue to practice and implement in my practice and I now feel more confident in doing so. Thank you.”
Sue Thursfield
Stoke on Trent City Council
“Brilliant training delivered by a brilliant trainer
Steve is very knowledgeable and takes the time to put all we are learning into context of our work and gives great examples and throughout the training has modelled the topic using paraphrasing, probing and reflecting whilst working with us. I would recommend this training for anyone working with families as it gives you skills to stop, to think, to understand, empathise, reflect and feedback to gain information, acknowledge the person and show you are really listening. And there for them. Good to use when working with a family and stuck on the family resisting change, telling us nothing works they have tried everything, then using open ended questions, probing re phrasing, reflecting, amplifying and summarising using talking therapy to effect change.”
Rachel Jones
Stoke on Trent City Council
“The training was very informative and relevant to my role. It has given me lots of new things to put into place to help me support and empower our families. The trainer was funny and kept the group engaged, not an easy task given that it was over zoom. Lots of interactive tasks that I enjoyed and helped me learn new ways of working. I would recommend this training to anyone that works with the public or families. Excellent handouts and resources to use and lookback on. Thank you Steve, I was dreading two days of training, but I am looking forward to the session where we can meet face to face.”
Cat Ludlam
Stoke on Trent City Council
“I don’t very often enjoy training but this was an absolute exception, it was very informative and interactive. It has been really nice to spend time with some of the Team working on practical examples and expanding our knowledge. Steven has a very real life approach to training and working with and talking to people.”
Aimee Downs
Stoke on Trent City Council
“Absolutely brilliant training!
Very enjoyable, interactive, thought provoking and reflective of my practice.
Using Zoom for online training wasn’t even a barrier to learning, as it has been in the past year.
Thank you so much Steve, for giving us some great tools and skills to become better listeners for the children and families we work with.
During the training I found myself reflecting on how I could have worded things better with some particular young people who have recently disengaged from my support.
I cant wait to utilise my new skills!”
Emma Cole
Staffordshire County Council
“The training was very informative and it is something that I will be able to use in my practice every day. Some of the concepts I realised I was doing already and it therefore gave me some validation for my techniques, as well as the knowledge to be able to build on these even further. This is particularly the case when it comes to having a more structured approach that can be the focus for the entire discussion with my young people.
Steven kept things interesting and was inclusive of everyone. Two days flew by compared to other training I have been on.”
Charlotte Bailey
Staffordshire County Council
“I really am very grateful for this training, not only has it broadened my learning it has boosted my confidence in my own practice. Moving forward I will definitely embed MI techniques into my work. I already enjoy and appreciate the benefit of scaling as part of working in a solution focussed
way, yet had no knowledge about simple, double sided and amplified reflections and feel that these will really help my families reflect over their lived experiences. I have also found a confidence in being able to paraphrase and deliver summaries, and again I see this being very useful.
Thank you very much Steven – your delivery was fantastic; I really respond to your approach!!”
Assena
Staffordshire Council Council
“This was a fun packed training, with a serious side
however, Steven was able to keep us all interested and engaged for the two days
I feel I will be able to put into practise with some help from the worksheets, some of the strategies on how to talk to families; this will enable me to support families better and improve my practise.
I found Steven to be patient and interesting and the use real life experiences really knitted the learning together.
Steven listened and matched his training to our roles and made some of the training unquiet.
I would recommend this training to my colleagues.”
Celia Teague
Saint John Fisher Catholic College
“Hugely knowledgeable and experienced trainer able to demonstrate and model what he was teaching at every point. Brilliantly interactive and engaging. As a learner I found this to be really challenging and really supportive. The methodology supported the learning, very powerfully. I loved that this is a humanistic and relational approach to working with people and the approach mirrored the learning.
I have understood the power of the language we use when working with people, for a long time. I feel now that I have more understanding and more strategies. I know these need practise, but I do have confidence to try – starting tomorrow!
Thank you Steven 😊”
Caroline
Staffordshire County Council
“Steven was just a fabulous trainer, he oozed knowledge and had the most fantastic way of making you instantly comfortable through using his humour.
Interesting normally on training, if someone asks the group a question and then picks yu out to answer it, I would freeze, but I didn’t have that feeling at all and felt that nothing I said would be stupid. Steven thankyou for that as that really helped my learning!
With regard to the course content, it was unbelievably useful to use in my everyday role within the First Response team where I am dealing with clients on a daily basis who display a range of challenging, resistant behaviour or who are desperate for help and need help unpicking the issues and identifying the right support.
So, everything I have learnt today is perfect for making me a better social worker and a better all round communicator and helping my clients feel supported and empowered without feeling interrogated!
Thank you. It was a thoroughly enjoyable 2 days.”
Ian
Shropshire Council
“Steven, thank you for the last two days, such an engaging and enjoyable two day event, you kept us all thoroughly engaged, which I believe is always hard via Teams/Zoom. This definitely has a place within Stepping Stones
Thanks again. A very informative training event, which sits very well within Stepping Stones, and how we work and engage with our families.
The event was presented very well, the content was and is relevant to our service. The facilitator was extremely engaging, and despite the event being on Zoom, kept the audience engaged and motivated for the duration of the sessions.”
Laura
Shropshire Council
“Steven is a brilliant trainer; the content is taught then practised to embed the information and Steven keeps your mind active by participation throughout the course.
Any course Steven runs should be offered to Shropshire council staff as he has so much valuable knowledge to share.
If you don’t already you need to run a course around how to debate professionally as I really think this is healthy and not done enough in social work until you have to defend a decision which seems ironic.
Thank you for two days of intense but wonderful training, I will now be able to use motivational interviewing more confidently and not ask too many questions.
I wanted to say a personal thank you also for being so understanding with my anxiety, your thoughtfulness mean I could fully participate despite my anxiety. Not many people have your level of understanding nor would they make as much effort to think what might help me.”
Hazel Francis
Cheshire East Council
“I found the training informative and interesting. The trainer had a excellent knowledge regarding Hoarding.
I will use in my practice as a Social Worker in The Adults Learning Disability Team. I have a customer of my case load with has a Hoarding concern. I will use the techniques discussed to put into practice to support.
The Break Out rooms were beneficial it enabled to work with other by having discussion. I enjoyed the role play. It was interesting responding not Important when questions were asked. Great discussions took place.
Thank you.”
Emma
Hanley Economic Building Society
“Absolutely outstanding training from Steve. I must admit, I went into it having had previous sessions with a previous employer not expecting to get much from it, however this was simply the best training in this area I have ever received. Much broader and covered much more areas. The activities and break-out sessions were very thought provoking and beneficial. Steve was very engaging with a number of very interesting and alarming stories and facts. Very much enjoyed and an eye opener.”
Fintan Dineen
Team Leader (Technical Services and Infrastructure) University of Liverpool
"I would highly recommend Steven Talbot as an excellent and skilled practitioner in this area.
Thank you very much for arranging the Away Day training for our Technical Services Team.
I could see that everyone was fully included in the day in a positive and engaging way.
The training was well balanced and a lot of different skills and techniques were presented and explored. Steven provided opportunities to explore the skills and techniques, providing great exercises where we could put them into practice. Throughout the day, all of the team were fully included in the sessions and activities, with the exercises focused on the important skills which we highlighted in our planning. The sessions helped to highlight the relevance and importance of using the customer support techniques and skills presented. I personally found the day to be very informative and enjoyably challenging. It has provided the team with a better sense of self awareness and appreciating how we can use the skills in our work and our support of students and colleagues."
Sam Millward Thomas
Telford and Wrekin Council - social care
"Steven is an inspirational trainer and it has been an excellent learning experience, that has been very beneficial for my professional development. I hoped the course would help develop my understanding of motivational interviewing and my learning needs were exceeded on this highly practical and informative course."
Sonya Wood
Prison Officer
"Fantastic and a breath of fresh air. I found Steven to be extremely knowledgeable, interesting and professional and also entertaining! He created and delivered his training with various techniques which kept the group totally captivated throughout. One of, it not THE BEST trainers I have ever met, it was a pleasure to attend the training and I highly recommend Steven Talbot Consultancy."