Training for customer facing businesses

Boost reputation and revenue with our evidence based, interactive and relatable training

How our training can help your business

We can help your team to understand what it’s like to be a customer with communication differences after brain injury or illness. Your staff will learn to identify and overcome communication barriers to confidently provide great customer service – even when communication challenges are present.

The benefits

Why do Inclusive Conversation Training?

Improve customer social connections/wellbeing

Improve staff experience/wellbeing

Improve customer and staff
retention

Boost reputation and revenue!

Why do Inclusive Conversation Training?

Improve customer social connections/wellbeing

Improve staff experience/wellbeing

Improve customer and staff retention

Boost reputation and revenue!

View our Inclusive Conversation training solution

Why it matters to your business

Most people don’t know how to identify a communication difference, or how to respond if a customer’s communication is unclear. Staff may wrongly assume a customer to be drunk or have dementia. This can cause uncomfortable and difficult experiences for both staff and customers.

Lack of awareness of communication differences can lead to high staff turnover, and loss of reputation, customers and revenue.

People living with disabilities, including brain injuries and illness control £274 billion in spending power*.

90% of these people feel excluded* from making purchases because businesses don’t know how to meet their needs.

(*Disability forum Report – What disabled consumers choose to buy and why)

The Equality Act 2010 requires businesses to make reasonable adjustments for people with physical or mental impairments.

How many customers does this impact?

1 in 5 people will face communication differences at some point. For many adults, this happens after brain injury or illness.

To give you an idea of the scale, take just stroke:

Communication differences are a huge blind spot for business

Proud of your customer service?

Sure?

Are you really serving everyone well?

You might be losing loyal customers without even realising it.

Know what to do if a customer has a communication difference?

Most people don’t. This can be problematic.

If a customer’s communication is unclear, staff may wrongly assume the person to be drunk or have dementia.

If that happened to you, would you go back to that business? Probably not.

The size of this challenge

1 in 5 people will face communication differences at some point. For many adults, this happens after brain injury or illness.

To give you an idea of the scale, take just stroke

Right now, 1.3 million people in the UK are living with the effects of a stroke.

(www.strokeassociation.org)

64% of stroke survivors experience communication differences like aphasia, dysarthria, or apraxia.

(Michell et al., 2021)

And stroke is just one cause of communication differences. There is also:

traumatic brain injury,
progressive neurological conditions,
language led dementia,
brain tumour…

Let’s start with strokes—just one type of brain injury that can cause lasting communication challenges in adults due to aphasia, dysarthria, and or apraxia.

1.3 million people in the UK are living with the after-effects of a stroke.
64% of these people have communication differences as a result.

Ever heard of aphasia, dysarthria, and or apraxia?

Know what to do if a customer has aphasia dysarthria, and or apraxia?

Don’t worry, Many don’t—and when it’s misunderstood, staff often assume the person is drunk or has dementia.

Imagine if that happened to you. How embarrassing. Would you go back? Probably not.

Now think about this:

People living with disabilities—including brain injuries and progressive neurological conditions—control £274 billion in spending power.

Yet 90% feel excluded from making purchases because businesses don’t know how to meet their needs.

That’s a lot of lost revenue.

Here’s the good news:

Simple changes in how your team communicates can transform customer experiences—and boost your bottom line.

But how can you improve something if you don’t even know what’s wrong?

The Equality Act 2010 requires businesses to make reasonable adjustments for people with physical or mental impairments. We’ll show you how to do that, simply and effectively.

The Solution?

Turn your business into lemonade.

Conversation is the most frequent task we all undertake in daily life.

We help your team master inclusive conversations—so every customer has a great experience and keeps coming back.

It takes two to have a conversation.

That’s why Lemonade from Lemons trains your staff to become excellent conversation partners.

They’ll learn:

What acquired communication differences are.
How the hidden “rules” of everyday conversation work—and what happens when those rules break.
Practical strategies to make conversations smoother, more inclusive, and more welcoming for all customers.

About Our Course:

This isn’t another e-learning module.

Our half-day or full day face-to-face training is:

Interactive
Informative
Evidence-based
And (most importantly) fun!

Designed by:

Dr. Firle Beckley – Speech and Language Therapist, PhD in Communication Partner Training
Nikki Hafter – Inclusive Arts Practitioner, MA
Ben Goldstein – Living with an acquired communication difference

Our training solution

Inclusive Conversation Training

A disability awareness training course, for non-visible communication differences after brain injury or illness (eg., stroke).

Inclusive conversation training is evidence based, interactive, relatable and creative. It explains what communication differences after brain injury or illness are.

It gives attendees experience of using an “inclusive conversation toolkit”. The toolkit provides simple ways your organisation can adjust to be communication inclusive.

Through a mix of expert insight, creative activities, and real-life experience, we’ll get your team thinking differently about customer conversations.

By the end, they’ll leave fizzing with practical ideas to improve communication, create a more inclusive environment, and keep customers coming back for more!

Download training flyer

Download training summary

Training format

A half-day interactive face-to-face course. It includes bite-size seminars, interactive quizzes, and small group work to experience communication differences and how the toolkit can ease communication. We are happy to discuss alternative training options if face-to-face does not suit you or your organisation.

Training includes certificate of completion for trainees. Please contact us for further details regarding organisational level 1 certification of awareness with option to display our inclusive conversation logo.

Online half day training sessions start from £899 (£89.90 pp)

Includes a certificate of completion

In person half day training sessions start from £1100

Includes a certificate of completion

“I encourage EVERYONE to do this.”

– Residential Villages Group Resident Liaison Officer

“I learned a lot about something I was not even aware of.”

– Residential Villages Group Wellbeing Co-ordinator

“I’ve learnt new ways of communicating.”

– Residential Villages Group Wellbeing Co-ordinator

“Fantastic, interactive, lots of discussion.”

– Residential Villages Group Wellbeing Co-ordinator

Our training courses are designed by…

Dr Firle Beckley (the science)

Firle has been a speech and language therapist for over 20 years.
Her research career began on the pioneering Better Conversations with Aphasia research project, led by Dr Suzanne Beeke.
She has initiated a number of creative wellbeing projects with partners including: The Art of Conversation with Aphasia and Zooming Great.
Firle completed her Stroke Association funded PhD in 2024.
Firle’s independent therapy practice is called Firle B Therapies.

Nikki Hafter (the art)

Nikki is an artist facilitator with a Master’s in Inclusive Arts Practice.
Nikki specialises in using creative arts to support communication with people facing communication challenges.
Nikki has worked with the University of Brighton, De La Warr Pavilion, and Battersea Arts Centre.
Learn more about Nikki’s work at nikkihafter.com

Ben Goldstein (the lived experience)

Ben has a psychology degree.
He used to work as a video editor in London.
Ben has aphasia after a stroke in 2013.
He now volunteers and helps researchers improve speech and language therapy at UCL and City St. George’s.
Ben helps Lemonade from Lemons with his no-nonsense feedback.

Please contact us for further information and prices at hello@lemonadefromlemons.co.uk