Communication
Deafness means putting communication first. Let Jane inspire your teams with a speech and guide you to clearer communication. Want to develop your own communication skills further? Check Jane’s coaching page.
Public speaking
Jane is a warm, inspirational woman with a great sense of humour.
Lisa Cousins, Northamptonshire Learning Disability Partnership Board
Jane was fantastic to listen to, she has had strength through adversity that is a amazing example to us all.
Participant, Springboard for Domestic Violence Survivors
Thank you very much for your absolutely inspirational speech.
Lord Karan Billimoria, Vice-Chancellor, Birmingham University
Jane is an experienced public speaker
2017 Leeds University Business School © Anthony Glossop
2025 KPMG, London
© Rob Martin
Jane has given keynote speeches at a wide range of events for a diverse group of organisations. She uses her own wide and deep experience and great sense of humour to bring her speeches alive.
When in Poland she gave regular speeches in Polish related to equality and disability rights.
Want to see Jane in action?
BBC 4 interview
Listen to or read the script of Jane's interview
Interview on BBC news
Watch Jane's interview on with Steph McGovern
Corporate Wisdom lecture
Watch Jane's Corporate Wisdom lecture at Leeds University Business School (uncaptioned)
Enquiry into Disability Employment
Would you like to book Jane for your event?
Communication advice
Clear communication
Writing: To reach wider audiences use plain English. Explain any special names and avoid jargon. To test this, when you have written something, ask a person who is not involved in your area if they can understand everything. If not, change it!
Speaking: Be aware that at least 15% of people use lipreading to support their understanding of speech. You can help them:
Don't have the light behind you: it puts your face into shadow.
Don't cover your mouth.
Don't speak too quickly.
Don't mumble or mutter.
Communication support: There are many types of support available. Take a look on our specialist page.
Languages – have a go!
Learning another language is one of the most powerful ways you can reach out to others and extend your personal range. British people are not great language learners. We tend to be scared of making mistakes and/or a bit lazy about learning. But by not learning, we miss out on an empowering tool – a humbling way to understand another culture. If you are in the UK and would like to try a new language, why not start with sign language?
Writing and research
Jane wrote a Cambridge University Press educational book: Cambridge Business English Activities. In 2011 she gave a research paper at the first Research Conference of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) in the Netherlands. The paper compared disabled and non-disabled responses to coaching.