British Sign Language & Deaf Awareness Training and Consultancy
Our BSL and Deaf Awareness training is designed to give you practical skills and the confidence to communicate more effectively with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals and communities. Rooted in real-world application, this training introduces key British Sign Language (BSL) vocabulary commonly used in arts and cultural settings. Whether you’re working in rehearsals, post-show discussions, workshops, or R&D spaces, we equip you with tools you can use immediately.
The training sessions are suitable for team members working within cultural organisations and freelancers, including those in front-of-house, technical roles, marketing, programming, HR, and senior management teams.
What makes this training different?
This offer brings together:
- Surface Area Dance Theatre’s award-winning inclusive arts practice
- Paul Miller’s lived experience as a Deaf BSL user, alongside his internationally recognised work in Deaf culture and education
Together, this creates an effective combination of creative insight, cultural understanding, and accessibility expertise—ensuring the training is both practical and meaningful.
Tailored to you
We know that every organisation works differently. That’s why our training is bespoke, shaped around your team, your context, and your goals. You can expect an interactive blend of good practice, information sharing, hands-on demonstrations, and opportunities to work in pairs or groups, with plenty of space for your questions along the way. During the session, you’ll also learn how to fingerspell your name and be given your own Sign Name.
We recommend an initial conversation to understand your needs and design a session that feels relevant, engaging, and impactful.
Testimonials
The course provided allowed me to understand the fundamentals of sign language and how deaf and hard of hearing people may struggle day to day. The focus group style was collaborative and informative.The instructor and the course were both excellent. I really enjoyed the training, and it all was very useful and relevant. I am definitely interested in learning more.
Participant from North East Museums
Want to find out more?
Explore our full training offer in the brochure and get in touch to start a conversation.
Click here to view the BSL and Deaf Awareness Training brochure
Testimonials
The Deaf awareness training with Paul and Surface Area Dance Theatre was really engaging and practical. It gave me a better understanding of how to communicate clearly and more confidently with Deaf people, as well as some useful basic BSL signs I can use. The session gave me simple but important tools for communication, such as getting someone’s attention, facing them directly and speaking clearly, and using gestures or writing things down when needed. I feel more aware of the barriers Deaf people face and more confident working with Deaf artists and audience members.
Clare from Alphabetti Theatre
We would like to extend a huge thank you to Creative Central Newcastle for investing in the BSL and Deaf Awareness Training project: Signing For Inclusion. Through this award, we were able to deliver BSL and Deaf Awareness to four partner organisations based in the Creative Central Newcastle area.
Organisations we have worked with
Live Theatre | Eliot Smith Dance | Alphabetti Theatre | Moving Art Management | The Lit and Phil Library | North East Museums | Northern Stage | North East Inclusive Dance Network | The Bare Toed Dance Company | Dance City | Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art | Curious Arts | Meta 4 Dance | Art Connect (Newcastle City Council) | Tyne Theatre and Opera House | Novo Theatre |
