Talk Your Peace
Who are we?
Talk Your Peace is a communication consultancy based in Western Australia. TYP was founded and is led by Marg Pontin, who is one of only a handful of trainers in Australia certified by the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Marg has trained nationally and internationally since 2004 with world leaders in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and mediation, organisational learning and development, and strategic planning and teamwork.
Marg teams with her daughter Rachel, who has been immersed in NVC for almost 20 years and is working towards CNVC certification. Rachel works with schools and organisations to facilitate training for staff, parents or children.
For more about Marg and Rachel, see the bio notes below.
What do we do?
TYP delivers training in Nonviolent Communication for individuals and organisations wanting to recognise and meet human feelings and needs. Marg and Rachel present workshops and training sessions for schools, community organisations, non-profits and corporate entities.
Marg also offers specialist services in communications consultancy, mediation, coaching and corporate training.
For a taste of TYP, take a look at this video introduction.
Why do we do it?
US psychologist Dr Marshall Rosenberg (1934-2015) developed Nonviolent Communication to reduce the harm that can arise from poorly chosen words. If “violent” means acting in ways that result in hurt or harm, then much of how we communicate—judging others, bullying, having racial bias, blaming, finger-pointing, discriminating, speaking without listening, criticising others or ourselves, name-calling, reacting when angry, using political rhetoric, being defensive or judging who’s “good/bad” or what’s “right/wrong” with people—could indeed be called “violent communication.”
Dr Rosenberg asserted: “Violence is the tragic expression of unmet needs.” His work is founded on the view that in any situation of disagreement, it is possible for both parties to get their needs met peacefully once the needs of both can be identified and expressed by the other.
Talk Your Peace aims to apply the principles of NVC, along with other insights from like-minded people around the world, to build good relationships and clear communication between people.
How can you benefit?
We would love to work with you and your organisation.
Go to our Services and Resources page to see what events are coming up, and what resources you can obtain to support your practice of NVC. To understand how others have benefited, go to the Testimonials page.
To find out more about TYP, contact us.
For more information about trainers and training events around Australia, as well as product information you may like to contact www.nvcaustralia.com.
For information about Marshall Rosenberg and international trainers and events, and to download the first chapter of Marshall's book Nonviolent Communication, you may like to contact www.cnvc.org.
More about us
Marg Pontin
Marg Pontin has 30 years' experience in education and has worked in government and non-government schooling sectors, from early years education through to secondary levels. She was a principal for 12 years in both primary and secondary schools in Albany and in Perth, Western Australia.
She was a key instigator, co-creator and co-leader of a team of 30 senior West Australian educators on a study tour of Finland with AISWA in 2019. Marg received an Excellence in Leadership award from the WA branch of the Australian Council of Educational Leadership in April, 2019 in recognition of her contribution to education through the Finland study tour.
Marg is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and has been consulting with schools, community, not-for-profits and corporate organisations as well as with individuals and families since 2003. She was instrumental in bringing NVC into Western Australia and is one of two certified trainers in WA, and 13 in Australia.
Marg’s passion for nonviolence and education has focused her career on advocating for the needs of children from birth, through childhood and education, as well as supporting women and their partners and families to flourish. She had her four babies at home and home-schooled three of them for 18 months. Her four adult children and five grandchildren continue to nourish and teach her how to learn and love. Her account of her homebirths was published in the book Women In Labour: 32 Personal Accounts of Childbirth (Linda Davis, Jo-Anne Byrne and Susan Cullen, The Text Publishing Company, 1992).
Marg founded Talk Your Peace in 2005 and now works in collaboration with her eldest daughter Rachel, who is a second-generation home schooling parent, a small business owner and is registered for certification as a CNVC trainer. Marg's husband Steve leads product design and publishing resources which are all based on decades of feedback from participants and clients.
Rachel Pontin
Rachel has been learning Nonviolent Communication for 20 years and teaching it for more than six years. She homeschools her neurodivergent teenager, who has given her ample opportunity to practise patience, reconnection, co-regulation and self-regulation.
Rachel sees NVC as a powerful framework, a philosophy and a set of practical tools for aligning our behaviour and communication with our core values. She has undertaken online training in resonance and trauma. She is interested in the neurobiology of learning, executive functioning and how brains and people change, particularly in relation to teens and young men.
Rachel has a background in permaculture, homeschooling and martial arts.
