Tongue Fu Talking™: Embedding Oracy in Every Aspect of the Curriculum
Oracy is the disciplined art of speaking and listening — where thinking, language, expression, and collaboration come together to shape understanding and communication. It includes both verbal and non-verbal elements and spans a variety of interactions, from formal presentations to collaborative discussions.
Login to Tongue Fu Talking
Access your account using a registered email address.
Register your School
Begin by searching for your School from our database. We encourage School Administrators, or those with budget authority, to complete our registration process on behalf of their School.
What Is Oracy?
Oracy is the disciplined art of speaking and listening—where thinking, language, expression, and collaboration come together to shape understanding and communication. It includes both verbal and non-verbal elements and spans a variety of interactions, from formal presentations to collaborative discussions.
What is Tongue Fu Talking?
Developed by Chris Quigley Education, is a FULLY-RESOURCED structured framework for teaching and developing the art of speaking and listening. It draws its name from kung fu—not because it involves fighting, but because of what kung fu really means: a disciplined pursuit of mastery through dedicated practice. In the same way that martial artists refine their movements, control, and focus, Tongue Fu Talking™ helps students master the subtle, powerful discipline of spoken communication.
Part of the Chris Quigley Group
A Structured Framework
We use two modes of talking to work through four key disciplines, giving identity and context to the facets of oracy.
Two Modes
Empower students to communicate with Explorer and Presenter Mode.
Explorer Mode
Presenter Mode
Four Disciplines
Each discipline focuses on a different element of communication, ensuring pupils speak and listen effectively.
The Stance
The Flow
The Mind
The Bond
Four Grades
Mirroring martial arts grading, the four tier progression system moves from White to Black Belt.
White Belt
Green Belt
Brown Belt
Black Belt
A Structured, Fully Resourced Framework
Unlock the full potential of classroom talk with Tongue Fu Talking™—a structured oracy framework inspired by the discipline of martial arts. This course will show you how to teach speaking and listening with the same rigour and clarity as reading and writing.
You’ll explore two purposeful modes of talk:
- Explorer Mode: The way of thoughtful discovery
- Presenter Mode: The way of speaking with confidence, substance, and style
And discover how to develop them through four powerful disciplines:
- The Stance (physical presence)
- The Flow (linguistic skill)
- The Mind (cognitive strategies)
- The Bond (social and emotional connection)
Teachable Practices
Find fully resourced teachable practices aligned to each belt. These include games, discussion starters and guides, sentence stems, model dialogues, progression maps, character guides, printable posters from your classroom, slide decks and checklists for direct teaching and much more.
The Stance
The Stance practices focuses on:
- Pacing
- Tone
- Pronunciation
- Projection
- Gestures & Posture
- Eyes & Face
The Flow
The Flow practices develop students’ ability to use language:
- Vocabulary
- Register
- Grammatical Awareness
- Sentence Structure
- Rhetorical Flair
The Mind
The Mind practices support the thinking that shapes speech:
- Content & Purpose
- Metacognition
- Reasoning With Justification
- Summarising
- Structure
- Focus
The Bond
The Bond practices develop the social and emotional dimension of talk:
- Managing Interactions
- Turn Taking & Active Listening
- Audience Awareness
- Self-Assurance & Resilience
- Liveliness & Engagement
- Encouragement & Collaboration
Kind Words
Reviews from past customers of Chris Quigley Education.
Thank you so much - as usual, today has been thought-provoking from start to finish. I will definitely be using the vocabulary games as starter activities next week, and I will be introducing the Think-aloud Crowd across the curriculum to help children use metacognitive strategies in their learning.
Tongue Fu Talking™ Systematic Oracy Development Across the Curriculum.
Used by Schools across the UK
Countless education facilities have worked with Chris Quigley Education, trusting us for their Oracy content, curriculum design and much more.
Compare subscription options
Our subscription bands are based on the size of your school's recorded pupil quota.