This coursebook provides materials for a course to improve the oral communication skills of workers in health care settings. The course is designed to be delivered in eight sessions over a 4-week period. Stated objectives for the participants are as follows: feel more comfortable with communication in the hospital, avoid becoming defensive or personally involved in a conflict, establish good communication with patients, recognize and deal with the emotions of others in a conversation, guide conversations to successful conclusions, and project a more professional image. Week one materials on good communication cover these topics: communicating in health care settings, why communication can be difficult, exploring the staff-patient relationship, and patient bill of rights. Week three materials address active listening, listening to understand people (empathy and body language), listening to understand the situation (paraphrasing and clarifying), and behaviors that shortcircuit communication. Topics of the third week focus on how to discuss, open versus closed questions, shortcircuiting discussion, guiding discussion, communication styles, and coping with criticism. The fourth week addresses these topics: following up, responding to conflict, confrontation, and problem people. Exercises and practice activities are provided for some topics. (YLB)