This basic course in oral communication developed especially for hospital employees is designed to be taught onsite and to complement a hospital's other training and staff development efforts. The topical focus is workplace communication. The course is designed as a 16-hour course, with eight 2-hour sessions. The curriculum guide consists of a list of course goals, list of homework assignment, and informational materials, activities, and exercises for these eight sessions: good communication; how to communicate well; listening: empathy and paraphrase; listening: clarifying and moving on; how to discuss; coping with criticism; how to act; and review and course evaluation. A reading on communicating in health care settings is provided. The teacher's guide explains the philosophy of the course. It lists course goals, (including participant role, instructor role, and evaluation) and offers sample lesson plans. Each lesson plan has a brief narrative description of class activities and goals and a time plan. The teacher's guide also describes how teachers can adapt the course to make it more work-related and more responsive to different audiences. Suggestions for recordkeeping conclude the guide. (YLB)