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A review of communication models and research reveals four areas of communications skill: listening, empathy, non-verbal communication, and expressive abilities. Models of listening behavior suggest that, rather than being a passive activity, listening involves sorting stimuli and encoding messages, analyzing listener needs, and assessing speaker attitudes and internal states. According to current literature, empathy is the accurate perception of other people's feelings, reactions, or attitudes. Nonverbal communication, while difficult to record and evaluate, appears to be a group of interrelated skills dependent on the channel used--for example, voice or gesture. Expressive ability, defined by speech, rhetoric and--communication course books, includes skills ranging from organizing to delivering effective messages. Continued assessment of communication skills within naturalistic settings is needed. (MM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.