Book excerpt: Interpersonal Skills and Health Professional Issues, third edition, prepares students for effective communication in a health professional role. The text provides the skills and strategies needed for health professionals to engage and better motivate patients. The text offers an ideal model for nonverbal communication and emphasizes how to read the “unspoken message”. Interpersonal Skills and Health Professional Issues is unique in its comprehensiveness, covering the communications and emotional experiences of the patient world and a framework for multicultural understanding. Case studies and exercises enhance the textbook experience, providing readers with a deeper understanding of how to reach patients and their families.