Speaking Their Language: Why Communication Matters in Every Hospital

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of walking into some of the most respected hospitals and universities across the United States and Australia, not with a stethoscope or lab coat, but with something just as vital: conversations about communication.

It might sound simple talking about how we talk, but in healthcare, the words we choose, the way we deliver them, and the intentions behind them can radically shape a person’s experience of care. And that’s what I’m invited to speak about in Grand Rounds presentations, workshops, and professional development sessions for clinicians, researchers, allied health teams, and students.

These sessions aren’t about ticking a professional development box. They’re about reflection, reimagining, and realigning with the core of why people choose healthcare careers in the first place: to make a difference and to heal. Together, we explore how language can build trust or erode it, and how a moment of authentic connection can be as healing as any prescription.

Each hospital and university I work with brings a unique culture, but the questions are often the same:

• How do we speak with compassion, even when time is short?

• How do we support families navigating complex, devastating diagnoses?

• How do we create a culture where communication is a shared responsibility, not just a soft skill?

Through storytelling, interactive tools, and lived experience, we dig into these questions, not with blame or shame, but with curiosity and care. Whether I’m presenting to a packed auditorium of senior specialists or facilitating small group workshops with nursing teams and medical students, the focus is always the same: connection over correction, understanding over assumption.

I’m deeply grateful to the many hospitals and universities who have opened their doors, minds and hearts to this work. From neonatal intensive care units to oncology wards, research departments to medical schools, I’ve seen firsthand the hunger for better communication, not just as a technique, but as a value.

Because in the end, healthcare is human work. And when we remember that, the way we speak starts to change, not just for the sake of the patient, but for the well-being of the clinicians too.