In this paper we intoduce a model for direct communication in situated multi-agent systems. Direct communicationis typically associated with cognitive agents, where theinformation encoded in the messages is related to a mentalstate. This generally assumed view on communication however,does not fit the approach of situated, behavior-basedagents. We propose a protocol-based communication modelfor situated agents. Communication specified in terms ofprotocols, i.e. well-defined sequences of messages, shifts thefocus of communication from the reasoning upon messagestowards the relationship between the exchanged messages.The model decomposes communication into three functionalmodules: message decoding, communicating and messageencoding. The core of the model, the communicating module(1) interprets decoded messages and reacts to them inaccordance with the applicable protocol, and (2) initiatesor continues conversations when the conditions imposed bythe applicable protocol are satisfied.