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English for business

Here you can find a wide range of full lesson plans to use in your business English classroom. All of our lessons are designed around functional skills for business learners and can be used to complement your course curriculum, giving students an opportunity to develop their English language and skills in motivating and enjoyable ways. Written by business English language teaching experts from around the world, our lesson plans are easy to use and aim to give your students the skills and confidence they need to enjoy learning English.

Getting down to business

Meetings 1: Getting down to business

The beginning of a meeting presents a major dilemma: is it better to get straight down to business, or is it important to allow or even encourage small talk? The texts in this lesson present arguments from opposing viewpoints, which may help students to question their own assumptions. The lesson goes on to introduce useful language for both small talk and getting down to business, with practice in the form of role-plays.

esl business english lesson plans

Negotiations 1: Building relationships

When we think of negotiations, we tend to focus on the hard negotiating skills connected with bargaining. In fact, many professional negotiators will confirm that the most important skill is effective relationship building.

esl business english lesson plans

Socialising 1: Breaking the ice

For many people, the idea of walking into a room full of strangers and trying to socialise with them can be terrifying, especially if you have to use a foreign language. The barriers to ‘breaking the ice’ in a situation like this are just as much psychological as linguistic, which is why this lesson aims to get students thinking about the situation (through a quiz-based discussion and jigsaw reading) as much as speaking and practicing the skill of starting conversations with strangers.

esl business english lesson plans

Meetings 2: Getting involved in meetings

Many learners of English worry about their mistakes and allow their insecurities to prevent them from participating in meetings fully. This lesson provides reassurance that such insecurities are very common and normal. It also presents some strategies for increasing their confidence and ability to participate actively in meetings in English. The lesson also warns students that they themselves are responsible for overcoming this barrier to communication. There is also some guidance for learners with the opposite problem: overconfidence and dominance. It is suitable for a wide range of professional contexts, not just businesspeople.

esl business english lesson plans

Socialising 2: Keeping conversations going

After struggling to break the ice, the next obstacle is to keep the conversation going beyond the initial conversation. For this reason, this lesson aims to provide students with a bank of around 15 questions that they would feel comfortable asking in a conversation with a new acquaintance. They will also learn more general techniques involving different types of questions and the skill of turn-taking. Finally, they will practise all the skills from the lesson in a role-play game.

esl business english lesson plans

Meetings 3: Managing a meeting

This lesson focuses on two important aspects of managing a meeting: setting up the meeting with a series of emails, and keep the meeting under control. Two other important parts of managing a meeting, introducing the meeting and closing the meeting, are covered in lessons 1 and 5.

esl business english lesson plans

Negotiations 2: Positions and interests

The key to successful negotiation is preparation and research. This means finding out exactly what you want from the negotiation, and why you want it. This lesson includes a discussion, vocabulary input, a reading activity, useful language for negotiation, team problem solving and a role play in pairs.

esl business english lesson plans

Meetings 4: Brainstorming and evaluating

Since its development in the 1950s, brainstorming has become one of the most common techniques used in meetings to generate ideas. However, despite its clear benefits, the technique has its faults and many improvements have been suggested and analysed. This lesson aims to provide practice of brainstorming at the same time as exploring possible improvements. The second half of the lesson focuses on the necessary follow-up to brainstorming: evaluating ideas. This means the lesson covers two of the key language functions of meetings: making suggestions and agreeing/disagreeing.

esl business english lesson plans

Negotiations 3: Questioning and clarifying

In a negotiation, it’s very important to know when to speak, when to ask and when to shut up and listen. In this lesson students rank and discuss the stages of negotiation, do a reading activity and look at negotiations vocabulary, examine question types, then finish with a role play to practise clarifying, summarising and responding.

Research and insight

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20+ Great Business English Topics and Lesson Activities

For Business English students, it’s important that ESL lessons are based on the needs of their day-to-day work.

They want to practice situations taken from their professional environment, and discuss real-life Business English topics.

Some are: making phone calls, being able to hold and carry on conversations, speaking with colleagues, preparing and giving presentations, or negotiations. 

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Coming up with creative activities and finding good topics for your lessons can be tough and time-consuming.

The Business English activities in this post will save you time and effort in making quality content for your lessons.

Business english: 20+ activities for ESL Lessons

About the Business English Topics And Activities

Topic: airbnb business travel, topic: commuting to work, topic: big business (amazon, coca-cola, netflix, etc.), topic: artificial intelligence and future technology, topic: music, bonus activity.

Lessons including well-designed activities will prepare your students for their professional lives and give them the necessary skills and vocabulary needed to communicate effectively in English.

The 20 activity suggestions you’ll find in this post relate to the topics of business travel, commuting to work, big business, artificial intelligence, technology, and music.

The activities you can do on these business English topics are from specific lesson plans based on videos , which come equipped with a range of different printable Business English worksheets , conversation topics, speaking exercises, listening activities, and writing exercises for adults.

Below are some examples of activities from these lessons that can help your Business English students improve their communication skills.

Airbnb has been expanding their services to open up the market for business travelers.

They are simplifying the process of booking and launched some tools which automatically organize your business trip expenses. This new business travel program is coming out strong.

  • Phone Calling
  • Writing Accommodation Descriptions
  • Leaving Reviews
  • Mobile App Concepts
  • Debate With Hotel Owner
  • Comparing and Contrasting

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the real estate, hospitality, or mobile app industries, but also in general for any businessmen or women who have to travel for their jobs.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons: it’s controversial (hotel owners aren’t happy about AirBnB) and it’s a hot topic (more and more people are choosing Airbnb over hotels).

Airbnb is a relatively new global powerhouse, revolutionizing the hospitality industry the same way that Uber revolutionized the taxi industry.

Activity: Phone Calling

Put students in pairs or a group. Assign each student a different role from the roles below, or they can choose one.

Students have to imagine that they are Airbnb hosts who just hosted:

  • A small group of middle-aged business travelers
  • A small group of young adult party travelers
  • A small family of 4 with young children
  • An individual traveler who came with his dog

Students then ‘call’ their ‘friends’ (another student in the class) to either leave a voicemail or talk about the experience (or complain about the experience!).

They should describe how the experience was as the host for these types of travelers:

  • What was different about hosting each of their stays?
  • Was it positive or negative and why?
  • Did anything good, bad, surprising, or unusual happen during their stay?

You could even have them imagine what could be a positive and negative experience for hosting these types of travelers.

You could even get a bit more creative with this one by assigning a pair of students a role from the list above, and they have to call the ‘host’ (their partner) and ask them questions or make special requests about their stay, e.g:

  • Am I allowed to bring my dog to your property?
  • Is there a nice cafe in the area where I can bring my laptop to do work?
  • We have a baby who cries a lot during the night. Will this bother you?

Even though with Airbnb, you would probably just message the host online, but in this case, you can make it a phone call to practice speaking.

Activity: Writing Accommodation or Property Descriptions & Reviews

Students work with a partner or group and imagine they are Airbnb hosts offering a special, exotic, or unique type of accommodation rental.

They should discuss and agree on the type of home rental they have to offer, where in the world it is, and create their own online listing for this rental on Airbnb.

In the listing, they should explain what type of rental it is, the location, the check-in and check-out procedure, a description and special features of the accommodation, and other housing details and rules.

Make students offer something different or special about their property – something they wouldn’t get somewhere else. Remember, they want to sell the experience!

Students then present their accommodation profile description to the other students in the class and then give their listing to another student or group.

The other student or group then makes a detailed review for that listing, imagining they actually stayed there.

Activity: Creating Mobile App Concepts in the Sharing Economy

Put students in pairs and give them a list of other mobile apps in the sharing economy.

  • Neighborgoods

Based on the name of the app, students have to discuss and explain what they imagine the concept of the app to be and how it works.

After students work together for a couple of minutes, go around the class and ask them to report their answers. If they’re not able to imagine what it might be, you can just tell them.

Ask them questions like:

  • Would this type of app be useful for you? Why or why not?
  • Which app from this list would help you the most?

Try to create an in-depth class discussion about all of these apps.

For the apps listed above specifically, you can discuss things like:

  • If parking is a problem for your students (JustPark)
  • What they do with their dog when they go on a trip (DogVacay)
  • If they would be interested to drive with a stranger for many hours (BlaBla Car)
  • If they’ve ever eaten at someone’s home, from another country or culture (HomeDine)

Then, students can either work with the same or different partners to create their own concept for a mobile app in the sharing economy.

They should focus on things like:

  • The special features of the app
  • What problem it solves / Why it’s a good idea
  • How it works
  • What problems could happen when people use your app

An alternative to this one is I’ve also had students imagine that they were the founders of Airbnb, and they have to come up with their own detailed story behind the establishment of the company, which turned out to be a fun activity.

Activity: Debate Between AirBnB Representative and Hotel Owner

Put students in pairs or two small groups and they prepare for a debate.

One student or group takes the position of an AirBnB company representative and the other takes the position of a Hotel Owner.

Each side must prepare, defend, and present their positions to the other groups, presenting information about…

  • Why they believe their accommodation service is better (at least 3 advantages of your service) Students must talk about the top reasons to stay in a hotel over Airbnb, or vice versa.
  • If you think Airbnb should be legal or illegal and why (obviously the AirBnB rep will say it should be legal and the hotel owner will say it should be illegal)
  • The positive impact your service has on society and the economy
  • What actual people and guests have said about your accommodation services

You can refer to this article to help students talk about Airbnb versus hotels  if they are having trouble coming up with ideas.

Your role as the teacher will be the moderator during the debate – generating follow-up questions for the students or groups when they present their sides. Keep the debate clean and flowing smoothly.

Activity: Comparing and Contrasting (Hotels vs. AirBnB or Uber vs. Taxi)

If for any reason you don’t want to make this an official ‘debate,’ another thing you could do is just make it a general, in-depth class discussion, conversation, or compare & contrast about the advantages and disadvantages of staying in Airbnb in comparison with hotels.

Make sure students talk about their own experiences.

Transition the discussion to the conflict between Uber and Taxi, because they are facing a similar conflict for similar reasons.

If your students enjoyed the discussion about AirBnB and hotels, an interesting follow-up lesson topic for you might be about a  businessman who is building hotels designed for outer space .

Many businessmen and women in the modern world have to commute for hours and hours per week to their jobs or for work purposes. Sitting in the car or public transit like this can really have a negative impact on one’s overall lifestyle.

  • Telling a Story
  • Commenting on YouTube
  • Expressing Frustrations or Complaining
  • Talking About Lifestyle & Daily Routines

The reason this topic works so well in Business ESL lessons is that it reaches such a wide spectrum of people.

Everyone who has a job as an employee in a company, a school, a factory, etc has a unique situation. All Business English students usually have a lot to say about their experience commuting (or home office if they have that privilege!).

Activity: Telling a Story

Students work in pairs.

Student A: This student imagines that he/she spends a lot of time commuting and is very pessimistic about the situation.

This student believes that they have the worst commute in the world. Describe the situation in detail. The student should complain about it as much as possible and why they hate it so much.

They should take notes on:

  • Where you live
  • Your daily routine
  • Where you go to work
  • What’s so bad about the commute / What are the conditions of the commute
  • How commuting makes you feel

The student then has to tell one negative story that they have had during their commute.

Student B: This student imagines that they spend a lot of time commuting but is very optimistic about the situation.

This student loves the situation that they have. They should discuss and explain in detail why they have the best commute in the world, talk about it as much as possible and why they enjoy it.

Also, they take notes on:

They tell one positive story that they’ve had during your commute.

After the students write notes for their roles (give them a few minutes), have them describe their situations to their partner.

They should listen to their partner’s situation carefully because they should then report the details of their partner’s situation back to the class!

Activity: Commenting on YouTube

At the beginning of the video, the reporter complains about her long daily routine and commute, and then she says to the audience:

“Before you go and post that comment telling me to ‘move closer’, you need to see that I’m not the only person doing this.”

In pairs, students should come up with a response that the following type of people would write or say to the reporter in the YouTube comments section, e.g:

  • What could be a rude response to that statement in the comment section of the video?
  • What could be an empathetic response to that statement in the comment section of the video?
  • What could be a funny response to that statement in the comment section of the video?

Another activity you could do is give students some imaginary comments to that video, and then the students have to write responses to these imaginary comments. You can make it a speaking or writing activity.

For example, here are a few possible comments to that video:

Comment #1:

“Americans are completely crazy and lazy. You drive these huge cars to work and in  reality , you don’t need to. Look at the Netherlands and Denmark – they have very efficient bicycle transport systems and bicycles are much more environmental. It’s stupid to drive everywhere.”

Comment #2:

“The best solution to this problem is self-driving cars. Our tax money should go more to support the production of self-driving cars. That way when people commute they can do productive things.  The solution to public transit is getting better wifi connections on the subways and buses.”

You can instruct one student to write a response which agrees with each comment, and the other student to write a response which disagrees with each comment, something along those lines.

Activity: Expressing Frustrations & Complaining

Put students in pairs, or in two groups. You’ll distribute to each student pair or group two cards which read:

  • A: Riding on public transport
  • B: Driving in a car

Students must work together to come up with a list of all the things that frustrate them, annoy them, stress them out, or make them angry while (1) riding on public transport and (2) driving a car.

The group which comes up with the most things in the time limit (3 minutes should be good) wins.

This activity usually works really well because everyone gets angry, stressed, frustrated, etc. at some point while driving a car or riding public transportation.

A lot of good vocabulary can also come out of this one. You can even teach a couple of fun phrasal verbs related to driving when you talk about this topic:

  • Cut (someone) off  – “I hate when I’m driving and someone cuts me off and then I have to slam on my brakes.”
  • Pull (someone) over  – “I hate when I’m driving only a little bit above the speed limit and a police officer pulls me over.”
  • Freak out  – “I hate driving with my father. He always drives aggressively and freaks out about small things.”
  • Run over  – “I hate when I run over a nail or a sharp object and my tire goes flat.”
  • Hold (someone) up  – “I hate when traffic holds me up and makes me late for work.”

You can use this activity for teaching students other terminology that is useful for expressing complaints or frustrations:

  • I get frustrated when…
  • I get all stressed out when…
  • It gets me so worked up when…
  • It pisses me off when…
  • I totally freak out when…
  • I lose my mind when…
  • It drives me nuts when…

Have students then use these expressions to talk about their frustrations commuting or about their job in general.

Activity: Talking About Lifestyle, Commuting, and Employment Situations

Spending hours commuting and then hours at the office has become so integrated into the modern working world that it can have quite a profound impact on our quality of life and lifestyle, which is why it’s good to talk about in a language lesson.

Here’s an activity you can do that will give your students a good opportunity to talk about their lifestyle, commute, and employment situation.

It’s also simple, easy to prepare, and generates quality conversation.

Print a number of statements on cards and give them to the students or write them on the whiteboard in class.

Put students in pairs or groups. Have them discuss if they think the following statements are generally true or false and why:

  • People are generally happier if they travel to work by car instead of public transportation.
  • In the USA, people generally commute to work or school by train or bus.
  • 10 days of paid vacation per year is fair from an employer.
  • Regular exercise helps people deal with stress from work.
  • People are more productive if they have a 4-day working week instead of 5.

Put students in pairs or groups. Have them discuss if the following statements are true or false for them personally and have them explain why:

  • There is a positive working atmosphere at my job.
  • I am satisfied with my work-life balance.
  • Every day I eat a balanced and healthy breakfast before work.
  • When I commute to work I try to be productive on the way.
  • I prefer working from home rather than going to an office.
  • I spend too much time at work socializing with my colleagues.

Speaking about daily routines is also a great activity if you’d like to focus on the present simple as a grammar point for your lesson.

Using big companies and corporations as a topic in your Business English lessons is practical for obvious reasons and you can make it fun too for your students.

It’s especially great to use big business as a topic if you actually have adult students who work in big companies, but they’re also applicable topics for students who have their own business or who work in smaller companies.

  • History & Fun Facts
  • Developing a Product
  • Making Slogans
  • Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Jobs

Activity: History & Fun Facts About Big Companies

As a lead-in or warm-up exercise to a lesson about big business, you can search and find some fun or interesting facts or history about the companies.

One quick activity you could do to lead to a topic is a simple fill-in-the-blank that looks something like this:

Below are 5 interesting facts about Amazon. Let the students fill in the blanks with words that they think fit.

  • The founder Jeff Bazos wanted to name the company Amazon which has products from ‘A to Z’ symbolizing a large size, just like the Amazon ________________________ .
  • Amazon.com started as a bookstore in Jeff Bazos’ ________________________ .
  • The combined ________________________ of Amazon’s warehouses is enough to hold more water than 10,000 Olympic pools.
  • Today Amazon has more than 350,000 ________________________ .
  • One of Amazon’s first offices had a ________________________ which employees would  ring every time a sale was made.

Below are 5 interesting facts about Coca-Cola. Fill in the blanks with words that you think fit.

  • The Coca-Cola ________________________ is recognized by 94% of the world’s population.
  • The word “cola” is derived from the kola ________________________ , which contains caffeine and can have medicinal value.
  • Coca-Cola can be a good ________________________ for insect bites on your skin.
  • Coca-Cola spends more money on ________________________ than Microsoft and Apple combined.
  • A few people once tried to sell the Coca-Cola ________________________ to Pepsi, but they were reported to the FBI.

A fun activity you can follow up with this one is instruct students to research any big business they have in mind and search for some fun facts about that company or the story behind how it started.

If they can’t think of one, you can give them  a list of the biggest or most well-known companies  in the world.

Have them give a few-minute presentation in the following lesson about the start or history of the company and a few fun facts about it. This is also good for developing presentation skills for adults in English.

They can use the questions below to help them give their presentation:

  • Who started the company and when? How did the idea originate?
  • What were some important moments in the company’s history?
  • What are some of the company’s most successful products or services? Describe them in detail.
  • What’s special or different about this company compared to the competitors?
  • What are some fun facts about your company?

Activity: Developing a Product

Amazon launched a prototype store called ‘Amazon Go’ in December of 2017 – it’s a type of grocery store where you can go shopping and add things to your virtual cart so that you don’t have to wait in line or check out.

You add the products to your shopping cart and you can just leave the store, and Amazon will automatically charge your account.

They have developed other types of products and services over the years that have been successful, such as the Amazon Kindle (E-Reader) and Amazon Echo (voice-controlled smart speaker/personal assistant).

In this activity, what you do is have students work together on product development for Amazon or for another big company.

Students work with a partner or group. They imagine to be product developers for Amazon and create two of their own products, or services provided and sold by Amazon.

They should discuss and create names for the products or services, which industry the products or services are in, and then write a description for each explaining how it works, what problem it solves, what’s so special about it, as well as what problems they have experienced in the development.

It can be a special kind of mobile app, tech gadget, clothing item, or something else.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be from Amazon. You can have students choose another company.

One way you could get your students to come up with a good idea is instruct them to think of some brands that they generally buy, and then brainstorm what products they think would be cool to have from those brands.

Or you can have them think of some problems or frustrations they have in their daily life and what product or service would solve those problems for them. In the case of Amazon Go, the problem was that people hate waiting in lines at supermarkets.

Remind students that it doesn’t have to be realistic, it can be something imaginary.

Most of your students who will do this activity probably haven’t developed a product before. Keep it basic, simple, and fun, and it should go ok.

You just want students to be creative and work together to make something special.

One time I had a group who made a personal assistant who did all of his presentations for him because he hated public speaking, which I thought was pretty funny.

Students should then present their new product to the other students or groups.

Activity: Making Slogans

This is a straightforward activity and easy to assign and it works great with any student who is in marketing. Students also tend to have fun with it.

Basically, all you need to do is assign students to make a slogan for whatever company or brand you’re discussing.

One thing I’ve done to make it interesting and add a little twist to it is to have students make a list of good and bad slogans for one company.

That one has definitely brought a couple laughs to the lesson, especially for the bad slogans.

Here are a few examples I’ve gotten from students for bad company slogans for Coca-Cola:

  • “Feed your sugar addiction.”
  • “Put on the big pounds.”
  • “Teeth are overrated.”

Anyway, give them some examples of some real slogans that have already existed for the brand before they make their own.

A few actual ones for Coca-Cola are:

  • “Open Happiness”
  • “Life Tastes Good.”
  • “Taste the Feeling.”

The advantage of having students make their own slogan or quote is that it lets student use creativity. When students have to think creatively, they’re forced to use important vocabulary terms and language structures in a special kind of way.

In any case, have your students share and present their slogans and quotes to the other students in the class.

Another great type of ESL group activities are information gap activities. Get 10 ideas here.

Activity: Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Jobs

Another great theme and activity that comes from a discussion about companies like Amazon, is analyzing the impact of technology on jobs.

That’s one big criticism of concepts like Amazon Go that I’ve discussed with my students. The more jobs that robots do for us, the more jobs they take away from humans (Amazon Go takes jobs away from cashiers).

One activity you could do on this is to have students brainstorm and come up with two more jobs, companies, or businesses that have been taken over or lost to technological advances.

Students should specify the name or type of the technology, which industry it is in, and three general impacts of this technology (can be positive or negative impacts).

Two examples I remember hearing from students was about VHS and video rental stores being lost to online streaming services like Netflix, and driving jobs being lost to self-driving cars.

Technology : Online streaming

Industry : Entertainment

  • It put VHS video rental stores out of business
  • It makes people lazier because they don’t go to the video store anymore
  • Illegal online pirating of films and TV becomes easier

Technology : Self-driving cars

Industry : Automotive

  • Less need for delivery drivers, truckers, and taxis
  • Fewer accidents on the road because machines are more precise than humans
  • People can focus on other things in the car if they don’t have to concentrate on driving

You can give these examples to your students if they don’t think of them.

You can also give students the task of coming up with two jobs where it could be very difficult for technology to take over. Which jobs do you think technology couldn’t do in the future? Students should specify why it would be difficult to take over these jobs using this technology.

Doing an ESL lesson activity about the impact of technology on jobs leads us to the next point: Artificial intelligence and future technology, which has its feet in many industries and certainly draws interest from Business English students.

  • Interview With a Humanoid Robot
  • Making a Sci-Fi Film Plot
  • Forming Opinions

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the IT or programming industry, but also in general for any businessmen or women who use technology regularly for their jobs.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons – it can get a little dark (a humanoid robot which can communicate freaks people out a bit!) and it’s also relevant – artificial intelligence and machine learning is making its way into a lot of industries, products, and software these days.

It’s interesting when the stuff that used to be sci-fi stuff turns into reality, and that’s what you want to focus on in your Business English lessons.

Activity: Interview With a Humanoid Robot

Watch the video about Sophia the robot with your students.

Basically, what students do is make an interview with her.

Sophia the robot makes for a great English lesson, period. Students are usually quite intrigued by “her” and there are so many different directions you can take this lesson.

After watching the video, instruct each student to create and write five extra questions that they would want to ask Sophia. (Questions which are not in the video interview).

After they are finished making their questions, they ask their partner the questions they made. Students then answer their partner’s questions from the perspective of Sophia the robot.

Here are some words or topics students could either use in their questions or use just as general topics to help them make their questions:

After a student answers each question, their partner should try to ask a follow-up question or two – a question you ask on the spot based on the answer you get.

Explain the concept of a follow-up question to your students and show them examples:

Original question : “What emotions do you feel?”

Answer : “I feel curious.”

Follow-up question : “Why do you feel curious?”

Answer : “I feel curious because I want to know why I was created and why I’m different than normal humans.”

Follow up question : “Can you imagine why you were created?”

Having students ask follow-up questions is great practice for developing interview and conversational skills because they have to think on their feet without time to prepare.

Activity: Making a Sci-Fi Film Plot

Watch the sci-fi short film about ‘Sight Systems’ which forecasts the evolution of ‘Google Glasses’ and Virtual Reality (which are also great topics to discuss in your Business English lessons).

After you watch the video with your students, a fun activity you could have your students do is to imagine that they are directors creating the next scenes to the short film they just watched about Sight Systems.

They should work in pairs and discuss and write what the next five scenes will be. Have them describe the scenes in detail and explain what happens in each scene.

Students then share what they came up with the other students in the class.

After this, put the students back together and they should come up with a short plot for a similar type of short film that they saw.

The plot must focus on the dangers of future technology. Alternatively, you could give them the option of creating a movie plot focusing on the bright sides of technology.

Activity: Forming Opinions and Interview Quotes

This activity can actually be applied to a range of different topics.

Put the students in pairs and have them imagine to be speaking from the perspective of the following companies or people.

Students have to make an opinion from the standpoint of each company or person.

  • Gas Company
  • Electric Car Company
  • Solar Panel Company
  • Environmental Activist
  • Auto Technician
  • Car Consumer

For the people above, you could have students imagine they were interviewed about their thoughts on electric charging highways.

What do they think about electric highways? Do they support or oppose them? Let them explain their opinion.

Then they have to agree on what would be the most important quote or statement from that interview.

Give students some  useful phrases for expressing opinions  to help them make their opinions or quotes, which are at least three sentences long and they explain their opinion.

You could give students an ideal example quote from an interview with an Environmental Activist:

“In the long-term, electric charging highways will be a great solution for decreasing pollution because it promotes the consumption and usage of electric vehicles, which are much better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles. However, in the short-term, electric charging highways could produce a negative impact on the environment because of the intense construction work that will be needed to create these highways all across the country. Therefore, I see a positive long-term effect and a negative short-term effect.”

You want your students to form something similar for each of the roles, then students should present the opinions or quotes they made together to the rest of the class.

Doing ESL lesson activities about music is fun and there’s a lot of different directions you can take this topic in a lesson.

Music is also a big business with all of the jobs in music production, sound technology, festivals, online streaming services like Spotify, and these days even vinyl is making a comeback.

  • Organizing an Event
  • Making a Business Plan
  • Giving a Presentation

This topic works especially great with Business English lessons in the music industry, but also in general for any businessmen or women who use are interested in music.

This is an especially engaging Business English topic for a few reasons – people love music and it’s a big part of life for many people.

Activity: Organizing an Event

Have students work with a partner. They should imagine they are event organizers and are planning a festival concept for next summer.

They want to make it even better than the Belgian festival “Tomorrowland” and the most luxurious festival in the world.

What luxuries will there be? What special things can be added, implemented, planned, organized, or done in order to create a better festival experience for the guests?

Students should discuss these points together. They can use the discussion questions below to help them:

  • What special luxuries, things, offers, products, facilities, and features you will provide?
  • What will be different about the campsite? How will you make it better than Dreamville?
  • Describe the atmosphere. What’s unique about the stages and performances?
  • Describe the security concept. How will you make the event safe and what are the policies?

Students should then give a presentation about their festival concept to the other groups and describe in as much detail as possible what the festival will be like.

After hearing from the other groups, students can discuss which festival concept was the best and why and give advice about what might help their festival to be better.

Activity: Making a Business Plan

Students work together with a partner or group. They imagine that they are opening a vinyl store in their town. They must make a business plan and a to-do list.

Watch the video “Czech businessman leads vinyl revival” here.

They can answer these questions in their business plan:

  • What is the name of your vinyl shop?
  • Other than vinyls, what will you need to get started?
  • How will your vinyl shop stand out from the competition?
  • Describe what kind of theme or atmosphere the shop would have. How would you decorate the shop/front window?
  • Describe your ideal kind of customer or target market.
  • Describe your ideal kind of employee or shop assistant.
  • What could be some clever ways to advertise your shop?
  • What will be the biggest challenges of opening the shop?

Students can then present their business plan to the other students in the class.

Activity: Giving a Presentation

Students work with a partner or group. They imagine they are giving a presentation to a group of vinyl fanatics.

They should choose from one of the topics below they’d like to do a presentation about, or they can also make their own topic.

They should prepare and give a one-minute presentation to the other groups on their chosen topic.

Even if they don’t know much about the topic, you can just instruct them to be as creative as possible and come up with some interesting things to talk about.

Here are the topics they can choose from:

  • How to create a sustainable future for vinyl
  • The guide to shopping for and listening to vinyl like a pro
  • The future of music
  • Why the age of vinyl in the 70s beats today’s digital age
  • The steps to starting up a successful vinyl shop

You can have students do research on the internet if they have access.

You can also give students the choice to also come up with their own idea for a presentation, anything in the music sector. It doesn’t have to be specifically related to vinyls.

The most important thing is that students have a structure for their presentation, have researched important information about it, and teach the class something interesting.

You can also have students include one of each of the following things in their presentation:

  • A problem (Music has become too digital in modern ages.)
  • A statistic or fact (Over 7.6 million vinyls were sold in the US in 2018.)
  • An opinion (We believe that vinyls will continue to be popular for years.)
  • A quote (Zdenek Pelc said, “If people like something, they need something touchable.”)

This one last bonus activity you could do will help your students develop the skills they need for business and professional reasons.

Have them give a “show and tell” presentation or just simply talk about three gadgets, tools, products, services, etc they’ve bought in the recent past related to one of their personal interests.

Have the students teach the class either how to use this product or service, how it works, why they bought it, what the features are, what problem it solves for them, etc.

Here are some actual examples from my students, which you can show your students to give them an idea of what you’re looking for:

  • A new running watch
  • A subscription to Netflix
  • A Nintendo NES Classic Edition
  • A new bicycle helmet
  • A portable speaker

All of these activities referenced are meant to be engaging for your adult students in Business English lessons, but the most effective way to do them is with the full lesson plans via the links above.

Watching the videos with your students should generate extra discussion and give you extra content to work with.

Find more resources and ideas for your ESL lessons here.

3 thoughts on “20+ Great Business English Topics and Lesson Activities”

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Brilliant content. Relevant topics and articles with comprehensive structural lesson plans. Thank you.

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Practicing the business English lessons in he student life can be very helpful in longer run. This helps in the proper development of the individual for professional world. Thanks so much for sharing this!

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This sight seems to be very good. Complete lessons for a teacher like me. Thank you so much for sharing it free of charge.

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Business Lesson Plans

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Practical materials from our expert authors, covering essential business skills such as emailing, meetings and presentations.

""

Business Top Trumps: An Introduction

Check out this original set of Business Top Trumps cards and twelve complete lesson plans and inject some fun into your Business English classes.

""

Business Top Trumps: Lesson 10—Setting personal goals

In this lesson, students can discuss setting and achieving work goals and what changes they can make to improve their performance.

""

Business Top Trumps: Lesson 11—Presentations

In this lesson, students learn different ways of starting and giving a presentation.

""

Business Top Trumps: Lesson 12—Making proposals

In this lesson, students learn about the language of corporate responsibility through future forms, conditionals, and modals.

All Business Top Trumps

Photo of a person writing an email.

Students gain an introduction to emailing and practise using the present continuous for arrangements.

Photo of a business professional writing or typing on a computer.

Lesson Share: Business writing basics

Students review important elements of good business writing in English, especially for letters and emails.

Lesson Share: Henry Ford

A gap-fill activity to exchange information about the life of Henry Ford and to complete a text by asking questions.

All Business Skills Bank

Business Tasks

Photo to illustrate either success or failure.

Business tasks: Success and failure

This lesson will equip students with some common expressions for talking about their successes and failures.

Photo of a team of business professionals.

Work and responsibilities

A lesson to help students talk about jobs and what they involve and to talk about what people are responsible for in a company.

Adrian Doff introduces a new series of lesson plans specifically designed for teachers of English for business. This article provides an overview of the series, as well as hints and tips on how best to exploit it.

Progress and achievement

A lesson by Adrian Doff for students to practise using common expressions for talking about making progress and achieving something.

All Business Tasks

Live from London: Business

137450

Professional Communication Skills: Leading Discussions

Use these interactive materials to deliver an online or face-to-face lesson on how to lead a discussion.

Business meeting

Live from London: Business — Meetings

Teach your students about the benefits of regular meetings while developing their Business English.

Business woman and man negotiating.

Live from London: Business—Negotiations

Watch authentic London office workers describe the ways to conduct successful negotiations and the skills good negotiators need. Now Interactive!

All Live from London: Business

Let's Talk Business

257416

Let’s Talk Business: Management—Doing an MBA

Get your students talking about business qualifications and their value with this ready-to-go worksheet.

All Let's Talk Business

Business Basics

Photo of professionals having an informal conversation.

Business Basics: Socializing with clients

In this lesson by Rosemary Richey, students practise small talk about weather, hotels and travel. Exercises include: revising small talk vocabulary, ordering words to make questions, listening to small talk conversations in a business scenario and role-playing.

Photo of a job interview.

Business Basics: A job interview

In this lesson by Rosemary Richey, students practise basic language associated with job interviews. Exercises include: identifying vocabulary used in job adverts, listening to a job interview and completing the gaps, creating a CV and role-playing a job interview.

Business Basics: Office procedures

In this lesson by Rosemary Richey, students practise helping a new colleague with office procedures. Exercises include: identifying the correct modal verb, listening to an office conversation, giving advice and writing a set of office procedures.

All Business Basics

Business Spotlight

business_spotlight

Business Spotlight: Your plan for 2020

By Karen Richardson

This lesson, based on an article from  Business Spotlight , offers 20 tips that can help everybody further their career. 

business_spotlight_ 780_520px

Business Spotlight: Your workplace’s best friend?

This lesson, based on an article from  Business Spotlight , is about taking pets into work.

business_spotlight_ 780_520px

Business Spotlight: Dress for success

This lesson, based on an article from  Business Spotlight , is about what we wear to work.

All Business Spotlight

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ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

in Activities for Adults

Business English Activities, Games & Dialogues | Business Lesson Ideas

If you teach business English, then you’re certainly in the right place! We’re going to give you the rundown on our top business English games and activities as well as recommendations for worksheets, lesson plans and more.

business english activities

Activities for Teaching Business English

Business English Games and Activities

Are you ready to see some of the best ESL activities and games for teaching business English? Then let’s get to everything you need to know!

#1: Role Plays

I love to incorporate role plays into my business English classes. The situations are endless! For example, an important telephone conversation with a client. Or, present your passport to the immigration officer at the airport. Or, meeting a potential client for the first time.

You can use role-plays to help your students practice these important situations which will increase their confidence in a huge way. Find out more about using them in your classes here: ESL Role Plays .

#2: Current Events Presentations for ESL Business English

Business English students are generally pretty up-to-date on what’s happening in the world. Plus, they’re often expected to do presentations at work so this is a nice activity to use in your classes. Find out more about how I set it up here:

ESL Current Events Presentation .

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#3: Help with Expressing Opinions

In business, you’ll often be called upon to express an opinion about something. For example, which marketing idea is the best, or who to partner up with for a project. However, ESL students are often quite weak at this because they don’t have the necessary vocabulary and they may also lack practice.

Here’s some solid advice that you can give your students about how to do this well: Expressing Opinions in English .

39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...

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  • 81 Pages - 06/22/2021 (Publication Date)

#4: Task Based Activities for Business ESL Lessons

We love to use task-based activities with our students. There are just so many things you can do! In groups, students could do any of the following:

  • Come up with a new product
  • Create an innovative advertising campaign for a current product
  • Do a company profile
  • Audit a website

The possibilities are endless so get creative and think of some interesting things for your students to do. You can find more ideas here: ESL Task Based Teaching .

#5: Cocktail Party

It’s quite common for business people to meet important clients at a party or meet and greet event. However, for English learners, this can be a challenging situation because they may not feel that confident at small talk. Try out this ESL activity that replicates these very situations:

ESL Cocktail Party Activity .

#6: English Central or YouTube Videos Related to Business

We LOVE to use videos in our English classes. You can find one for just about any topic, grammar point or vocabulary set under the sun. Except there’s more to it than just pressing play and sitting back and relaxing. The best teachers design activities that help get the most out of them.

Here are some of our best ideas: English Central and YouTube Videos for ESL Students.

#7: Business English Reading Lesson

It’s very easy to plan your own ESL reading lesson about literally any topic. I love to make my own lessons for Business English because you can include the most recent topics in the news. Find out how to do that here:

#8: Conversation Starters

Small talk and basic conversational English is vital for business English students. It often doesn’t work that well if you tell students to just talk to each other. Instead, give them some conversation starters to get the ball rolling and you’ll usually find that the results are much better.

Here are some of my best ideas: ESL Conversation Starters.

#9: Practice Opening Conversations

It’s sometimes not that easy to start a conversation with someone that you don’t know. However, there are certainly some tried and true topics that work very well for this situation. Find out more details right here: How to Open a Conversation in English.

Market Leader 3rd Edition Extra Upper Intermediate Coursebook with DVD-ROM Pack (3rd Edition)

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#10: Dialogue Substitution for Business English ESL

If you’re teaching beginners, it can be a little bit tricky to design activities for them. One of the best ones to consider is dialogue substitution. You can use it for a variety of situations that business people might encounter from situations at the airport, telephone conversations or talking about a problem related to their company.

The way it works is that you give students the beginning of a conversation with blanks in it. Students have to work together to finish the conversation and then present it to the class. Find out more details about it here: ESL Dialogue Substitution .

#11: The Expert Speaking Activity

If you want to give your students some practice with small talk, try out this fun, interactive activity. The way it works is that students think of three things that they know a lot about, or are an expert in. Then, students go into pairs and can talk about these topics with each other. You can switch partners every few minutes.

Find out more details here: The Expert Speaking Activity .

#12: Plans for the Future

Business often involves making plans for the future. For example, planning for that next marketing campaign or deciding on a vision for the company. Students will need to be proficient in using future grammatical constructions for this. Find out some of our top recommendations here: Future Forms ESL Activities .

Or, you may want to check out some of these ideas here: Making Predictions Games .

#13: ESL Surveys

We LOVE to use surveys in our classes. They’re interactive and get students up and out of their seats talking to everyone in the class. Plus, you design them for any topic and in this case, you’d want to lean towards current events or business-type things.

Do you want to try them out in your classes? Find out more details about how to design them and use them in your classes here: ESL Surveys .

esl-business-activities

Teaching Business English

#14: Filling out an Application Form

If students are in our business English classes, it’s quite likely that they may apply for jobs abroad. In this case, they’ll have to fill out applications in English. We can give them some practice with this in class before they have to do it for real.

You can easily find applications on Google. Print them off and have your students work on them in class or for homework.

#15: Running Dictation

If you want to introduce some grammar, vocabulary or topic via a conversation, here’s a fun way to do it that gets beyond just reading it from the textbook. Print off the dialogue and then cut it up into strips which you’ll tape on the wall around the classroom.

Put students into pairs and one person is the runner/reader/speaker while the other person is sitting down with pen and paper and is the writer. Students have to work together to get the entire conversation down on paper and then put it into the correct order.

It’s challenging, fun and students always really enjoy it! Try out this 4-skills ESL activity today: ESL Running Dictation.

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#16: Mock Interviews

English interviews are very common these days, even in non-English speaking countries. They’re an excellent way for companies to weed out the people who can actually converse in English from those who can’t.

Help your students out with them by doing some mock interviews in your classes. But, remember this key tip. DO NOT let your students memorize answers. Interviewers can smell this out from a mile away. Instead, encourage taking a few notes about answers to common questions but then just speaking.

#17: Proof-Reading and Editing

It’s quite common for our students to have to write business emails in English. We can help them out with this in a big way by teaching them about proofreading and editing. After all, it’s not that common to have a colleague or boss checking emails before they go out to clients, so it’s an important skill for our students to know.

Check this article out to find out how I teach this skill to my students: Proof-Reading and Editing for English Learners.

#18: Resume and Cover Letter Writing

When I teach business English, one of the primary homework assignments is that students have to prepare a resume as well as a cover letter for a sample job that I think of. Of course, give students lots of help with how to do this, along with some samples that they can follow.

My goal is that students have something they can take with them and use when applying for positions with just a little bit of editing.

Master Business English Vocabulary: Very Practical English for the Business World (Learn English...

  • 196 Pages - 04/16/2023 (Publication Date)

#19: TED Talks

I love to use TED Talks with my business English learners. There are just so many good presentations on a huge variety of topics, especially important business ideas.

#20: Self-Introductions

A self-introduction in English is a great skill for your students to have. They’ll often have to do one in a job interview, at a conference or at a meeting where the people aren’t familiar with each other. Check out this video for the simple steps to follow:

#21: Breaking News English

With my students, I’ll often print off some lessons from Breaking News English . They take current events and grade them to make them easier for beginner to intermediate students (more advanced students should just use the regular article). There are also some excellent discussion questions and vocabulary activities that you might want to consider using.

#22: Business English Pod

If students are motivated to study business English on their own, one of my favourite resources that I like to direct them to is BE Pod . They are podcasts, phone conversations and a whole ton of other good stuff related to business. There is a paid version, but the free one is useful enough.

#23: Business English Vocabulary and Dialogues 

One of the more valuable things for our students can be to help them expand their business English vocabulary. One way to do this is with real-life dialogues, filled with idioms, expressions, and phrases. Check out these Business English dialogues here:

Business English Vocabulary Builder: Idioms, Phrases, and Expressions in American English (English...

  • 128 Pages - 11/25/2020 (Publication Date)

#24: Business English ESL, Using Movie and TV Clips

There are a ton of great movies and TV shows that cover various aspects of the business world. You can easily find them on YouTube, or you may already have a few favourites.

I love to include these in my ESL business English conversation classes. They make a nice lead-in activity for just about any grammar, vocabulary or skill you might want to focus on. Find out some of my top options here:

Teaching with Movies and TV .

#25: Business English Listening Lesson Plan

It’s super easy to create your own listening lesson about almost any topic. Just follow these simple steps:

#26: Have a Debate

I love to talk about interesting things and I’m sure that your students are the same! Why not have a little debate about something related to the business world? Here are some ideas:

Debate Questions

For something a bit more casual, check these ones out:

Debating Topics for Friends

#27: Business English Game: Describe the Word

A simple business English game is to put students into pairs or small groups. Then, one student has to pick a word from a list and describe it to the other people who have to guess what it is. It’s a nice time-filler game at the end of class because it’s a nice review activity.

#28: Business English Charades

Another fun game to try out in class is charades. Come up with a bunch of words or phrases related to what you’ve been teaching the students. Then, put students into teams and they have to take turns acting out that word or phrases and their teammates have to guess what it is. Check it out:

Charades for ESL .

#29: Make a Sentence using Business English Vocabulary

Try out this challenging sentence-making activity. If you’re using a textbook, open it up to a page at random and quickly choose a word. Students have 30 seconds to make an interesting sentence about it. If you have a big class, they can share with a partner. If a small class, share with everyone.

#30: Make a Crossword Puzzle

It’s quite easy to make your own puzzle using Discovery’s puzzle maker (do a Google search for it). Input the clues and the answers and the website does the rest! It can serve as a nice review activity or homework assignment before a midterm or final exam.

What about Business English for Beginners?

Business English for beginners can be a little bit tricky. How can you negotiate a complicated deal, or talk about a contract if you struggle with making a basic sentence and don’t know a lot of even general vocabulary?

Here are my top 5 tips for teaching beginners Business English:

  • Start with basic conversational English skills first. It’s quite difficult to teach exclusively Business English unless students are at least a very high beginner level of basic skills.
  • For topics and contexts, choose something with a business focus. Perhaps a simple reading or listening passage talking about a company or a problem that someone may face in the business world.
  • A lot of business involves small talk! Focus on this skill by giving students lots of practice.
  • Don’t ignore basic writing skills. Things like capital letters and punctuation, along with basic openings and closings can go a long way in writing a business email, for example.
  • Focus on industry-specific jargon. Each industry has a specific vocabulary related to it. Target this to your students. A needs analysis is key to this.

What are some Common Business English Topics?

There are a few business English topics that must be covered in a class. Here are some of the most popular topics and skills for a Business English class to cover:

  • Negotiations . A large part of business involves negotiation so this topic should certainly be covered!
  • Interviews . Help students out with their English interview skills.
  • Managing a crisis . Businesses have problems. Help students work through these problems, in English. It’s certainly an important topic to consider teaching.
  • Presentations . Many people in the business world have to make a presentation at one point, or another. Help students out with this!
  • Meetings . All meetings have certain conventions including opening and closing, turn-taking, etc. Conducting a meeting as a class is a nice topic.
  • Hiring and firing . All businesses need employees! This makes hiring and firing them an important topic to include.
  • Performance reviews . Similar to the one above, there is a certain set of language used to evaluate work.
  • Resumes and cover letters . A nice topic is to help students prepare their resumes and cover letters in English.
  • Risk management. An interesting Business English topic is how a company can manage risk and prevent bad things from happening.
  • Small talk. A lot of business happens informally, at lunch or around the office. Help students learn how to initiate, conduct and close these types of conversations.

business English topics

Business English dialogues and topics

Business English Resources 

If you’re looking for some resources for teaching Business English, here are a few of my go-to websites and course books:

  • Business English Pod
  • Market Leader textbook
  • Breaking News English
  • CBC (Canada), BBC (UK), CNN (USA), etc. websites for higher-level students and authentic materials.
  • How I Built Thing podcast
  • Learn English (British Council) has a nice section for business English
  • How to Teach Business English Book (Evan Frendo)

Business English Worksheets

If you want to find some business English worksheets that you can just print and use with your students, here are some of the best resources:

ISL Collective

Busy Teacher

Business English Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some ready-made ESL lesson plans for business students, then you’re in the right place. Here are some of our top recommendations for ESL business English lesson plans:

Lingua House

One Stop English

Business English ESL FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching ESL business English. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What is ESL Business English?

ESL Business English is a specific ESL niche tailored to business terminology, topics and corporate culture. It is useful for businessmen, businesswomen, and business students.

How do I teach Business English for ESL?

Here are a few quick tips for teaching Business English ESL:

  • Do a detailed needs analysis to find out what students want to achieve and also to uncover strengths and weaknesses.
  • Find out which contexts students use business English (negotiation, writing emails, interviews, etc.)
  • Dress and act professionally.
  • Choose materials well to keep students motivated and interested.
  • Have a high degree of flexibility.

Is Business English formal?

Business English is more formal than just regular chit-chat with friends. It may also have some industry-specific jargon which you’ll need to learn. However, simple communication is often best so aim for this instead of overly complicated grammatical structures.

What makes a Good Business English Instructor?

A good business English instructor is one who dresses and acts professionally, the same as their students. This means that they are punctual, competent and well-prepared for each lesson. It can also be useful for the instructor to have a background in business themselves.

What is one of the challenges of teaching Business English?

One of the main challenges in teaching business English is that companies and students often expect some serious results. This may mean increased pressure on the teacher to deliver them. However, many teachers are handsomely rewarded for this stress if they are elite teachers.

What are some fun Business English games?

Some fun business English games are charades, Pictionary, describing a word, role-plays, crossword puzzles with business English vocabulary, and running dictation.

Business English Dialogues

Business English Vocabulary Builder 2: More Idioms, Phrases, and Expressions in American English...

  • 115 Pages - 12/01/2020 (Publication Date)

If you’re looking for some business English dialogues for your students, look no further than these books! They are filled with dialogues, vocabulary, and practice exercises to cover a huge range of business topics.

They’re ideal for use in a course, or for self-study at home. Consider using them for 1-1 tutoring as well. Whatever the case, get ready for some great results with these dialogues for Business English.

ESL Business Activities: Join the Conversation

What are your thoughts about these business English activities? Have you tried out one of them from this list or do you have another recommendation? Leave a comment below and let us know. We’d love to hear from you?

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy English teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.

Last update on 2024-02-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

esl business english lesson plans

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook TikTok Pinterest Instagram

esl business english lesson plans

Thank you! Will definitely be trying some of these business English activities out with my students next week.

esl business english lesson plans

I teach business English in China and found this list so helpful! Thanks so much for all the ideas and I’ve honestly never heard of Business English Pod before. I know, crazy!

esl business english lesson plans

Thank you, Jackie. It’s great to know there’s support out there like yours.

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Executive English: 4 Business English Lesson Plans That Turn Students into Influencers

Building confidence in business is a lifelong gift you can give your students.

Never again will they clam up when coworkers make chit-chat.

No longer will their voices lose power during interviews and meetings.

Taking your ESL students to the next level in their careers is rewarding for not only your students, but for you as well. It gives you, their ever enthusiastic teacher , a great sense of accomplishment.

You will see your business English students blossom, get promoted, develop confidence and take on different professional personas—ones loaded with strength and self-assurance.

Crafting exceptional and informative business  English lesson plans is the first step to your students’ success.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

The Cornerstones of Business English Lessons

If this is your very first time developing plans for business English classes , we have you covered here.

One of the most essential aspects in developing ESL business English lesson plans is to get to know your students  and find out the information needed to make the lesson practical for them .

If you have a student working in corporate marketing, then a business English lesson pertaining to accounting would be almost useless. Knowing your students, their careers and needs will help you connect with them in an informative, concise way. Your lessons will be useful to them outside of the classroom, building more confidence on their professional paths, whatever those might be.

So, you should know the following about every student:

  • Where they work
  • What their job responsibilities are
  • What they do on a normal day at the office
  • When and how are they exposed to English at work (email, meetings, calls, conferences, etc.)

These questions are essential to building a lesson plan your students will enjoy!

Give your students a survey on the first day of class that asks these questions and more like them, then save the completed surveys in your teaching binder or folder.

Take the following lesson plans, combined with the specific information about your students, to create targeted lesson plans students can use in their everyday professional lives and to better their career prospects.

4 Business English Lesson Plans That Promote Rapid Career Growth

Each of these lesson plans is built on the PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) method of creating plans for language lessons. You can learn more about how this works (and how to create your own from scratch) here!

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

1. Breaking the Ice

In your students’ business lives, breaking the ice in their native tongue is terrifying enough at times.

Imagine the anxiety and stress having to break the ice in English must induce.

This does not need to be the norm. You can give your students the essential ESL skills they need to feel confident and to succeed. After all,  speaking English  and speaking (any language) at work is mostly about confidence, and the role of psychology is almost as important as knowing the right words and grammar to use in these situations.

This English lesson plan focuses on starting a conversation, ending a conversation and general role playing for students to hone what they have learned. Let’s take a look at what this lesson will contain and how to present your business English lesson plan material.

Presentation

This lesson plan’s presentation will consist of useful phrases. You will present to your class the essential knowledge they will need to make ample English small talk in any and all business situations .

An excellent place to start is with the actual phrase “breaking the ice.” What do they think this phrase means? What are some examples of “breaking the ice” with coworkers? You will elicit answers from your students and discuss some ways they think they can “break the ice” in a business situation—or examples of when they have done this in the past.

You will also discuss other important phrases, useful for opening a business conversation in English.

Here are a few example phrases you can use in your lesson:

  • Hello, my name is ______, are you enjoying your evening?
  • Where are you from?
  • What company do you represent?
  • How long have you worked here/there?
  • Which department do you work in?
  • How do you like your job?
  • Did you catch the morning lecture?
  • Do you mind if I join your group?

After you share and discuss these quick little door openers, you can move on to excellent ways to end a business conversation in English. Many of your students use these in their native language already, so, in my experience, they will catch on fast.

Here are a few conversation closers you will share with your students in the presentation:

  • It was nice to talk to you, I must excuse myself.
  • Great to meet you, do you have a card? (or, here is my card).
  • I must be going, I see my boss signaling toward me.
  • Thank you, it was nice to meet you and we should discuss this further later.
  • Do you have LinkedIn? Let’s connect there to continue our conversation.

These conversational wrap-ups are great for your students and will eliminate those awkward moments of saying goodbye in business settings.

When your students have listened and understand the phrases, you can move into this practicing stage.

You will have all the phrases you discussed cut into two parts a set for each pair of students. Once your students are paired up, you will distribute the mixed up parts of the phrases and they will work together trying to piece each phrase back together.

This jigsaw of sorts will allow your students to communicate and discuss which section goes with which, further creating the phrase in their mind. For example, one piece of paper will contain “Did you catch… ” and your students will try to match it with ” …the morning lecture?”

Go over which combinations are correct and take questions, then have the students copy down the correct phrases in their notebooks for future reference.

Once all pairs have matched and discussed the jigsaw business English phrases, they are ready for a more practical exercise.

Each student will be given a card you have made with their occupation, company, the lecture they attended and a few family/hobby details. Students will then be paired up. The pairs will change every five minutes and the students will have an opportunity to break the ice, discuss a few topics and end the conversation.

You can float around the room and make sure the conversations are on track, while answering any questions which may arise.

All in all, this is a wonderful business English lesson plan with communication, collaboration, vocabulary and self-expression at the core.

2. Involvement in Meetings

Business meetings are an essential part of business and there are often several meetings held within an average work week.

Participation in business meetings can be another daunting engagement your students may currently try to avoid. Your students need to be prepared and have the business English skills necessary to participate with confidence and increase their chances for recognition, responsibility and promotion.

This business English lesson plan can help them understand the importance of meeting involvement while gaining the ESL skills they need to be successful in all areas of life.

Preparation

Yup, one extra P is here!

For this business lesson, you will need to craft a well-organized worksheet to help guide your students in the right direction.

The worksheet will contain two parts. Part one will have useful words, phrases and lead-in sentences commonly found in business meetings, while part two of the worksheet will have two different role playing scenarios your students will use in their mock meetings.

Your first objective will be to ask your students about business meetings they have been involved in or their concepts of a normal business meeting.

Many of your students will have had some type of meeting experience, but maybe not in English. You should draw from their previous experiences and allow them to describe it and discuss it in English. Next, you will discuss several business English phrases used in meetings. You can get more great phrases to introduce from this post .

Here are a few great examples to put into your presentation and worksheet:

  • Could you please clarify what you mean?
  • Can you please speak up a bit, I can’t hear you very well?
  • Please continue, I apologize for interrupting.
  • What if we… ?
  • What would you think about…?

You and your class will discuss these phrases as a class and you will give examples of how each could be used.

In this step of your business English lesson plan, you will organize the class into small groups. The size of each group depends on your class size, of course.

Then you will hand out the worksheet and allow your students to practice using the new business meeting phrases with one another. Give them time to discuss the phrases amongst themselves and ask you any questions they may have.

Once all practice has been enthusiastically carried out, it is time to let the role playing commence!

Part two of the worksheet will be the guide to a specific business meeting scenario. For example, if you want your students to brainstorm a few marketing strategies for a certain product, you will give them a product to discuss in a meeting scenario.

“The meeting will be centered around new marketing strategies for Starbucks coffee.

What can you and your team come up with during this meeting?

Take notes, deliver concise ideas and support each idea with why  you think this idea is effective.”

Let your students loose to collaborate and participate in a mock meeting using the new business English phrases discussed in the presentation and practice stages of your lesson plan. This activity will give your students key business meeting phrases, collaboration, English expression of ideas and also allow them to gain more confidence for practical use.

3. Questions in Negotiation Situations

Negotiations are another key aspect of business English.

Many business English students shy away from their native language style of negotiating when it comes down to trying to negotiate in English. Developing confidence is essential in negotiations and, if your students possess this key element, they will have more success at the negotiating table.

This business English lesson plan will give your students the four steps of negotiation and how to embody each step when at the office.

In order to ask the right questions in negotiation, your students must first know the cycle of a negotiation. You will present each step and discuss them as a class, giving examples or answering important questions.

These are the steps of negotiation to cover in your lesson plan:

1. Exploration . This is when two parties explore what each offers, expects and hopes to obtain in the negotiation.

2. Bidding. The bidding stage is when exploration is complete and one of two parties offers and exchange for goods or money.

3. Bargaining. This is an essential stage, when both parties negotiate until a satisfactory term is met.

4. Settling. Settling is essentially the finalized agreement. This is the handshake and signing of contracts stage.

Each stage is important and knowing the right questions to ask in each stage is also very important for your students to understand.

After the stages are discussed and fully understood, you can partner your students up and have them brainstorm questions that would be useful in each stage. For example:

“What warranty or guarantee does your company offer on this particular product?”

This question is a perfect Exploration question used to get the facts and details out on the table. Your students will brainstorm essential questions for each stage of negotiation together. This will create collaboration and develop ideas useful for the practice stage.

You could even craft a worksheet about the above stages, along with useful questions and answers, to help guide your students during the lesson.

With your students still in pairs, they will be given a role-play scenario in which one is the buyer and the other is the seller. Your example role-play will look something like this:

Seller: You are the representative for a groundbreaking MP3 player similar to the iPod. You must convince your buyer to sell your product and not the others.

Buyer: You see potential in the new music product, but you are still uncertain about making the switch in products and need to get more information.

This role playing scenario will follow the four stages of negotiation and your students will use the questions they brainstormed while practicing to have a successful negotiation which may or may not lead to a successful Settling stage agreement.

4. Meeting management

Meeting management in business is another important task your students may need more confidence and ESL skills to perform.

This practical exercise is the next step up from getting involved in a meeting, since your students will now plan and guide a business meeting in class.

This business English lesson plan will allow your students to practice emailing, collaboration and build confidence to guide and keep other members of a meeting on track.

Your students will need the key aspects of email structure to allow them to email colleagues effectively and efficiently to get the meeting time, date and location set.

Before introducing any new material, ask your students to write a short email inviting a colleague to join a meeting. Afterwards, have each student read theirs aloud. You can use their emails as a guide to introduce the proper email language necessary for landing a business meeting.

Here are the essential aspects of a well-developed email for planning a business meeting:

  • Project details and objectives
  • Q & A about the project
  • Brainstorming and collaboration to make project a success
  • Important points to note

This short and concise email format will be a great template not only for the lesson, but for them to also use in a more practical business situation. You can also give great examples on the board or in a slideshow to really allow your students to soak up the new information.

Once your students have  crafted their own emails  without any instruction on proper language, and have then watched your presentation of relevant words, phrases and grammar, they are ready to do some more serious email drafting.

Put them into small groups and let them discuss, collaborate and craft their new business meeting emails to one another in the group.

Each student will write an email using the business meeting email format, addressing it to another student in their group. The receiving student will then write a reply to the email as well.

Your students have crafted emails and invited others to their meetings. Next, they will each take turns running the meeting and keeping everyone on task.

You will give each student a meeting topic and let them present the project details and objectives before opening the floor up for Q & A from other meeting members. For example:

“Introduce a new MP3 player which rivals the iPod to your meeting members. It costs less, holds more music, comes with better headphones and also has an interactive touch screen. Your team must brainstorm new ideas to market this product.”

Each student will have an opportunity to introduce a new product and run the meeting accordingly. They will learn valuable communication skills, writing , leadership skills and also develop more confidence when taking charge in a business meeting scenario.

So, as you can now see, business English lesson plans are excellent to have in your teaching arsenal.

They are perfect for your pre-intermediate to advanced level students who have a career (or are preparing for a future career) in the corporate world.

These lesson plans are simply essential for ESL students looking to make a shift and move into the business sector of employment, seeking promotion within their company or generally wanting to build more confidence when speaking to foreign clients and colleagues.

These business English lessons will give your students the important resources needed to be successful in their career and beyond.

Plan those lessons well, with their needs in mind, and hand them the keys to success!

Stephen Seifert  is a writer, editor, professor of English and adventurer. With over 7 years of teaching experience to students worldwide, he enjoys the many aspects of culture and traditions different from his own. Stephen continues his search for writing inspiration, boldly enjoying life to the fullest.

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ESL Activities

ESL Games, Activities, Lesson Plans, Jobs & More

in Listening · Reading · Speaking · Writing

Business English ESL Activities, Games and Lesson Plan Ideas

If you’re looking for some of the best ESL business English games and activities, lesson plans and other resources, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to know to teach business English lessons, including advanced ones in style.

ESL business English conversation

Business English games and activities

Business English ESL Activity Ideas

Let’s get into the top ideas for ESL business English conversation with these TEFL activities.

#1: Work on Expressing Opinions

Being able to express an opinion is a useful skill in the business world in meetings and when talking to coworkers or clients. Help students out with this important skill by focusing on doing it in English. It’s ideal for advanced business English lessons.

Here are some of the top games and activities to get students to give their opinions in style: ESL Opinion Activities.

#2: Role-Plays

One of the most useful things to do in a business ESL lesson is a role-play. If students want to be able to negotiate with confidence or take an order on the phone easily, then why not replicate that in your class?

It’s a nice way to build some serious confidence. Just be sure to pre-teach the necessary vocabulary ahead of time to make it an even more useful exercise. Check out some of the best ideas here:

ESL Role Playing

They are certainly one of the things that I love to include in my business English lessons.

#3: Business English Vocabulary Builder

If you want to help students level up their business English vocabulary, then recommend this book to them:

Business English Vocabulary Builder: Idioms, Phrases, and Expressions in American English (English...

  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Bolen, Jackie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 128 Pages - 11/25/2020 (Publication Date)

It contains hundreds of useful expressions, phrases, and idioms that can be used in boardrooms, at meetings and over business lunches.

#4: How to Do a Self-Introduction

I love to teach my students how to self-introductions in English. If they have an English interview, this is usually the first question that the interviewer asks. Here are some tips and tricks for students to make a simple self-introduction, suitable for a job interview:

#5: Offering Help ESL Lesson Plan

Check out this lesson plan idea for offering help. It’s best suited for beginner business English learners:

Offering Help ESL Lesson Plan .

#6: Presentations and Public Speaking for Business English Lessons

People in the business world often have to do some kind of public speaking. That’s why I love to incorporate them into my English classes. It’s like killing two birds with one stone—English practice and public speaking practice in one single activity.

The topic can be related to something in the business world. Or, consider focusing on current events and have students talk about something that’s happening in the world.

#7: Task-Based Learning

Task-based activities lend themselves particularly well to an ESL business English conversation class. One thing that I’ve done in the past that has worked well is to have students design a new product. Then, they have to give a short presentation to the rest of the class who will decide whether or not they want to fond it. It’s similar to that popular show, “Dragon’s Den.”

business English ESL

Business English lesson plans

Need some more ideas for this style of a lesson? Have a look here: What is Task Based Learning? 

#8: Practice Interviews

One area that my business English students often want help with is interviews in English. They can be quite stressful so I like to practice them in class.

One thing to keep in mind though is that it isn’t helpful if students just memorize answers and then regurgitate them. This sounds exactly like a memorized answer! Instead, encourage students to write a few notes and just speak normally.

39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...

  • 81 Pages - 06/22/2021 (Publication Date)

#9: Covers Letters and Resumes for Business English Classes

A useful exercise for class is to have students write an English resume and cover letter for a specific job.

First, go over general guidelines for how to do this. Then, students can do these two things for homework and finally, offer some feedback and give students a chance to revise. In the end, students will have a nice template to work from when applying for future jobs.

#10: Business English Vocabulary Builder 2

If you teach Business English, then consider recommending this book for students to use between classes. There are dozens of dialogues in a variety of situations and hundreds of useful phrases and expressions that can be used in the business world.

Another option is to build your lesson around these dialogues. Your students will love it!

Business English Vocabulary Builder 2: More Idioms, Phrases, and Expressions in American English...

  • 115 Pages - 12/01/2020 (Publication Date)

#11: Small Talk and Conversation Activities

I love to include some practice with small talk in my business English lessons, usually at the beginning of class. If you need some ideas for these kinds of activities, have a look at some of my favourites here:

ESL Conversation Activities.

#12: Dictogloss for Business English Listening

One of my favourite activities for more advanced learners who want to work on their listening skills is dictogloss . In this case, find a case study or a news report talking about a situation that someone or a company in the business world has to deal with. Find out more about it here:

#13: Breaking News English

I LOVE Breaking News English and that’s kind of an understatement. If you want to find some interesting news stories from the business world, complete with a vocabulary focus, comprehension questions and more, then this should be your first stop.

Find out all the details about it here: Breaking News English.

#14: Man/Woman on the Street Interview Activity

If you want to have some fun with your students, try out this engaging interview activity. Students have to take turns interviewing their classmates about something happening in the world.

It’s a nice way for students to get some practice with giving opinions about something and engaging in small talk. Check it out:

Man/Woman on the Street Interview .

#15: Word Association

Try out this quick warm-up activity to elicit a large amount of vocabulary about a certain topic. For example, negotiation or trying to sell something. It’s the perfect way to help students activate prior knowledge so that anything new they learn will be more memorable.

It’s possible to do this activity with the entire class or have students do it in small groups. Have a look here:

ESL Word Association Activity.

Master Business English Vocabulary: Very Practical English for the Business World (Learn English...

  • 196 Pages - 04/16/2023 (Publication Date)

#16: Stock Market Challenge

This is one of my favourite business English games. It’s very easy to find online stock market challenge websites. Give each small group some money and then they have to pick some stocks. Choose a time period and the winner is the group with the most money in their portfolio. Try out this fun business English game!

#17: ESL Surveys

If you ask my students, they’ll tell you how much I love surveys! They are one of the most useful activities because they cover all four skills in a single activity and they also lend themselves to just about any topic. I think you’ll like using them as much as I do!

Find out more about how to design your own survey and then use them in class: ESL Survey Activity.

#18: Making Predictions

In the business world, people often have to make predictions about sales, where the market is going, or what their competitors will do.

There is quite a specific vocabulary set required for this. Help students out with this important skill:

ESL Making Predictions Activities

#19: Just a Minute

If you want to help students gain some confidence in English, then consider using this simple speaking activity. It’s a kind of “Toastmasters” activity where students have to talk about a certain topic for one minute without stopping. Have a look here:

#20: Business English Pod

When I teach business English, this website is often my first stop. They have a ton of excellent resources that are ideal for use in class, or for self-study.

There is a paid version but I find that the free version is useful enough for my purposes. Check it out: B.E. Pod.

#21: Filling out an Application Form

A useful activity for an ESL class is filling out an application form. This is something that has a very specific vocabulary set that students are often not familiar with. Find out more about it here:

Application Form ESL Writing Activity .

#22: Have a Debate

There are a ton of interesting and controversial business-type things to discuss! Have a look here for some of the best ideas for all levels.

Simple Topics to Debate

Debatable Questions

Business ESL lessons

ESL business English

#23: Crossword Puzzle

It’s easy to make your own crossword puzzle to review any kind of vocabulary using the puzzle maker at Discovery.com (do a quick Google search). Input the questions and the answer and let the tool do the rest! These kinds of puzzles are ideal for a review before a midterm or final exam.

#24: Find the Word

Give students a worksheet with some definitions on them that you’ve covered in class the previous few weeks or months. Then, students can try to name the word without looking in their textbooks. If they get stuck, they can look in their books or ask a friend.

#25: Charades

I like to use charades to review just about anything! It works well for business English vocabulary as well. Put students into teams and then they have to take turns acting out a word or phrase. Their teammates have to guess what it is.

#26: 2 Truths and a Lie

Try out this fun icebreaker activity with your business English students:

Business English Discussion Questions

Here are some of the best business English conversation starters and discussion questions for students.

  • If you had to start your own business this year, what kind of business would it be?
  • What is the best business advice someone has ever given you?
  • What’s a big mistake that you’ve made in business?
  • Are you doing the career you thought you’d be doing in high school?
  • If you had a million dollars to invest, how would you invest it?
  • Can someone learn how to be a leader?
  • What do you think about unpaid internships?
  • Do friends make good business partners?
  • Would you ever go into business with a family member?

Business English Lessons Plans

If you’re an English teacher, then you know how much time it can to use business ESL lessons that other teachers have put together. Here are some of the top options for teaching business English lessons plans:

Lingua House

One Stop English

business English games

Business English Conversation Topics

Here are some of the most important business English conversation topics to cover in a course:

  • Why some businesses succeed and why others fail
  • Negotiations
  • Job interviews
  • Working abroad
  • Dealing with a crisis
  • Small talk over a meal
  • Hiring somebody
  • Firing somebody
  • What makes a good leader
  • Business presentations
  • Dealing with a tough economic climate
  • Managers and managing people
  • Small businesses
  • Business trips
  • Competition
  • Risk management
  • Switching jobs
  • Working as a team
  • Sales strategies
  • Promotional opportunities
  • Customer service
  • Contractors

Many of these topics such as risk management, negotiations and consulting are ideal for advanced business English lessons.

FAQs for Business English ESL

There are a number of common questions that people have. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What is one of the challenges of teaching Business English?

There are many challenges when teaching Business English, including a wide variety of levels of students within the same class. However, the biggest challenge may be external pressure from employers who expect a high level of proficiency in a short amount of time.

What is Business English course?

A business English course covers the basics of communicating in the business world, including phone calls and emails, presentations, negotiation, report writing, networking, and more.

Why do you study Business English?

The language of business around the world is often English. That’s why many people study Business English—to be able to communicate with colleagues and clients easily in a variety of situations.

How do I teach Business English to ESL?

There are a number of strategies that you can use to teach Business English to ESL/EFL students. Some of them include:

  • Focusing on specific vocabulary that is required.
  • Teaching functional language for negotiation, emails, etc.
  • Using case studies to help students gain confidence.
  • Teaching general communication skills such as eye contact and how to greet someone or finish a conversation.
  • Maximize student talking time by having them work in small groups.
  • Using a top-quality, industry-specific textbook.
  • Understanding what the needs of your students are and tailoring lessons to that.

What are some of the most popular Business English textbooks?

Here are some of the Business English textbooks that we recommend:

  • Market Leader
  • Total Business
  • Intelligent Business
  • Business Builder

What is meant by business English?

What is meant by business English is that it’s the correspondence used by people in a business setting. It’s the language used for negotiations, job interviews, marketing strategies, talking about business deals and more.

Teaching Business English: Join the Conversation

Do you have any ideas for these kinds of classes that you’d like to share with us? Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself, find this useful resource.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

esl business english lesson plans

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook Pinterest TikTok LinkedIn Instagram

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esl business english lesson plans

6 Teaching Business English Lesson Plans for All Learner Levels

Krzl light nuñes.

  • May 31, 2022

Teaching Business English lesson plans

From learning corporate terms to mastering expressions for negotiating, Business English is brimming with topics on how students can thrive in the workplace. Teaching each concept, however, requires thorough planning and choosing the most effective materials and methods. Whether you’re new to teaching professionals or are a seasoned Business English teacher looking to design better classes, here are some teaching Business English lesson plans you can use for different types of learners.

Learn more about what teaching Business English entails.

Table of Contents

What are some tips for teaching Business English lessons?

Before you get started in mapping your Business English classes out, here are some pointers to keep in mind when specializing in this ELT niche :

  • Make sure that you know your students’ backgrounds. Where do they work? What are they responsible for? How do they use English at work? Conduct a needs assessment before launching into your course.
  • Get your learners comfortable before you start your lessons by using icebreakers , Business English games , and other warm-up activities .
  • Provide vocabulary and practice activities that students will be able to use at their actual jobs. 
  • Prioritize skills that your learners need at work. If they often meet with offshore clients, for example, business meeting phrases should be one of the first lessons you teach.
  • Better define your lesson objectives and teaching strategies by making use of Bloom’s taxonomy , which classifies cognitive skills.

Consider these additional strategies, from the Bridge Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English course , when planning your overall curriculum, as well as your individual lesson plans:

Business English lessons for beginners

These free Business English lesson plans are great for professional students with a lower level of English. They can be used in both online and in-person classes.

Find out how to get a job teaching Business English.

Lesson plan #1: Types of companies

Lesson topic: Types of companies

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe different types of companies and say the products or services each one produces or provides.

  • A physical or virtual whiteboard
  • PowerPoint slides containing 10 logos of different companies and pictures of different types of companies

Lesson plan #2: Staying at a hotel

Lesson topic:  Staying at a hotel

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to make requests and ask for information in a hotel.

  • PowerPoint slides containing a list of expressions for booking a room, checking in, and asking about hotel services
  • An audio file or video of a hotel receptionist and guest ( like this one )

Business English lessons for intermediate learners

The following teaching Business English lesson plans are great for intermediate learners who already have a thorough understanding of basic English concepts.

Lesson plan #3: Modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition

Lesson topic:  Modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about the rules in their workplace using the modals of obligation, necessity, and prohibition.

  • Handouts (or PowerPoint slides) of the some of the points from this article on company policies

Lesson plan #4: Making a request by email

Lesson topic:  Making a request by email

Lesson objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write a formal email to make a request.

  • PowerPoint slides showing expressions for writing formal emails
  • An example of a professional email chain

In a recent BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar , panelists discussed how Business English teachers can tackle the topic of writing business emails with their students. For additional lesson plan ideas, check out what these experts had to say:

Business English lessons for advanced learners

Lastly, these teaching Business English lesson plans should ideally be used with advanced students who are looking to take their language skills to the ultimate level: fluency.

Lesson plan #5: Working with people from different cultures

Lesson topic: Working with people from different cultures

Lesson objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about their experiences working with people from other countries and give advice on cross-cultural work relationships.

  • Handouts (or PowerPoint slides) of the article “10 Ways to Work Effectively Across Cultures”

If you’re struggling when it comes to incorporating classroom tasks like those outlined in these free Business English lesson plans, take a look at the following video from the Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English course . It offers tips for conducting task-based learning in a Business English classroom:

Lesson plan #6: Creative presentations

Lesson topic: Creative presentations

Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to present a product, a service, or an idea creatively.

  • Five different simple objects (a ball, a bag, etc.)
  • Equipment to play a video

Teaching professional students is one of the most rewarding ELT niches to pursue, as these students are highly motivated individuals. With the right teaching Business English lesson plans, you can be sure you’re meeting stakeholder expectations and helping your students succeed.

Learn the 21st-century skills and tools you need to effectively teach English to professionals by earning Specialized Certification in Teaching Business English.

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Back in her hometown in the Philippines, Krzl worked as a writer at a TV station before moving to Chile. After she completed her TESOL certification, she worked for language institutes and then decided to become an independent English teacher to business professionals. When she’s not giving classes, she’s either surfing along Chile’s long stretch of coastline, traveling, or practicing photography by the beach.

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Best Business English Lesson Plans (8 Websites)

Business English Lesson Plans

Looking for ready-made business English lesson plans for your learners?

There are a ton of websites out there. The only problem is taking the time to sort through the worksheets and exercises and piece them together to create an excellent plan. Now that can take quite some time, especially if you are a perfectionist like me.

While some sites with high-quality lesson plans are paid resources, that doesn’t mean you can’t find decent lesson plans on other free sites. In fact, you can find some great lessons for business English if you know where to look.

So, what are the best (preferably free) websites for business English plans? Let’s explore some of the most popular ones below.

1. Breaking News English

Breaking News English makes news-based lesson plans highly accessible. They are constantly updating their lesson plans, unlike other websites that gave up back in 2013/2014.

This site is great for relevant news topics you and your students can relate to. They even have a section devoted to business English lessons. Here you can find news stories related to companies.

If you choose a news story , you can select the same story’s easier or more difficult levels to suit different clients’ needs.

Typically each lesson plan features some discussion, a reading, key vocabulary, gap-fill exercises, synonym matching, phrase matching, listening, and writing activities. There is plenty to keep students busy!

The lessons are printable, and teachers can choose a long or short version of the lesson plan.

You may also be interested in: Best ESL Websites for Teachers

2. British Council

The British Council has many Business English lesson plans aimed at B1 and B2 (CEFR) English learners.

The lesson plans here are very high quality and differ from Breaking News English because you can find more lessons related to workplace issues rather than news stories.

The British Council’s lesson plan usually includes a preparation task, reading, cloze tests, and discussion questions.

They also have podcasts for business English (upper-intermediate), English for emails series (pre-intermediate to intermediate), and videos for interviews (intermediate and upper-intermediate).

Ted contains a large number of videos by experts from various work backgrounds. They are produced to inspire and teach something new, which has proven extremely popular, with some videos garnering millions of Youtube views.

Teachers can sign up for Ted-Ed with an educator account. Here you can create a lesson from one of the TED talks or an already prebuilt lesson. The lessons are short but a great way to get students to discuss their views on a matter.

To find business lessons, simply search business in the search bar, and all the lessons with that keyword will come up. You could also search for other keywords relating to the client’s industry.

If anything, TED teaches us how to make a superb presentation that wins over an audience and keeps their attention.

Teach English Online

You may also be interested in: The Best English Teaching Companies in 2022.

4. Linguahouse

Linguahouse is mainly a paid resource; however, there are a few ESL lesson plans that teachers can find free of charge.

They also update their library and send an email to their subscribers’ list when they add more ESL lesson plans (free and paid).

The free business English lesson plans on Linguahouse are of great quality. They usually include a video and some exercises, with student worksheets and teacher lesson plans ready to download.

They have British English and American English versions of their lesson plans and show the approximate time it takes to complete a lesson.

5. Dave’s ESL Cafe

There are some ideas to take from Dave’s ESL Cafe business English lesson plans. They are shared by anyone who wants to contribute to the site.

There are about thirty informal lesson plans on the site that you can go through and decide which to deploy in your classroom. There are some suitable filler activities and creative ideas available here.

Most of these lesson plans are group-based activities, suitable in the ESL classroom.

You may also be interested in: Best ESL Worksheets for Adults (Free)

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Fluentu provides some great free ideas for your next business English lesson. Each lesson is built on the PPP (presentation, practice, production) method.

In this article, they summarise four possible lesson plans:

  • “Breaking the Ice” lesson plan
  • Business meetings lesson plan
  • Negotiation lesson plan
  • Meeting management lesson plan

The site features many other lessons plans to explore, and you can sign up for a free trial if your school wishes to avail of Fluentu’s classes.

7. Business English Site

People with years of corporate experience created Business English Site , which shows through the clever use of expressions and phrases in their exercises.

I like this site because it features lessons for specific job roles, such as medical English, project management, and accounting. They have intermediate to advanced lessons .

Most of the lessons are just gap-fill exercises, but they might give useful insight into your niche and the appropriate phrases they can use.

This may not be a great place to find a full business English lesson plan, but it is useful for finding the vocabulary to teach if you have some extra time.

8. Off2Class

If you haven’t found what you are looking for, Off2Class might be a good option. They are subscription-based (about $16 per month).

Off2Class has a price tag, but you may find the lesson you want. Off2Class features an array of ESL lesson plans for teachers. They are high quality and feature several Business English lessons and general English lessons.

These are slides, easily shared online or with a projector. They require little to no preparation and are highly engaging. Off2Class is a good option for stuck teachers who need a high-quality lesson to present.

Sign up for a free account and see if they have any lessons that interest you.

You may also be interested in: Best ESL Worksheets for Advanced Learners

In Conclusion

Teachers have a lot of creative options when teaching business English online or in the classroom. While some teachers prefer to stick to the textbook, many amazing resources can be found with a quick search on the web.

Are there any other paid or free business English lesson plans you use? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Caitriona Maria is an education writer and founder of TPR Teaching, crafting inspiring pieces that promote the importance of developing new skills. For 7 years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.

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Business English Vocabulary and Speaking Exercises and Worksheets

  • Business English can be taught with a variety of techniques. Surveys, interviews, questionnaires, quizzes and role plays are all useful.
  • In addition, I like using picture-based exercises which provide context and add critical thinking, and cultural dimensions to the class.
  • Of course, some business topics are more interesting than others. However, if you have the right teaching materials a variety of teaching materials, most topics can be enjoyable.
  • Below are some of the more popular business English topics.

5 Import/export, logistics and supply chain listening, speaking and vocabulary exercises

20  Business English speaking, listening and language skills exercises (PDF)

10 Essential Business English Vocabulary Exercises and Worksheets

Advertising and branding listening/speaking and vocabulary exercises

4  Working from Home exercises incl. parts of speech and vocabulary exercises

4 worksheets for expanding Business English vocabulary and speaking skills (PDF)

7 listening/speaking exercises for describing graphs  (PDF)

9 Invitations and Requests Dialogues and Listening Exercises for Everyday Scenarios

10 employment, jobs and careers language worksheets  (PDF)

4 money and finances vocabulary and speaking exercises (PDF)

5 complaints and responses vocabulary and speaking exercises (PDF)

Lessons, vocabulary and surveys for talking about money and spending

9 writing exercises for describing processes

Breakingnewsenglish.com business related news lessons for English language teachers

Credit card business english lesson incl.listening

Work and Business Roleplays for ESL Teachers and Students [

Restaurant, telephoning, hotel etc activities & roleplays

Rental Shop

Complaint Lessons

Workplace Skills Lesson Ideas

Describing Office objects (elementary) 

Business English

Business English

Business English communication skills are essential for getting ahead at work. Improving your professional business vocabulary and knowledge will help you work more effectively and open up new career opportunities.

Using English in a business environment

English is recognised as the most internationally popular language, which makes it the most dominant language in the business world. Even if you have a good level of basic English, learning business English will give you the chance to demonstrate a wider professional vocabulary which can result in new opportunities in your career.

Studying business English allows you to develop English language skills that are useful in an office or other business environments. By understanding the communication skills needed in the workplace, you can gain the confidence to build strong relationships with your colleagues and clients.

Business English learning support resources

Here you can find a wide variety of activities to develop your interview skills, write clear emails in English and learn about business topics and issues. Watch videos, listen to podcasts or read articles, then complete the specially designed tasks to help you understand the topic and use the language skills that you have learned.

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Me, my work and I – first Business English lesson plan

Speaking practice

first Business English lesson

photo of the author

LESSON OVERVIEW

We created this first Business lesson plan with a view to helping other teachers in preparations before first classes with students. The worksheet includes activities that we’ve successfully used with our students during the first classes with new groups and individuals. However, we’ve extended this lesson plan by adding some task based on a video to not only check your students speaking skills and vocabulary range but also their listening skills . B1 / Intermediate B2 / Upper Intermediate 60 min Standard Lesson Premium Plan Unlock Individual lesson worksheets with the Premium subscription

We start our first Business English lesson plan with some speaking warm-up tasks . Yes, of course – you can start with all the technical/administrative arrangements, discover students’ needs and expectations, set up goals together and finally even create a classroom contract, but after that you get down to business 🙂

WARM-UP: LET’S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER

So, the first warm-up task is prepared in such a way so that you as a teacher will learn about your new students , whereas the second one is for your students to learn about you as their new teacher. We believe that it’s very important that students can also get to know their teachers. And, obviously, it’s perfect time for them to practise making questions and for you to check whether they are good at it.

In the first task, students have to take one card from a stack of cards and talk about the topic for about 30 seconds. After that time, other students (or you in the case of one-to-one classes) should ask some follow-up questions. In the second task, you have to write on the board some words and phrases connected with your job, personal life, hobbies , etc. Students need to ask questions connected with specific words on the board. So if you write chess on the board, students may ask: Do you like playing chess? If it is the right guess, you can tell them something more about this part of your life if you have some time. This way you’ll definitely break the ice and get to know each other ?

First Business English lesson

This is a first Business English lesson so let’s move to tasks which will make your students talk about work-related issues more. In ex.2 students get several sentences with gaps. Their task is to complete them with correct prepositions . Then, in the next exercise they have to write questions with some phrases from the previous task . These include such phrases as: in charge of , apply for , graduate in , proficient in , etc. After writing 5 questions, students work in pairs and ask and answer them to learn more about other students from their group.

VIDEO + SUMMARIZING & DISCUSSION

During first classes with new students we also want to check a bit their listening skills . In this first Business English lesson, there is a short video with 6 tips for work-life balance . Students have to watch the video and summarize 3 tips to the other person. To make it more interesting, students have some words and expressions that they have to use when summarizing a tip to their partner. The lesson plan finishes with some discussion points related to the ideas presented in the video. It’s a good idea to do this activity as an open discussion . Okay, so that’s it Our take on doing your first Business English lesson for your B1-B2 students. How about you? What do you do on the first lesson with new students? Share below in the comments!

Other ESL Brains first lesson worksheets:

  • Nice to meet you! – first lesson with A2 students

Stay interested, stay motivated – first lesson with new students (B2/C1)

Subscribe to unlock these and many other Individual lesson with the Premium plan

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What an amazing lesson plan! Thank you!

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That’s great! Thanks for the comment!

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In the e-lesson plan, Slide 4 doesn’t work. “Click a number to uncover a topic to talk about.” There aren’t any topics assigned to the numbers.

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Well, it works fine on our side. The thing is that the numbers are clickable in the Present mode. In the Edit mode, you must click the element (the red box) to see the link. Previously, only the numbers were linked but now we’ve updated this e-lesson plan and the boxes are clickable as well. See how it works in this short video: https://youtu.be/mAdvNxJT6jU

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Love you and your work! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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That’s a great lesson to start. Thank you!!

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Great lesson! One small correction: the display title on this website is currently, “My, my work and I.” The first word should be, “Me.”

OMG, sorry for that 😊 I was changing the title so that it’s the same in the post and worksheets, but I’m way too quick! Already changed! Thanks for letting me know!

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esl business english lesson plans

International Trade

"No generation has had the opportunity, as we now have, to build a global economy that leaves no-one behind. It is a wonderful opportunity, but also a profound responsibility." Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States
  • February 16, 2024
  • Business English
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Home » International Trade

Latest lesson plans

International Trade

This Business English ESL lesson plan on international trade has been designed for business professionals or other adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.

International trade is one of the principle driving forces of globalisation and the global economy. Our current economic thinking dictates that countries and their businesses should be free to trade in any other country in the world. However, this global trade massively favours multinational corporations from wealthier nations, often to the detriment of local populations. For this reason, most countries employ some kind of barrier to protect their own companies from what they see as unfair advantages from abroad. In this Business English lesson plan on international trade and the global economy, students will have the opportunity discuss and express their opinions on issues such as how the global economy works, the barriers to international trade, and why there is resistance to this.

For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and other lesson plans on this site, see the guide for ESL teachers .

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES

Reading activity Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):

Investopedia | What Is a Free Trade Area? Definition, Benefits, and Disadvantages

The article gives a definition of free trade areas, explains the advantages such as access to better quality products and encouraging innovation, as well as some disadvantages such as job losses and a reduction in working conditions. At the start of the class, hold a brief discussion about what the students thought about the article. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was written? Can they think of any ways they might disagree with the content of the article?

Video activity To save time in class, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below at home. In the class, the students will answer a number of conversation questions directly or indirectly related to the content of the video.

The video for this class is a TEDx Talk by Haley Edwards called “What global trade deals are really about” which explores the true motives behind why countries want to secure trade agreements around the world.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.

This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means, if they agree with it and how it could relate to business. This is followed by an initial discussion on the topic including which countries the students’ countries conduct most trade with, their experience of international trade, and the future of international trade.

After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with international trade and the global economy such as trade deficit , trade war and protectionism . The vocabulary is accompanied by a cloze activity and a speaking activity to test the students’ comprehension of these words.

If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the conversation questions. Before the conversation, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.

Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about international trade and the global economy. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as why trade liberalisation remains deeply unpopular, when governments should protect local products, and whether trade agreements favour richer countries.

After the class, students will write a letter to a logistics company requesting information about the services they offer. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise business-style writing as well as improving their grammar with the feedback from their teacher.

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

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esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is networking. Students read an article on the benefits of making useful connections in business and how to be a good networker. In the grammar section of the worksheet, a variety of structures with ‘get’ are studied and practised. At the end of the lesson, students talk about the usefulness of networking in their businesses, careers and in job hunting.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson plan looks at the benefits of working at home compared with office work. Students read an article about Yahoo!'s controversial decision to ban staff from working remotely.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn how to manage a phone conversation in English. Vocabulary for describing telephone behaviour is studied. Students then listen to a phone call and study the expressions used to direct and change the topic of the conversation. The language from the lesson is put into practice during a telephone call role play.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is business ethics. Students read an article about a UK chocolate company called Montezuma’s, whose founders decided to put ethics at the heart of their business. The lesson introduces a number of common phrasal verbs, which are studied and practised. Finally, students discuss attitudes to ethics in their own businesses and countries.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson teaches students useful vocabulary for talking about competition in business. Learners listen to a talk about the rivalry between Burger King and McDonald’s, learn collocations with the word ‘competition’ and study competition idioms. The worksheet finishes with a speaking activity.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students read about how the modern office environment has changed and the innovative workplace practices of Google, Facebook and other big tech companies.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn how to query figures in English. Vocabulary for describing different numerical mistakes is studied. Students then listen to a phone call in which the speakers report and explain errors. The key expressions used for reporting an error, quoting a discrepancy, explaining an error and promising action are studied and practised.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson plan is based on an article about 'mumpreneurs' -- women who combine being a mother with running a business. The worksheet comprises of reading, speaking and vocabulary activities, including an exercise on phrasal verbs. An American English version called 'Mompreneurs' is included.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn 13 common idioms used in Business English. The worksheet also provides opportunities for speaking practice.

esl business english lesson plans

The topic of this lesson plan is predictive shopping -- how technology companies are predicting buyers' behaviour by collecting data. Students read about a method developed by Amazon called 'anticipatory shipping'.

esl business english lesson plans

In this follow-up to our popular lesson plan Business idioms , students learn 13 more English idioms used in business. The worksheet focuses on vocabulary and speaking practice.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is the global financial crisis. Students read an article on how the economic downturn was affecting Britain in 2008. A number of economic terms are introduced, and a variety of structures for predicting and speculating about the future are studied and practised. Students discuss how their countries have been affected by the crisis.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson plan introduces students to 18 common phrasal verbs used in a business context. These phrasal verbs are presented in their natural context. The lesson plan includes a speaking activity in which students interview each using the target language.

esl business english lesson plans

Students read about how the furniture chain IKEA has impacted the way people shop. The worksheet focuses on vocabulary, reading comprehension, grammar and speaking. 

By Stephanie Hirschman

esl business english lesson plans

The topic of this reading and discussion lesson is coupon marketing and the American internet company, Groupon. Students read an article about Groupon’s business model and its impact on the UK's discount marketplace. This is followed by a speaking activity in which students discuss Groupon's recent troubles and the drawbacks of the discount voucher business model.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson teaches useful language for learners who need to negotiate in English. After studying vocabulary for describing the different stages in a negotiation, students listen to two extracts from a negotiation and study the tactics and key structures that are used by each side to make proposals, bargain, and reach a deal. At the end of the lesson, the students role-play a negotiation using the language from the lesson.

esl business english lesson plans

How can comedy be useful in a business environment? That's the topic of this lesson plan. Students read an article on the benefits of improvisational comedy in business and discuss whether learning improv would be useful in their professions.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn general expressions for discussing and selecting suitable candidates for a job. The worksheet is especially useful for students who work in human resources or management.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn words and phrases related to leadership and being a manager. Students read an article about what makes a good manager and practise vocabulary for positive and negative leadership qualities. They also learn management verbs and discuss what being a manager is like.

esl business english lesson plans

Intermediate (B1-B2)

This lesson focuses on a video entitled ‘5 ways to create stronger connections.’ The speaker looks at small ways we can enhance our business relationships. Exercises focus on idiomatic language, related vocabulary and comprehension exercises. Discussion looks at ways that the ideas presented in the video can enhance the student’s working relationships.

by Joe Wilson

Note: appropriate for strong intermediate (B2)

Linguahouse.com is in no way affiliated with, authorized, maintained, sponsored or endorsed by TED Conferences LLC.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is what makes a country attractive to potential investors. Students read about the investment potential of Germany and learn a variety of important terms for describing a nation’s economy. At the end of the lesson, students discuss the investment potential of their own countries using vocabulary from the worksheet.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students read an article about the investment potential of Africa. The worksheet includes several vocabulary and discussion activities.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson teaches useful expressions for learners who need to chair meetings in English. After studying vocabulary for describing the skills and roles of a chairperson, students listen to a dialogue in which the managers of a language training centre discuss their company’s advertising strategy. Key expressions used by the chairperson of the meeting are studied. At the end of the lesson, the students role-play a meeting, taking turns to chair the discussion. In this updated version of the lesson plan, there is a fun animated video which can be played instead of the audio.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students watch David Grady talk about how bad, inefficient and overcrowded meetings negatively affect businesses and employees. The worksheet focuses on listening, vocabulary and speaking.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn useful words and phrases for talking about advertising methods and promotional strategies.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is employee misconduct. Students read an article about how companies in the UK deal with employees who have committed offences at work and in their leisure time. Terms for describing different offences, crimes and aspects of the legal system are studied. In the grammar exercises, the students review and practise the first, second, third and mixed conditionals. At the end of the lesson, the class discusses the worksheet topic.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students learn how to describe different types of corporate crime and read about big corporate scandals including Enron, Worldcom and Parmalat. There are plenty of opportunities for discussion.

esl business english lesson plans

Students read an article about a case of bullying at an Australian workplace. The lesson covers some key vocabulary related to law as well as a discussion activity designed to get students talking in depth about the issue.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson teaches the vocabulary and grammar necessary for taking meeting minutes in English. Students listen to a dialogue of a meeting and read an extract from the minutes. After studying the vocabulary and grammar used in the text, they practise reporting statements and taking minutes.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is company dress code. Students read a short article about the changing attitudes towards employee dress code among businesses in the UK. In the grammar section of the worksheet, the passive voice is reviewed. This is followed by a discussion on the issues raised in the article and the general attitude to company clothes policy in the students’ own countries.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson plan is the first of a two-part worksheet series based on an interview recorded in 2007 with the British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin business empire, Sir Richard Branson. In this extract from the interview, Branson talks about the foundations of his empire, what the Virgin brand stands for and what drives him to launch new businesses.

Disclaimer: At 06.55, Sir Richard makes a joke that some teachers or students might find to be inappropriate.

esl business english lesson plans

In the second part of our Richard Branson interview series, Branson jokes about some of his business ventures, including his Virgin Galactic space tourism business. He recalls a daring hot air balloon flight and talks about his adventurous spirit.

esl business english lesson plans

This lesson plan covers a range of vocabulary for talking about general areas of IT, including software, hardware, web hosting, web design and troubleshooting.

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this lesson is the growth of the social networking tool Twitter . Students watch Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, talking about the reasons for Twitter’s popularity. Several idioms and phrases related to launching a business are studied. In the grammar section, emphatic structures used by the speaker are studied and practised. Finally there is a discussion activity on Twitter and how social networking tools can be used in business, as well as an optional video-based exercise for more tech-savvy students. 

esl business english lesson plans

The theme of this light-hearted lesson is office jargon. Students read a satirical article on everyday business clichés used in the modern workplace. There is a speaking activity at the end of the lesson in which the students describe situations that illustrate particular clichés and discuss the use of business jargon in their own countries. The worksheet works well with advanced, good-natured classes.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson, students watch speaker Richard St John talk about the road to success.

esl business english lesson plans

In this third part of our Business Idioms lesson plans, students learn 13 more English idioms used in business. The worksheet focuses on vocabulary and speaking practice.

esl business english lesson plans

In this lesson plan, students read about bitcoin and its part in illegal trading on the internet. Activities cover key words, phrases, and understanding the text. There is also an exercise on adverbs. The lessons ends with a speaking activity for students to discuss the topic.

ESL Lesson Plans - english4tutors

How will AI shape business?

This Advanced ESL lesson focuses on broadening students’ vocabulary around the theme of AI use in business and introduces the use of conjunctions “even though” and “even if.”

The class begins with an engaging activity designed to get students acquainted with the concept of tangible and intangible decisions.

Students will view a video entitled “Generative AI is coming to wealth management in a very big way.” A discussion will follow, aimed at improving verbal skills by analyzing the primary themes presented in the video.

This portion of the lesson is dedicated to introducing students to the use of conjunctions “even though” and “even if.” 

Exercises  

The exercises involve interactive tasks where students will fill in gaps in sentences with the appropriate conjunction and practice vocabulary related to AI.

In this section, students will read a short article about the use of AI in business. This is followed by a discussion to enhance reading comprehension .

The writing task involves composing a brief text about leveraging AI in business while utilizing the grammatical structures studied in the lesson.

Discussion  

To conclude, the lesson features a discussion centered around a famous quote about AI.

International trade in the age of isolationism

International trade in the age of isolationism

This lesson plan targets upper intermediate students aiming to improve their skills in using…

The quirks of office life

The quirks of office life

This ESL intermediate lesson allows students to gain proficiency in using…

The income gap

The income gap

This C2 level ESL lesson plan is designed to focus on…

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IMAGES

  1. LESSON PLAN FOR BUSINESS ENGLISH

    esl business english lesson plans

  2. Esl Business English Lesson Plans

    esl business english lesson plans

  3. 5 Beginner ESL Lesson Plans You Need To Try

    esl business english lesson plans

  4. BUSINESS ROLE PLAYS

    esl business english lesson plans

  5. Handy Conversations: Success

    esl business english lesson plans

  6. BUSINESS EXPRESSIONS

    esl business english lesson plans

VIDEO

  1. Business English Course

  2. Business English

  3. Business English

  4. Business English Vocabulary Lesson for ESL

  5. How to Teach Business English [ESL EFL lessons]

  6. English for Working In a Team

COMMENTS

  1. Business English Lesson Plans

    lessons 267 lessons 60 min Time poverty Advanced (C1-C2) In this worksheet, the concept of 'time poverty' is discussed in relation to the workplace and how it affects families, and particularly women. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills as well as relevant vocabulary.

  2. ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business

    ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business - Linguahouse.com ESL Worksheets Course Plans English For Business RESOURCES FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS Course Plans Provide a comprehensive course with our ESL worksheets.

  3. English for business

    Teaching resources Teaching adults English for business Here you can find a wide range of full lesson plans to use in your business English classroom.

  4. Business English Lesson Plans

    Business English Lesson Plans - ESL Brains Category: Business Level A2 / Pre‐Intermediate B1 / Intermediate B2 / Upper Intermediate C1 / Advanced C2 / Proficiency Time 30 min 45 min 60 min 75 min 90 min Subscription plan Free Premium Plan Unlimited Plan SEE ALL LESSON PLANS CLEAR ALL FILTERS B1 / Intermediate | B2 / Upper Intermediate

  5. 20+ Great Business English Topics and Lesson Activities

    The activities you can do on these business English topics are from specific lesson plans based on videos, which come equipped with a range of different printable Business English worksheets, conversation topics, speaking exercises, listening activities, and writing exercises for adults.

  6. Business Lesson Plans

    Work and responsibilities A lesson to help students talk about jobs and what they involve and to talk about what people are responsible for in a company. Business Tasks Adrian Doff introduces a new series of lesson plans specifically designed for teachers of English for business.

  7. Business English ESL Activities, Worksheets, Topics & More

    #1: Role Plays I love to incorporate role plays into my business English classes. The situations are endless! For example, an important telephone conversation with a client. Or, present your passport to the immigration officer at the airport. Or, meeting a potential client for the first time.

  8. Free ESL Lesson Plans

    Our business English lesson plans are designed to help intermediate and advanced executives boost their confidence when speaking in a business context. Each business English lesson plan is focused on an area of business and also includes vocabulary, listening, reading, and writing activities to improve all language skills. Management

  9. Executive English: 4 Business English Lesson Plans That Turn ...

    One of the most essential aspects in developing ESL business English lesson plans is to get to know your students and find out the information needed to make the lesson practical for them. If you have a student working in corporate marketing, then a business English lesson pertaining to accounting would be almost useless.

  10. ESL Business English Lesson Plans

    1 B1: ESL Business English Try our TEFL business English lesson plans today. Explore a wide range of Business English topics including; writing emails, job interviews, marketing, presentations, management and more! Why is Business English important?

  11. Business ESL Lessons: English Plans For Adults

    Business ESL Lesson Plans search by: Levels: A2 Pre-Intermediate B1 Intermediate B2 Upper Intermediate C1 Advanced C2 Proficiency Lesson times: 30 min 45 min 60 min 75 min 90 min Lesson types: Free Premium ESL Business Lesson Plans Brainstorming. Thinking outside the box. Let's touch base.

  12. ESL Business English Conversation Activities & Lesson Plans

    #1: Work on Expressing Opinions Being able to express an opinion is a useful skill in the business world in meetings and when talking to coworkers or clients. Help students out with this important skill by focusing on doing it in English. It's ideal for advanced business English lessons.

  13. ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business

    Lesson 6. 45 min. Past review (business version) Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) In this business English version of our video-aided lesson plan Past review, students review the past simple and past continuous tenses. The worksheet is suitable for classroom practice or homework. Lesson 7. 45 min. Teamwork.

  14. 6 Teaching Business English Lesson Plans for All Learner Levels

    These free Business English lesson plans are great for professional students with a lower level of English. They can be used in both online and in-person classes. Find out how to get a job teaching Business English. Lesson plan #1: Types of companies Lesson topic: Types of companies

  15. Best Business English Lesson Plans (8 Websites)

    1. Breaking News English Breaking News English makes news-based lesson plans highly accessible. They are constantly updating their lesson plans, unlike other websites that gave up back in 2013/2014. This site is great for relevant news topics you and your students can relate to. They even have a section devoted to business English lessons.

  16. Business English Lessons Guide for ESL Teachers.

    Business English Lessons Guide for ESL Teachers. Business English Vocabulary and Speaking Exercises and Worksheets Business English can be taught with a variety of techniques. Surveys, interviews, questionnaires, quizzes and role plays are all useful.

  17. Business English

    Our online courses are designed to help you learn the skills you need for real life, including communicating at work. Develop your business English skills with classmates in live group classes, get business English support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own speed with a self-study course. Improve ...

  18. Me, my work and I

    We start our first Business English lesson plan with some speaking warm-up tasks. Yes, of course - you can start with all the technical/administrative arrangements, discover students' needs and expectations, set up goals together and finally even create a classroom contract, but after that you get down to business

  19. Intermediate Business English Lesson Plans

    Business English lesson plans include; marketing, sales, retirement, sustainability + more! What ESL business English topics are covered? A wide range of business English topics are covered throughout this B2 intermediate level, and all topics are relevant to the English speaking corporate world.

  20. ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business

    ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business - Linguahouse.com ESL Worksheets Course Plans English For Business Intermediate (B1-B2) RESOURCES FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS Course Plans Provide a comprehensive course with our ESL worksheets.

  21. International Trade

    This Business English ESL lesson plan on international trade has been designed for business professionals or other adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student. International trade is one of the principle driving forces of globalisation and the global economy.

  22. ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets: English for Business

    45 min Small talk Upper-intermediate (B2-C1) This lesson teaches expressions and techniques for making conversation. The students study vocabulary for describing different types of social interaction as well as typical conversation openers and responses.

  23. How will AI shape business?

    This Advanced ESL lesson focuses on broadening students' vocabulary around the theme of AI use in business and introduces the use of conjunctions "even though" and "even if." Warm-Up The class begins with an engaging activity designed to get students acquainted with the concept of tangible and intangible decisions. Video Students will view a video entitled "Generative AI is coming ...

  24. Free ESL Lesson Plans and Free ESL Worksheets

    Free Business English Lesson Plans. ESL Pals' business category covers intermediate to advanced students. There are three levels which cater to B1, B2 and C1 ESL business learners. The lessons cover important business topics such as; job interviews, writing emails, presentations, marketing, management and more!

  25. Advanced Business English Lesson Plans

    Our advanced business English lesson plans last an absolute minimum of 1 hour, with some lasting over 2 hours. The longer lesson plans are perfect to split over two classes, meaning you can solidify students' understanding of particular topics. ESL Pals' advanced business English lesson plans include; data, job interview practice + more!

  26. Free Kids ESL Lesson Plan on Valentine's Day

    The unit contains 3x 45-minute lesson plans; full of ESL games, activities and fun! Free Lessons; Kids Lessons . Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3. General English . A1 A2 B1 B2 C1. Business English . B1 B2 C1. Grammar Lessons . A1-A2 A2-B1 B1-B2 B2-C1. Curriculum; Pricing; Join; Login; WE PLAN, YOU TEACH. SOCIAL. FB PAGE; INSTAGRAM; FB GROUP ...