The need for short activities in Business English

There are many situations where Business English teachers need short activities, for example:

• a warmer to provide the transition from the students' daily life to the world of the Business English classroom

• a lead-in for whatever business topic or communication skill will be the main focus of the lesson

• an activity to introduce or extend a speaking or writing task

• an idea for working with an interesting reading or listening text

• an activity to focus on or review an area of vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation

• an activity to practise something covered in a previous lesson

• a way to round off the lesson

As well as being useful in putting lessons together, short activities may also help in dealing with the unpredictable situations common to Business English teaching such as erratic attendance on in-company courses, covering for another teacher at short notice, or doing tutorials with individual students to cater for specific needs.

The activities

Organisation

We have organised the activities under the following headings and sub-headings to make it easy for you to find something appropriate for the lesson you are planning:

Business topics: jobs and careers, the company, products and services, management and marketing, money and finance, IT, cultural awareness. These activities lead into the main focus of a lesson, in terms of both business content and key language.

Business communication skills: telephoning, meetings and negotiations, presentations, social English. These activities cover the main business communication skills, looking at the nature of the skill itself and the relevant language.