20 Brilliant Business English Speaking and Listening Skills Worksheets

Business English listening/speaking skills exercises  can include:

basic socializing activities
telephoning practice
common office exchanges
short role plays with colleagues, customers and clients
practice asking, requesting and providing information

 1 Calling to complain (gap fill and answers)

       This is a “calling to complain”telephoning language exercise  to help English language learners practice expressions and phrases used in everyday phone conversations. Students can try and complete the dialogues and then listen to the audio to check/compare their answers.

(download PDF)

(Calling to complain YouTube video)

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2 Asking for information : business English dialogues gap fill (with audio and answers)

Students need to be versatile and flexible when they speak English. This gap fill exercise provides a number of everyday conversations and situations .  It challenges students to complete the short dialogues with the appropriate vocabulary. Or students can listen to the audio and complete the conversations.

Asking for information business English gap fill (PDF)

(see as Youtube mp4 video)

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3   Making requests exercise (with audio and answers)

           This is a  Business English  ESL exercise to help students learn how to make polite requests in English. Students can try to complete the speech bubbles. Then they can listen to the audio and compare their answers. Or it can be used as a stand alone listening exercise.

Business English making requests (PDF)

(see as Youtube video)

 4 Business problems and solutions (with audio and answers)

Problems and solutions exercises make for good speaking and discussion classes. Here, students match the problems to the pictures and give solutions in answer to the questions. as above, the solutions exercise could be expanded to include all the problems shown in the pictures.

Business problems and solutions (PDF)

(see the video on YouTube)

5 Ideas for starting a business braintorming

This is a good topic for business English students. And millennials in general are really sharp on the nuances of strategies for starting a business. Good fun!

Ideas for starting a business (PDF)

6 Create a conversation: starting a business

As a follow-up to the exercise above (or part of the same lesson)…. starting a business is  a surefire topic for classroom dialogues.

Starting a business  (PDF)

7 Telephone conversation speaking and listening about a delivery (with audio and answers)

This is a telephoning exercise for English language learners to practice using  the language necessary for making business phone calls. Students listen to the audio and complete the conversation. There are 2 worksheets One is easy and one is more difficult.

Telephone delivery conversation (PDF)

8  Office conversations (with audio and  answers)

This is a business English ESL exercise to help students practice common office conversations. First, brainstorm ideas for the conversations. Then students can listen to to the audio and complete the speech bubbles.

Office conversations  (PDF)

9 Elementary business socializing (listening with answers)

This is an elementary business English ESL listening exercise exploring the language and vocabulary used to make short conversations in various business and social situations. Student listen and  complete the short conversations for each situation. Then they can compare answers.

Business socializing (PDF)

 10 Business socializing and phoning (with  answers and audio)

       This is similar to the above but more general.  It helps students   become familiar with common office conversational exchanges. 

Business socializing and  telephoning (PDF)

 11 The gig economy: good or bad?

This is a great contemporary topic for university students. There is no more contemporary business English topic then the “gig economy”. It’s an excellent discussion/debate topic.

Gig economy (PDF)

 12 Company activities: What do they do?

The words create, produce, develop, design, invent, build, sell, provide and manufacture are often used interchangeably to describe company activities. This activity focuses on these and related words and the subtle differences between their usage.

What do companies do?(PDF)

13 Business skills

It’s also pretty easy for students to talk about business skills as it relates to their personal preferences and abilities.  The speaking section can also be expanded to include all the skills shown in the pictures.

Business Skills (PDF)

 14  Problems and solutions: write a conversation

This is a more personalized and fun exercise in which students write a conversation talking about 2 problems in their lives.

Problems and solution conversation writing (PDF)

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15 Talking about office problems

This is an elementary ESL speaking exercise for talking about problems in the office. First, students try to match the vocabulary at the bottom of the page to the pictures. They can then use that vocabulary to answer questions about the pictures.

Talking about office problems (PDF)

Related Resource:

4 Tantalizing Telephone Dialogue Exercises for Business English

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16  Discussing business activities speaking lesson

    This is an ESL   speaking and writing lesson  for talking about common business activities and tasks.. First, students match the expressions to the pictures. Then, they can have short conversations discussing the business activities they like and dislike.

Discussing business activities (PDF)

17 Team building

his is a business English ESL exercise exploring the language and vocabulary of team building. First, students match the vocabulary to the pictures. When it is clear they understand the words, they can write questions  about team building. Finally, students can ask each other questions.

(download PDF)

18 Elements of common work conversations (with answers)

        This is an ESL exercise  for teaching common English  expressions in an office setting. Students match the words to the pictures and the sentences. 

Elements of common work conversations (PDF)

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19 Business woman: what is she saying ? (with answers)

This is a business English ESL exercise introducing some common expressions and sentences. Students need to interpret the meanings of the woman’s gestures and match the vocabulary to the pictures.

Business woman: what is she saying (PDF)

 20  Telephoning speaking skills

    This is a  telephoning language exercise  for English language learners to practice the English expressions and phrases used in everyday phone calls.

Telephoning speaking skills  (PDF)

 21 Pictures for short role plays in random business situations

  This is an elementary  business English  ESL exercise  exploring the language and vocabulary used to make short conversations in various workplace situations.  Students use their imaginations to write short conversations for each situation.

Mini-role plays (PDF)