Best Business English Lesson Plans (8 Websites)

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.

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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).

3. TED Ed

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.

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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.

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6. Fluentu

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.

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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

Education writer at TPR Teaching | https://www.tprteaching.com

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.