Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Business
● Could I ask you some questions about your business?
● When did you start your business?
● Are you only a service provider?
● Do you have any service expansion plan?
● Do you have international presence?
● Do you think recession is affecting your business?
● What is the strength of your employees?
● Do you have any challenge in manpower retention?
● Who is taking care of your human resources department?
● What is so special about your business?
● How do you motivate your employees?
● Do you provide transport facility to employees?
● Do you have any playground / gym in your company?
● Do you take of everything personally?
● Do you have any program like employee of the month or employee of the year?
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● How many branches do you have in overseas?
● What one quality in your people really affect your business?
● Will you give any special benefit to your employees?
● How often do you travel abroad?
● Do you really believe in innovation?
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● Where from do you get inspiration for growth?
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● Do you think every company should prepare budget for income and expenses?
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● What is the governing principal of your business?
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● Do you take any assistance for technology improvement?
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● Do you think technology is must to grow your business?
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● Do you invite outside consultants to train your people?
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● What do you feel about growth of your company?
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● Do you want to give any message to the people?
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● What one thing can transform business to a higher level?
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1. Businesses
Talking about other businesses is, essentially, talking business. Other businesses could be friends, foes, inspirations or anything
else. A simple topic, yet such a deep one. Some questions you could ask are:
2. Negotiations
No verb goes with the word “business” better than “negotiation.” Some could say negotiations are business. It’s a good topic that
has students speaking about any and all kinds of negotiations. You could ask questions such as:
Unless your students got a job hookup from a friend or a family member, chances are they have something to say about job
interviews. They are the “first dates” of the business world and this topic gets some good chatter going. A few great questions are:
4. Working Abroad
Some students, especially if they need English for work, may have had some experience working in another country or even have
some colleagues who are working abroad. This topic is good since working abroad becomes more and more relevant in this day
and age. A few good questions include:
An inevitable topic in the world of business, students do enjoy sharing views on crises. They can share their thoughts, questions and
opinions about responding to all kinds of crises. Unless a particular crisis is hitting their country terribly hard, where some may feel
sensitive about the topic, it’s an excellent topic to speak about. You could bring up questions like:
● How do you manage crises?
● What kinds of crises occur in your workplace?
● What sorts of crises have affected your country?
● What is your back-up plan for a major crisis?
● What have you learned from past crises?
6. Leaders
Leaders are the coaches of business. They provide guidance and wisdom to many. Your students may feel inspired by some notable
leaders, or they may look up to leaders in their respective countries, companies or industries. They may even dream of becoming
leaders themselves. Get students talking about what kinds of people are best equipped to lead businesses. Some questions to ask
are:
In this day and age, presentations are everywhere thanks to modern technology. There’s a good chance that not only do your
students have something to say about them, but they may have to give some at their job. Questions you could give them are:
8. Meetings
Unless your students work an hourly position, they more than likely have meetings and talking about meetings is a nice topic since
it’s so relatable. Great questions include:
This is the “getting dumped” experience of the workforce, but it’s something that’s a part of business. If students want to speak
better business English, navigate tough interview questions and plan their careers, then it would behoove them to practice talking
about getting terminated. A few good questions could be:
10. Managers
Slightly different (or vastly, depending on your work) than leaders, managers are something that everybody has something to say
about. Love them or hate them, they’re an essential subject to discuss in business. Perhaps some of your students are managers
themselves. You could ask:
Small businesses are the cornerstone of growing enterprises and thanks to e-commerce they are on the rise. A few questions to ask
the class could be:
Any decent company gives their employees a sort of appraisal every so often, so it’s a good topic to discuss since appraisals are
made to improve the quality of the employee’s work. You could ask things like:
Even though retirement is the end of the road for business and a long way down the road for some students, it’s a good topic to
discuss since it affects everybody eventually. Great questions could be:
Everybody talks about his or her work experience and it helps them with who they are in their career today. Some great questions
are:
Overtime is as enjoyable as it is avoidable. Unfortunately, it’s inevitable but most students will have a thing or two to chime in with
about overtime. Good questions could be:
Business trips, whether they be domestic or international, are more and more common these days and are a good topic to discuss.
After all, most likely your students that go on business trips need to speak English! You could ask:
If your students want to speak business English well, then they’ll need to talk about competition. The competition is everywhere and
is a great topic to really scope out how your students feel about business in general. Great questions could be:
Most students should be familiar with risk and hopefully more familiar with how to manage it so it’s a fine topic to incite some quality
discussion. Great questions are:
Investing is an important topic that many business English students know a fair deal about, depending on their business. It’s a
relatable topic that could be of special interest to some students. You could ask questions like:
20. Colleagues
Everybody has something to say about colleagues and talking about them can help get students talking about more personal things,
which can really help them exit their comfort zones. A few good questions could be:
Unfortunately, hard times are quite prevalent these days. But talking about them is good for business since it could expand your
students’ knowledge of current events. You could ask questions like:
22. Raises
Everybody loves raises, but talking about them (especially with a superior) is a different story. Amongst classmates though, talking
about raises can bring up some interesting chatter. Questions like these are good:
Some may say that business is sales and they just might be right. Sales are to business as education is to knowledge. Talking about
sales is an important skill in business English, especially if some students need to sell in English. A few great discussion questions
are:
24. Customers
But alas, there can’t be sales—or business for that matter!—without customers. Since everyone has been a customer on more than
a few occasions in their lives, it’s a great topic for students! Questions like these work well:
Customer service is also another aspect of business that both salespeople and customers know a thing or two about. It’s a fantastic
topic that can bring some enlightening discussion. You can ask questions like:
26. Marketing
Marketing is an essential field in the world of business and many students enjoy talking about the diverse subject. You could ask
questions such as:
Many companies, big and small, have experience with consultants and it’s an important topic in the world of business improvement.
Some great questions could be:
Rules and regulations are literally everywhere in the business world and they could present some useful and interesting information.
You could give the students questions like: