This Business English lesson plan on corporate hospitality 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.
Entertaining clients is one of the most popular ways to build great business relationships. This could be as simple as inviting them to a meal, or something more elaborate like VIP tickets to the World Cup Final. In addition, as business becomes more and more international, corporate hospitality is something to take into consideration when your company hosts guests from another company, colleagues as well as clients. In this Business English lesson plan on corporate hospitality, students will have the opportunity discuss and express their opinions on issues such as why corporate hospitality is important, how it can help business relationships, and what kinds of events would be good for entertaining guests.
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):
The article looks at some of the benefits of corporate hospitality, such as special events for staff, networking opportunities, and supporting business relationships, as well as advice on how to host successful events. 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? How might this relate to the students’ companies?
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 by InterPraxis Sustainability called “Gifts, Hospitality & Bribery” which looks at some legal issues to take into consideration when hosting corporate hospitality events.
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 the students’ experiences with corporate hospitality, which events the students can think of, and the line between corporate hospitality and bribery.
After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with corporate hospitality such as catering, VIP and matchday hospitality. 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 corporate hospitality. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as what needs to be taken into account when planning an event, what a foreign business person might be interested in doing where the students live, and whether corporate hospitality is the best way to build relationships and reputations.
HOMEWORK
After the class, students will write an email to their boss recommending some activities for a visiting guest. 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.
