First Impressions

A selection of business English discussion questions.

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  1. What sort of body language helps make a positive first impression in business?
  2. To make a good first impression, should you talk about yourself or about the other person?
  3. Can offering compliments help with a first impression? What compliments would be appropriate in a business situation?
  4. What sort of topics are appropriate when you first meet someone at a business event?
  5. To what extent do you judge people on how they dress in a business situation?
  6. How should a man dress to make a good first impression?
  7. How should a woman dress to make a good first impression?
  8. Do you enjoy networking? Is it a useful thing to do?
  9. How many work or business contacts do you have on your phone? Do you think it is enough?
  10. Are you good at giving presentations? Why or why not?
  11. What three pieces of advice would you give to someone giving a presentation at a business conference?
  12. What are the biggest mistakes people make when giving presentations?
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PDF (Pairs)
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PDF (Threes)
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PDF (Cards)
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Other topics you may be interested in...


General Topics

Air Travel, Animals, Appearance, Art, Childhood, Cinema, Crime, Eating Out, Education, Environment, Ethics, Fame, Family, Fashion, Food, Football (Soccer), Friendship, The Future, Globalisation, Health, History, Holidays (Vacations), House and Home, The Internet, Language, Language Learning, Life, Literature, Marriage, The Media, Money, Music, Personality, Politics, Religion, Romance, Science, Shopping, Smartphones, Sport, Technology, Time, Town and City, Transport, Travel, University, Video Games, War, Weather, Work.


Business Topics

Advertising, Brands, Building Relationships, Change, Communication, Competition, Consultants, Crisis Management, Cultures, Customer Service, Employment Trends, Ethics, First Impressions, Human Resources, International Marketing, International Markets, Job Satisfaction, Leadership, Management Styles, Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, New Business, Online Business, Organisation, Project Management, Raising Finance, Risk, Strategy, Success, Team Building, Training, Travel.


Grammar Topics

Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Used to, Have to, Going to / Pres. Continuous, Going to / Will, Comparatives, Superlatives, First Conditional, Second Conditional, Third Conditional, Mixed Conditionals, Should, Should have, Can, Could, Can / Could / Be able to, Is done / Was done, Being done / Been done.

How to use the first impressions ESL discussion questions

It is recommended that you download the first impressions ESL discussion questions in PDF format using one of the links above. The best way to encourage classroom interaction is to download and print the first impressions discussion questions in the 'pairs' or 'threes' PDF format and then divide the questions by cutting along the dotted lines. This allows students to take turns asking and answering the first impressions discussion questions in groups of two or three. Alternatively, you could use the 'cards' format to distribute the questions to any number of students to ask and share.

It is advisable to prepare students for using these discussion questions by first introducing them to the topic of first impressions in an interesting and engaging way. An anecdote, quiz question or a related image or video could all be used to achieve this. Depending on the level, it may also be necessary to pre-teach any challenging vocabulary related to first impressions contained in the discussion questions.

For more ESL discussion questions, see this site's main page. There are discussion questions on a range of topics including general, grammar and business English topics.

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