Communication styles: assertive vs aggressive
Lesson plan overview
This intermediate Business English lesson plan looks into 2 types of communication styles: assertive and aggressive. Students will learn key differences between the 2 ways of communication and will practise using assertive expressions. This lesson will work great in combination with the following lessons: “The importance of good posture”, which includes key vocabulary about body language, “Dealing with a difficult co-worker”, “Business meetings; getting your point across”, “Self-care”, which includes different ways of saying “no”, and “Phrasal verbs: communication”, “Phrasal verbs: convincing and persuading”.
The lesson starts with a few questions about assertive and aggressive communication. Then, students look at 3 situations and find 1 assertive and 1 aggressive response and try to come up with basic rules of assertive and aggressive language. Then, they read a few tips and are presented with 17 expressions, which they need to divide into aggressive and assertive. Next, students transform 6 expressions from aggressive into assertive.
Vocabulary: Moving on, students discuss the role of body language in communication and in coming across as either aggressive or assertive. Then they learn a few expressions that will later be mentioned in the video (e.g. hunched shoulders, clenched jaw, lean forward).
Video: Students watch a video called “Assertive vs aggressive”, which is divided into 2 parts, and complete 3 activities.
Speaking: Finally, students are given 4 scenarios to role-play.
The conversation questions provide further speaking opportunities, as well as a chance to revise the key vocabulary from this lesson.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Not sure yet?
Try one of our FREE lessons plans
Share this lesson plan with someone who will find it useful