The first of a two-part lesson plan that looks at the causes and impact of stress in the workplace. Students will read about how stress is affecting small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. The students will discuss the topic together in the class.

Students will learn vocabulary related to the topic of workplace stress and practice using the vocabulary in a group discussion activity about how stress has affected them in their lives and how it can affect society in general. The lesson includes a grammar exercise on reported speech in which students complete a stressful negotiation dialogue using the target language structures. The second part of the lesson will be given at a later date but it isn't necessary to complete both lessons in order to benefit from the material.