Handling Difficult Emails

B1 · Intermediate1 hr 17 minBusiness EnglishLesson 6 of 8 · Outline

Aims

Goal: answer an angry complaint and deliver bad news in complete, professional emails that calm the situation instead of escalating it.

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: The reply that decides everything

    2 warm-up questions

  1. Reading10 min

    Reading: What the upset reader is judging

    Read a 127-word text about What the upset reader is judging

  2. Reading10 min

    Reading: Navigating Difficult Emails

    Read a 136-word text about Navigating Difficult Emails

  3. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Difficult Email Vocabulary

    6 items

  4. Reading10 min

    Reading: Two model emails

    Read a 307-word text about Two model emails

  5. Practice7 min

    Practice: Difficult Email Phrases

    Gap-fill exercise, 5 items

  6. Practice7 min

    Practice: Improve the Difficult Emails

    Error-correction exercise, 5 items

  7. Dialogue10 min

    Dialogue: Responding to a Complaint

    Role-play: A customer has complained about receiving the wrong product. Write a professional response. (3 lines)

  8. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Your mission: the email you're avoiding

    3 discussion questions

Open the full lesson

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Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

apologizeinconvenienceresolvecompensateregretassure

This plan comes from the Professional Email Writing course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.