By sarahfrady Last updated: April 7, 2023

Fluency in Your Headphones: 9 Best Business English Audiobooks

Have you ever been part of a conversation where mispronunciation caused miscommunication?

Often, it is clear a person has learned the mispronounced word through reading—which is nothing to be embarrassed about! Reading is a great way to learn and grow your vocabulary. However, it can be hard to figure out how to say certain new words.

Thankfully, business English audiobooks eliminate that problem. With audiobooks, a narrator reads the book out loud, so you instantly learn how English words sound and can try pronouncing them yourself.

Sound interesting?

Why Should I Listen to Business English Audiobooks?
9 Business English Audiobooks for Learning the Right Way

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why Should I Listen to Business English Audiobooks?

While listening to business English audiobooks might not sound like the most fun activity, they are typically made with non-native English speakers in mind. This means you are able to learn without getting too frustrated with the vocabulary or how quickly the narrator speaks.

Unlike a live conversation or class, with a business English audiobook you have the ability to pause, rewind and take notes about anything you need to work on or do not understand fully. You will not have to feel embarrassed asking someone to slow down or repeat what they have said. Audiobooks also allow you to easily practice specific concepts you are struggling to learn or listen to lessons that target your exact goals.

In other words, you have complete control over how many times you need to listen to a specific part of a sentence.

And—as my earlier story illustrates—hearing words properly pronounced can make a huge difference in your ability to speak English without picking up bad pronunciation habits. While reading can teach us a lot, there are definite advantages to being able to actually hear the language being used.

Perhaps the strongest reason to use business English audiobooks is how flexible they are. You can listen to them at the gym or even during your commute to and from work.

It’s also good to listen to video content as well, because it helps you pick up on facial expressions, gestures, body language and other cues that may be different from your own culture. This is particularly true when you’re watching media made for native speakers, like TV shows and movies, because they’re often structured more naturally.

If you’d like a bit more support to help understand what’s being said, consider trying a virtual immersion program. FluentU, for example, takes short clips from authentic English language media and adds interactive captioning to let you look up unfamiliar words as you see them.

Short videos let you practice your English listening skills, which will prepare you to understand longer stretches of audio.

If you’re ready for that, then the list of audiobooks below are a great place to start.

9 Business English Audiobooks for Learning the Right Way

Ready to get listening? Below, we will show you several business English audiobooks written specifically for language learners. Then we will also show you audiobooks created for native speakers that you can use to advance your business English skills.

Business English Audiobooks Created for Language Learners

Living Language’s “Business English”

This audiobook covers a broad range of business related topics to help you succeed professionally. It is designed not only to build your language skills but also to make you more comfortable in English-speaking work environments.

There are four hours of content across four audio CDs. You will get foundational grammar lessons as well as industry-specific vocabulary. There are also dialogues you can follow along with to build your own speaking skills.

The audiobook itself does not just cover language topics. You will also learn about idioms, immigration and visas, social etiquette and cultural differences.

“English for Business Communication,” Simon Sweeney

This is a short audiobook course for quickly building English confidence and language skills.

Topics include how to present, use the phone, negotiate and socialize in English. The audiobook is set up as a series of “tasks” that you study from, plus practice activities for building your skills.

This audiobook is from a U.K.-based publisher so you will be exposed to British English.

“Speak Business English Like an American,” Amy Gillett

In this audiobook, you will learn many of the different idioms and expressions Americans use to communicate in the workplace. The goal is to make you feel more comfortable with these “Americanisms” so that you never feel lost in conversation.

This audiobook will help you understand what people mean when they use sayings that do not make much sense on their own, such as step up to the plate (take action or take responsibility for getting something done) or in the red (generally meaning a company is operating at a net loss).

The audiobook comes with example dialogues demonstrating conversations you might encounter in the office or in job interviews in the U.S.

“99 Essential Business Idioms and Phrasal Verbs,” Zhanna Hamilton

This book keeps a clear focus on the 99 most common English idioms and phrasal verbs used in the English-speaking business world.

Each phrase is explained with five real-life examples to help you fully understand how they are used. The definitions are simple to understand, and the audiobook narration is slow and easy to follow.

Once you finish this audiobook you will be well-prepared when you hear these sayings in the workplace.

“Speak Intelligently in Business,” Liv Montgomery, Pamela Jett, Nido Qubein

Once you finish this audiobook you will have a much larger business English vocabulary. The audiobook presents key words for you to learn, along with example sentences so you know how to use them.

You will also hear the vocabulary used in sample conversations that demonstrate a wide range of English accents.

“The Complete Business English Master,” Jenny Smith

This two-part audiobook teaches you essential business English vocabulary and then puts it into action.

The first part covers 86 vocabulary words and phrases that all business English learners should know. The second part provides practice articles that use those vocabulary words so you can see them in context.

The audiobook even has background sound effects to give some life to the narration and keep your attention.

“Speak Better Business English and Make More Money,” Amy Gillett

Similar to “Speak Business English Like an American” (also by this author), this audiobook provides key expressions you will need for an American workplace.

You will hear just how important idioms and expressions are to American professionals. The reviews for this audiobook are quite positive and you will appreciate the natural, realistic narration.

Authentic Business English Audiobooks

For advanced business English students, the following audiobooks written for native speakers will provide a bit of challenge (and you might pick up some new business skills)!

“Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street,” John Brooks

This engaging business audiobook will hold your interest with stories about major companies such as Xerox and General Electric. While you are entertained and learning valuable business information, you will also be learning business English as you listen!

In this audiobook, you will likely hear many of the new idioms and expressions you have been learning. The narration is slow and steady and provides a great example of an American accent.

“Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds,” Carmine Gallo

TED Talks are presentations known for their engaging educational content. Listen to this audiobook to learn how to become a powerful public speaker at work and improve your business English skills at the same time.

Listening to audiobooks will give you great opportunities to hear English in action. They will also demonstrate proper pronunciation of different words and show you how native English sentence structure flows. With Business English audiobooks in your language learning toolkit, you will be able to improve your skills quickly and efficiently—even on the go!