ESL Video Exercises
Business-Focused Lessons
01
Shark Tank: The Sharks Take an Emotional Trip to the Farm
ABC — Shark Tank
Open →02
Commander's Intent Enables Great Leadership
Leadership Talk
Open →03
What Causes Economic Bubbles?
TED-Ed
Open →Video 01 · ABC — Shark Tank
The Sharks Take an Emotional Trip to the Farm
- Have you ever watched Shark Tank?
- What makes a business pitch good or bad?
- What are some stereotypes about farmers?
"There's not enough margin for me —"
"It protects trees from frost —"
"It's a noble cause —"
"The nozzle shoots water down —"
"You're trespassing in my grove —"
"I am a distributor —"
"We can really scale this up —"
"Farmers are the cornerstone of America —"
"I like everything you stand for —"
- What do you think about the argument over the price? Should Johnny raise the price or keep it at $5 per unit?
- Do you think the deal he made with the Shark was good?
- Do you think that kindness and humanity sometimes gets in the way of good business decisions?
- Can you think of any other businesses that really care about their clients like Johnny?
- Can you think of any other great investments that led to high returns?
- What are the margins like in your industry? Are they considered high or low?
- Have you ever felt like you were "trespassing" — entering someone's professional territory uninvited?
- What does it mean for a company to truly "stand for" something? Can you give an example from your country or your field?
- What would it take for your company or team to genuinely scale up its impact or reach?
Video 02 · Leadership
Commander's Intent Enables Great Leadership
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how direct are you?
- Does somebody give you tasks at work? Do you give someone tasks?
- How are the tasks communicated?
- How often do you meet with your team to discuss tasks and goals? How productive are those meetings?
"At the culmination of my career —"
"I was a Colonel in the Army —"
"I've used that framework for years —"
"Leaders get too granular in the 'what' —"
"One of my peers was not a pilot —"
"We actually stunt their growth —"
"It wasn't said explicitly —"
"You provide latitude —"
"You've actually stoked innovation —"
- What can civilians learn from how the military operates?
- The speaker talks about 'meeting the mark' in a way other than what the leader had in mind. Have you ever found a different way to do a task than what was expected?
- What standards do you set for yourself, and what standards are set for you?
- Where do you hope to be at the culmination of your career?
- How do you feel about getting granular instructions?
- What can lead to stunted career growth? What can stoke career growth?
Video 03 · TED-Ed
What Causes Economic Bubbles?
- Do you invest in stocks, crypto, property, or anything else? How did you start?
- Have you ever bought into a trend or craze and later regretted it?
- What do you know about the dot-com crash, the 2008 housing crisis, or tulip mania?
"The Dutch tulip craze was driven by reckless speculation —"
"Prices became wildly irrational —"
"Asset prices can inflate far beyond their real value —"
"When the bubble finally burst —"
"Every financial mania has followed the same arc —"
"Tulip bulbs were grotesquely overvalued —"
"A market correction restores prices —"
"A surplus of supply flooded the market —"
- Do you think any asset or market today is in a bubble — crypto, AI stocks, real estate?
- Can individual investors protect themselves from bubbles, or are they always at the mercy of the market?
- Why do people keep repeating the same economic mistakes throughout history?
- What role does psychology — fear, greed, herd behavior — play in financial markets?
- Can you think of a modern example of irrational behavior — in a market, a company, or everyday life?
- Have you ever been caught up in a mania or craze that you later regretted?
- What's the difference between smart investing and risky speculation?
- When something seems wildly overvalued — a product, a company, a trend — what do you do?