Here at Ultimate Vocabulary, we’re naturally interested in books that help students and professionals improve their business vocabulary, whether it’s with industry-specific terms, contemporary jargon, or powerful targeted vocabulary words designed to improve communication and increase the chances for recognition and promotion. Here are several books we’ve found that provide effective tools for learning how to maximize your speaking skills in a business setting:

Business Vocabulary in Use
(Bill Masculi)

The Cambridge University Press has a history of producing well-crafted, useful books for English study, and this book (which includes an audio CD) is packed with exercises, games, and explanations that provide an up-to-date collection of words and phrases commonly – and uncommonly – used in the global marketplace. We recommend either the advanced or the intermediate version of this text.

The Cambridge “In Use” series also includes books that focus on specific business areas, including law, finance, medicine, marketing and engineering. These books will be especially helpful for those of you who are currently employed in one of these fields, but not in an English-speaking country, and who wish to look for work overseas.

Communicating in Business English
(Bob Dignen)

If you’re new to the business world, you’ve probably noticed that as in any field, there are specific terms and phrases that you need to be familiar with just to communicate on a daily basis. This book gives you a good overview of standard business workflow, including tips on writing letters and documentation, ways to best interact with people in meetings and seminars, and things to keep in mind when dealing with international contacts and situations. The vocabulary list is more general, rather than targeted to any specific industry, but the exercises give you good practice in using the words, and the accompanying audio CD will help you learn how to pronounce the words perfectly.

Harvard Business Essentials: Business Communication
(Harvard Business School Press)

The Harvard Business School is recognized world-wide as a top-notch school whose graduates go on to develop and run businesses from internet start-ups to multinational corporations. This practical, concise resource will help you improve your communication skills by teaching you how to organize your thoughts, write them down in various formats, edit your work for clarity, and finally present them to an audience. While this is not a vocabulary book per se, it is a valuable tool that allows you to use the words you’ve learned elsewhere in their most effective way.