Discussions / Advertising
Advertising Conversation Questions for Adult ESL Classes
Use these 20 discussion questions about Advertising to run a full speaking lesson with adult learners (B1–B2). Each part opens with a vocabulary warm-up, every question is labelled with the thinking skill it practises, and each part fills roughly thirty minutes of class time on its own.
Reviewed by Brando Oxley · 22 Aug 2026
Part 1
Advertisements and Buying Decisions
Focus: discussing advertising experiences, memorable campaigns, buying decisions, brands, and ways advertisements attract attention
In one minute, think of two products that are often advertised, two actions advertisers want customers to take, two places where people see advertisements, and one feeling an advertisement might create.
EXPERIENCE
Where do you notice advertisements most often during a normal day?
PREFERENCE
What kinds of advertisements do you enjoy watching or looking at, and what makes them interesting?
EXPERIENCE
Can you remember an advertisement that stayed in your mind for a long time? What made it memorable?
COMPARE
How are advertisements on social media different from television, radio, or outdoor advertisements?
INFLUENCE
What parts of an advertisement are most likely to influence your buying decisions?
DISCUSS
Why do companies often use humor, music, attractive images, or emotional stories in advertisements?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
A small local business has very little money for advertising. How could it still attract new customers?
EVALUATE
How much do online reviews and recommendations influence you compared with traditional advertisements?
REFLECT
Have you ever bought something partly because of advertising and later regretted it? What happened?
RECOMMEND
What makes an advertisement effective without making it annoying?
Part 2
Influence, Trust, and Responsible Advertising
Focus: discussing honesty, influencers, targeted advertising, children, personal data, misleading claims, and responsibilities of advertisers
Think of one advertising method, one action advertisers use to influence people, and one situation where an advertisement might create a problem.
Describe each word without saying it directly. Your teacher or partner must guess the word.
DISCUSS
What makes you trust or distrust an advertisement?
COMPARE
How is an influencer recommending a product different from a company creating a traditional advertisement?
EVALUATE
How honest should companies be about the weaknesses or limitations of the products they advertise?
INFLUENCE
Why can advertising be especially powerful when people repeatedly see the same brand or message?
DISCUSS
Should advertisements aimed at children follow stricter rules than advertisements aimed at adults? Explain your view.
PRIVACY
How do you feel about companies using information about your online activity to show you personalized advertisements?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
A company discovers that one of its advertisements gives customers the wrong impression about a product. What should it do?
BALANCE
How can advertisers make strong claims about a product without becoming misleading?
CULTURE
What kinds of advertising messages seem especially common in your country or culture?
REFLECT
Would society be better or worse if people saw far fewer advertisements every day? Explain your opinion.