Transcription
Now that you have your MSL presentation down and you're ready to give it in the final interview, I wanted to share with you three best practices to implement and three pitfalls to avoid. If you've been following our aspiring MSL content, please subscribe to the channel and also check out our other playlists as well. Okay, ready to dive in?
Best practice number one is to know your slides by heart. Literally, be able to do the presentation without looking at your slides. This will enable you to have a deeper engagement and connection with the audience, and also know when and what to say as you transition from slide to slide. Not only will this make your presentation very strong, but it will save you in a pinch. I had a candidate who put her slides on a zip drive, only to find out minutes before the presentation that she left the zip drive at home. Now, thankfully, she was able to present the data without the slides, and they were so impressed that she got the job. So, know the slides by heart.
Best practice number two is to anticipate the questions. So, ahead of your presentation, think of, if you were in the audience, what would you want to know? And if you get a question that you don't know the answer to, don't guess the answer. Yes, you want to be able to answer every question, but if you don't know the answer, simply say, "I want to get you the most accurate answer, so let me follow up with you on that." And then after the interview, follow up.
Best practice number three is stick to the time frame that they give you. If they ask for a 15-minute presentation, allowing for 15 minutes of Q&A afterward, and you go over time, that will be a strike against you. Now, of course, the pitfalls are all the three opposites of those: reading from the slides, the inability to answer questions, and going overtime.
But here are three more pitfalls to avoid. Pitfall number one: if you're going to use slides that are already created, make sure that they are nonproprietary and in the public domain. I had a candidate one time use slides that had "confidential" watermarked on each page. Don't do that.
Pitfall number two is presenting outdated data. That is a surefire way to lose the interview, and you would be surprised how often that happens.
Pitfall number three: don't data dump. Don't overwhelm the audience with excessive details. The presentation should be a story that captivates the audience from the beginning to the end, where the data is used to strategically help the story along.
Now, there are many pitfalls to watch out for, but those are the three biggies. Has this been helpful? If so, subscribe to the channel and make sure to connect with me on LinkedIn. And while you're there, also follow our LinkedIn group called KIC Jobs Medical Affairs. Thanks. [Music]