Presentations are an opportunity for a Professional Medical Representative to communicate the features and benefits of the product they are promoting. An effective presentation should elicit attention and should leave a mark on the audience psyche. At the end of the presentation, doctors usually ask the speaker, in this case, you, for additional information that they may have missed, or clarifications in some part of your presentation. As the one promoting the product, you are expected to know more about it than the doctors. The presentation is your opportunity to educate your doctor about your product.
Speaking in public ranks as the number one fear-inducing activity, and the answer to overcome this is to practice a lot. To help yourself conquer this fear, you can start practicing in front of the mirror, or in front of your colleagues. Usually, companies do initiate training sessions to enhance their people’s presentation skills. The Training Manager, Product Manager or District Manager role plays the presentation and the Professional Medical Representatives take note of how they deliver the presentation. Then each of the Professional Medical Representatives will present and are rated by the managers accordingly. After each presentation, the managers give constructive feedback to better help you to develop that skill.
Presentations should be planned and the structure should be well organized in such a way that you can provide very effective yet concise communication. In organizing your presentation, it is better to start with an outline. Outlines are the structure of the presentation. The objective here is to create a structured presentation with a unifying thought.
A typical presentation structure is composed of three parts: the Opening, the Body and the Close. Although just a couple of minutes will be spent for Opening and Closing, it should be planned because you can win or lose the audience with your Opening and can make a good or bad impression with your Closing. Don’t worry about the Body of the presentation, it is usually provided by the company, but you have to study and master its entirety.
