MSL Mastery Blog
Practical Strategies for MSLs, Aspiring MSLs, and Medical Affairs Leaders
Get expert tips on Medical Affairs training, AI, KOL engagement, communication, and proving impact.
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER → By Patrina Pellett, PhD
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Goal setting for Medical Science Liaisons sounds simple. You write down a few priorities, make a plan, and promise yourself this will be the year you stay focused.
Then the life shows up. Travel gets heavy. Internal meetings multiply. CRM updates pile up. Congress seaso...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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It’s hard not to be distracted in meetings. People are often distracted within the first few seconds.
Whether you’re in person, on Zoom, or grabbing 5 minutes between sessions, there’s always something pulling your attention elsewhere. Notificatio...
By Patrina Pellett & Sarah SnyderÂ
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In Medical Affairs, there’s a hidden money pit no one talks about.Â
Leaders spend millions every year on slide decks, medical communications vendors, polished value stories, and perfectly animated MOAs. The assumption? Better decks equal better engagement.Â
B...
By Patrina Pellett & Sarah Snyder
We're Obsessed With NotebookLM and You Should Be Too
NotebookLM comes up a lot in our world. We talk about NotebookLM all the time. Like all the time. It’s just so powerful and fun.Â
We love it. Not just as AI nerds (guilty), but as longtime Medical Affairs profess...
 Visibility is the secret sauce to presenting better and most people are avoiding it. Here are 3 ways to see what you can’t unsee about your communication skills.
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Tom Caravela didn’t always sound like a confident presenter. Back when he launched MSL Talk, listening to hi...
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On a recent training alignment call, we were trying to figure out exactly why a Medical Affairs team wanted help with presentation skills.
What was the real issue?
When Sarah and I know the specific challenge, we become snipers and can build exactly the training a team ...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
When you think of “presentation skills,” what comes to mind? Probably a big, formal event with a polished PowerPoint and an audience full of bigwigs, right? But here’s the truth: it’s not just the big moments that shape your career.
It’s the everyday...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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We’ve all sat through (or delivered) those presentations. You know the ones I’m talking about. Slide after slide of data with numbers that blur together until you’re left with nothing but a vague sense of, well, something. But there’s one simple wa...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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Here's a big secret of mine: I used to have a serious "um" problem. While watching videos of myself presenting, I was shocked by how often I said it. It was so cringey! Recognizing this was a huge step, and I worked hard to eliminate "um" from my p...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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Virtual presentations are here to stay, especially in pharma and biotech. They’ve become an everyday part of our professional toolkit. Check out the chart below from a recent LinkedIn poll! Everyone is in several hours of virtual meetings per week....
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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Imagine this: The room fills with quiet anticipation. There’s a buzz, but the atmosphere is calm. The audience settles in, ready for what’s to come. You glance around, noticing how people are leaning forward, already engaged before the presentation...
By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)
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You know that moment when you’re presenting amazing data, and all of a sudden, you realize… you've lost them. Blank stares. Eyes rolling into the back of heads. And you’re like, Great, I’m killing it. Except you’re not.
In pharma and biotech, pres...
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