We looked at each other and thought:
WHAT. THE. LITERAL. HECK.
We were watching an MSL we love present.
This guy has the it factor.
Smart. Charismatic. Confident. Great smile.
The kind of presence that makes you think, oh this is going to be good.
And then he started presenting.
It was bad. Like, shockingly bad.
The MSL we were excited to hear from disappeared. He was replaced by someone who sounded unsure, overly cautious, and strangely boring. Full robot mode.
This wasn’t a one-off event either. Executive presence is one of our most requested trainings.
What’s so great about this problem is that it’s super easy to fix! It’s 100% a trainable skill. You work on executive presence, and you will get better at it. Here’s why it happens: a fun AI prompt and a workshop.
We All Start As Bad Presenters
When you present data to experts, 3 fears show up fast:
→ What if they ask me a hard question?
→ What if I don’t know something?
→ What if I look dumb?
You were never trained for this moment. So instinct takes over.
You data dump.
You can’t connect.
You over-explain and ramble.
Most MSLs don’t even realize they’re doing it. Which is why awareness has to come first.
AI Coaching for Executive Presence –Try This Prompt
Before your next presentation, take a short recording of yourself presenting and upload it to ChatGPT with this prompt:
Prompt:
“Act as a senior Medical Affairs leader observing my data presentation.
What behaviors would make you trust me more, and which ones would quietly reduce my executive presence? Be specific.”
If you don’t love the answer, good. That’s exactly why this workshop exists.
3 Ways To Build Executive Presence When Presenting Data Workshop
You don’t need more slides. You need a repeatable way to present data when the pressure is on.
That’s what our 60-min, hands-on 3 Ways To Build Executive Presence When Presenting Data workshop is for.
You bring your own data and practice:
→ How to make the point in 20 seconds (before the data buries it)
→ 3 subtle body language tweaks that make a huge difference
→ How to use silence to control the room (instead of filling it)
Tues, Feb 3 @ 6 pm CT
TL;DR
→ Executive presence is learnable
→ Self-awareness and practice change everything
→ See you at the Executive Presence workshop on Tue
Data presentations should be where MSLs shine.
Cheering you on,
Patrina, Sarah, Ralph, & Jess
Upcoming MSL Mastery Events
- The MSL Job Search Game Plan Workshop - Feb 3, 2026, 5 PM CST
- Executive Presence Workshop - Feb 3, 2026, 6 PM CST
- Aspire MSL Office Hours - Feb 4, 2026, 6:30 PM CST
- DIA Medical Affairs and Scientific Communications Forum (Boston) - Mar 2-4, 2026
- Workshop Lead: Patrina Pellett, PhD
- Focus: Applying AI across the full MSL workflow
- Why Attend: Packed with practical examples for field teams & leadership
- MAPS – MasterClass Field Medical (Denver) - Mar 24, 2026
- Speaker: Patrina Pellett, PhD
- Focus: AI in Action: Transforming How Medical Affairs Teams Learn
- American Pharmacists Association- APhA Annual Meeting (LA) - Mar 30, 2026
- Speaker: Sarah Snyder
- Focus: Say It With Strategy: The Industry Edition
- DIA Course (Virtual) - Apr 29, 2026
- Speaker: Patrina Pellett, PhD & Sarah Snyder
- Theme: Integrating AI across Medical Affairs
- Outcome: Boost efficiency, clarity & impact
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