Key speaker training

Objectives
It is widely recognized that customers are the most influential advocates for a product. Our client – a multinational pharmaceutical company – was preparing for the international launch of a new product, and was keen to leverage peer-to-peer advocacy in its key national markets.

Approach
We worked with the client to produce a program of key speaker training (KST); designed to prepare, train and enthuse product advocates to carry the product’s messages to a local level. This was part of an integrated program of activities in support of the client’s product, which had included international symposia, audiovisual tools and extensive publication and congress activities – ensuring that the top-level specialists in the field were aware of the product’s offering and engaging in debate and discussion in the international forums.

A small number of delegates (identified from key markets) were invited to 2-day workshops. Here, keynote speakers presented them with the product data, and they had the opportunity to understand and challenge the product offering. The delegates could also construct their own presentations using the extensive suite of materials that we had developed. Delegates also received professional presentation skills training with individual feedback.

Presentation materials are an essential part of a speaker training program. Typically, we provide presentations on the product’s ‘selling story’ and for supporting areas, allowing users to tailor their own materials appropriate to the occasion and audience while making consistent use of core product data. We presented delegates with the unique Presentation Asset Delivery System (PADS™) tool, containing all the presentations on rewritable computer media. PADS™ has an intuitive, no-install interface for presentation selection, and also includes a facility to download updated presentations from a central webserver – critical in ensuring that product advocates remain up-to-date in the fast-moving pre-launch period.

Outcomes
Over several pre-launch training workshops, we provided our client with enthusiastic, committed and well-prepared advocates in all key markets. The attendees were able to gain much from the various sessions, and we received positive feedback, even from those who were initially reluctant to attend.