Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product.
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes. I've also had the chance to attend demos hosted by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I've learned over the last decade regarding demos.
Manage Your Audience's Expectations
Have you ever gone to see a movie everyone raved about and walk out totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers feel let down not because the picture was bad, but rather because it was worse than they anticipated. It didn't meet their expectations.
Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they're about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. They wouldn't be impressed for example with a Web-based application that contains typos or JavaScript errors if they're under the impression it's going live in a week. However, if they know beforehand that you're presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more lenient. And they will gladly provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work in progress.
Managing your audience's expectation is critical to a successful demo. If you want them to walk away from your presentation pleased, make sure you set the right expectations beforehand. Be honest with them. Don't try to oversell your demo. Just sell it, and try to over deliver.
One Bad Apple Spoils The Whole Bunch
All it takes to screw up a demo is one person. If someone starts negatively critiquing every single widget in your application or constantly interrupts you simply because he/she likes to hear the sound of his/her own voice, your demo will be a disaster. It is your job to ensure that these bad apples don't show up to your presentation.
Unless you're hosting a closed-door demo, it's very hard to control who will attend it. Omitting someone from your invitation list doesn't guarantee they won't hear about your demo through word-of-mouth and simply show up.
Here are a couple of ways to trick bad apples into not attending your demo:
I'm well aware that these two tips sound like an excerpt from Scott Adams's Dilbert And The Way Of The Weasel, but unless you feel comfortable telling your peers, superiors or customers not to show up to your demo, these two options are pretty much all you're left with.
Do A Practice Run
I attended a demo last week hosted by the CEO of a local start-up. After meeting with him at a trade show, he managed to convince me that his company had developed a technology that could solve one of my client's needs. I therefore agreed to give him 30 minutes of my time so he could demonstrate his product's capabilities.
I didn't need 30 minutes to realize I didn't want to do business with him. All I needed was 30 seconds.
This guy couldn't even log in his own Web-based application! He spent the first 10 minutes of the demo looking for a password.
Always do a practice run on the system that you're going to use during the actual demo. You might know the application like the palm of your hand, but if someone else has access to your demo system, who knows what shape it's in. They might have removed services, upgraded components or, as was the case with this CEO, changed the user credentials without informing you.
Unless you don't mind looking like a fool, always do a practice run on your demo system before presenting to your audience.
Pay Attention To Details
The hundreds of demos I've performed over the years have taught me that people pay more attention to how the application looks than what it does. You software might be the solution to world-hunger but if a member of your audience notices a typo in your GUI, he/she will point it out!
Readers are especially distracted by readable content