Five tips for a great software demo
BusinessWhether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your client, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later you’ll need to demo your software product.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to conduct hundreds of demos for audiences of various sizes. I also had the opportunity to attend demos organized by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I’ve learned over the past decade regarding demos.
Manage your audience’s expectations
Have you ever gone to see a movie that everyone raved about and left totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers are disappointed not because the picture was bad, but because it was worse than they expected. It did not meet your expectations.
Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they are about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to use. They would not be impressed, for example, with a web-based application that contains JavaScript or typos if they are under the impression that it will be available in a week. However, if they know in advance that you are presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more forgiving. And they’ll be happy to provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work-in-progress.
Managing your audience’s expectations is critical to a successful demo. If you want them to walk away pleased with your presentation, be sure to set the right expectations beforehand. Be honest with them. Don’t try to oversell your demo. Just sell it and try to overdeliver.
One bad apple spoils the whole group
All it takes to screw up a demo is one person. If someone starts negatively criticizing every single widget in your app or constantly interrupting you simply because they like to hear the sound of their own voice, your demo is going to be a disaster. It’s your job to make sure these bad apples don’t show up in your presentation.
Unless you’re hosting a closed-door demo, it’s very hard to control who’s going to show up. Skipping someone from your invite list doesn’t guarantee they won’t find out about your demo through word of mouth and just show up.
Here are a couple of ways to trick the bad apples out of attending your demo:
- Create a scheduling conflict for those bad apples. Make sure they are busy, or better yet, out of the office when the demo takes place.
- Book two separate demos. Invite the people whose feedback you really value to the first demo and the bad apples to the second. Most of the time, each group will appear in the demo they are respectively invited to. When it’s time for the second demo, go ahead and do your best, or if you don’t have time, just cancel it.
I’m well aware that these two tips sound like an excerpt from Scott Adams’ Dilbert And The Way Of The Weasel, but unless you’re comfortable telling your peers, superiors, or clients not to show up to your demo, these two options they’re pretty much all you have left.
Take a practice run
I attended a demo last week hosted by the CEO of a local startup. After meeting him at a trade show, he was able to convince me that his company had developed technology that could solve one of my customer’s needs. Therefore, I agreed to give him 30 minutes of my time so that he could demonstrate the capabilities of his product.
It didn’t take me 30 minutes to realize that I didn’t want to do business with him. All he needed was 30 seconds.
This guy couldn’t even log into his own web-based application! He spent the first 10 minutes of the demo searching for a password.
Always practice on the system you will be using during the actual demo. You might know the app like the back of your hand, but if someone else has access to your demo system, who knows what shape you’re in. They may have removed services, updated components, or, as was the case with this CEO, changed user credentials without informing you.
Unless you don’t mind making a fool of yourself, always practice on your demo system before presenting it to your audience.
Pay attention to the details
The hundreds of demos I’ve done over the years have taught me that people pay more attention to how an app looks than what it does. Your software may 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, and that’s a fact. Deal with it by carefully reviewing the text on your interface and on your graphics. If you don’t have time to review and finalize the text, use Lorem Ipsum.
Lorem Ipsum has a more or less normal distribution of letters, which makes it look like readable English without distracting readers. Now I build new prototypes strictly with Lorem Ipsum and add actual text when and only when I have time to write content that I know won’t become a topic of discussion in my next demo. I highly recommend you do the same.
Point out the (obvious) mistakes
The software contains errors. It’s that easy. Anyone who disagrees with that statement clearly hasn’t worked in the software industry very long. Although we sometimes strive for defect-free products, the reality is that complex systems always contain defects, even when they are generally available.
Practicing before the demo will allow you to identify and resolve obstacles, and using Lorem Ipsum will help you with nitty-gritty details that would otherwise distract your audience. But what about the other flaws attributed to Murphy’s Law?
In the event that an obvious error is shown during your demo, please point it out!
In all likelihood, your audience will have already noticed the mistake. Any attempt to hide it will give them the impression that you are not being honest. Thus, they will start to wonder what else you are trying to cover up.
Point out the bug, explain that you have a fix, confidently state that the fix will be rolled out by a specific date, and move on. This candid demeanor will reassure your audience that (a) you’re not trying to sweep one under the rug and (b) the flaw will be resolved when they implement your system.
I’m not suggesting that you look for errors during your demo. If you can circumvent them by any means, do so. But if a flaw comes up during your presentation, don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. The only person you will be fooling is yourself.
Conclusion
There you go. Five tips for a great software demo.
- Manage the expectations of your audience
- Make sure rotten apples don’t ruin the bunch
- Take a practice run
- Pay attention to details and use Lorem Ipsum
- Point out obvious mistakes
Do these 5 tips represent everything I’ve learned in the hundreds of demos I’ve hosted? Absolutely not! The hardest part of writing this article was probably limiting it to 5 tips. I could have easily added 5 more tips like (a) get control of the situation and (b) always have a plan B. But the point was not to point out all the tips that can help you. Only the first five!