A client recently asked me how to make their software product demos more interesting. It’s a pretty common question for people working to improve their presentations or technology demos so, I thought I’d do a quick post on it. Here are 5 key tips to make your demos more interesting:
1) Know your Audience
The most common cause by far of boring demos is too much detail.Your product has a ton of killer features, but if our prospects don’t care about them they will make the demo look confusing and bore your audience.
The only way to avoid showing too much is to learn who will be there, what their role is and what they care about. Armed with this information, you can pare the demo down to 2 or 3 key things.
2) Be Enthusiastic
Enthusiasm is contagious. Don’t be afraid to smile and enjoy yourself.
3) Have a Strong Opening
The opening is crucial to an interesting demo. This is the best time to draw the audience in and grab their attention. Here are a few ideas for a great demo opening:
- Open with a question
- Make a provocative statement
- Tell a short customer success story that relates to your prospects needs
4) Show a Day in Their Life
To keep prospects engaged, you need to show a demo that shows them how your product solves their unique problems. The closer you can come to their situation in your demo, the more interested they will be. I find that a time-compressed demo that reflects the typical tasks they need to accomplish works best.
5) Add Some Spice
Once you have a demo that you are comfortable doing, you can begin to improve it. Try adding a little spice to sections of your demo such as:
- A bit of humor (related to their needs)
- A prop that shows a complex topic in an easy to understand way
- A question, designed to bring home a point
Have any tips on making software demos more interesting? Let us know in the comments section below. If you want to improve your demos, you may want to check out our Software Demonstration Skills Training
