How to Demo Your Software Product - Lessons from 2.5 Years of NY Tech Meetup

Don't say it, show it. After years of presentations, I've found the following to be key.

1. Practice Early, Practice Often. Practice Everything. -- if you need to plug the system in, and start it up. Do it all, step by step. There's nothing worse than someone struggling with the overhead projector into the start time of a presentation.

2. Don't read it. Say it. Words on screens can be read in an instant, being read to can feel patronizing.

3. Review your images in thumbnail only. If you can't read it at 8 to a page, then the back can't read it too.

4. Bring some drama. Have reveals, or One more things hidden in the presentation.

5. Create visual uniformity. Same color palette, same fonts, some photo tenor.

6. Predict questions and concerns and prepare for those. Think of all the problems and concerns that might come up, and if you still don't have an idea as to how to address the problem, at least you can say "We've thought about that carefully, and we are working on the problem as we speak."

7. Slow down. Take your time. Older people and younger people share information at different rates, find a middle ground for your speed.

8. Answer the questions "Why am I wasting your time" and "What I would really like you to do" in clear direct ways.

9. No rhetorical questions, people's answers in their heads might not be the ones you want. Just tell them your story.

10. If you allow questions, take your time and answer each question sincerely. Everyone is watching not just to see what you say, but how you answer it.

11. Have a partner on hand in case something goes wrong. Practice having then switch in and out at the last minute. Think of it like theater with an understudy.

12. Be hydrated, -- public talking drains your mouth of water.

13 Use the restroom right before, to check yourself in the mirror, check your dander, check your nose, check your tie.

14. And have an espresso 1/2 hour before you go on. That touch of energy that your bring to your presentation can be contagious to your audience.

I'm sure there's more, but those are just some suggestions from my humble experience, that come off the top of my head.

click the link to watch the Twillio demo. It was fantastic magic.

EDIT: here is the link: http://www.livestream.com/nytechmeetup/video?clipId=pla_8b03...

I think that one huge mistake that people often make is spending a lot of time going through "This is how you create a contact", and then entering in fake field data into forms. And you can edit that form, and then go edit and re-save the data. And often that data is gibberish anyway.

Unless filling in this magical form is part of the core value prop, it's really boring, and most people know how to fill out a form already.

A good demo should get to the meat of the problem, demonstrating the value prop very quickly. If you really do add value, questions will come up around the "whole product". But if you start with the "whole product" you could lose them before you got to the really interesting parts.

Later, if people ask you mundane questions, "How do I change the create a contact, or edit it", you can go back and show that just to satisfy them that it really is just that easy, and that they could do it.

The original post on Nate's site: http://innonate.com/demo/

Memorize the keyword/phrase in each sentence you want to say so that you will remember to make every point. Don't memorize the entire sentences or unless you're very good you will-sound-like-someone-reading-a-script