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Beat the Demo Demons: 7 Simple Steps
April 15, 2009
How do you integrate all the elements of your demo: its physical components, your voice and body language, and your all-important audience? Here are seven steps to success.
By Jerry Weissman
When companies bet the farm on new products, their standard operating procedure is to throw an elaborate launch party for industry influencers and the press. These Big Tent events often are centered on a demonstration of the precious newborn product. As anyone who has ever attended or, more to the point, participated in these events knows, the Demo Demons can strike suddenly, smiting the demo with a software crash, hardware jam, power outage, blown lamp, dead battery, mouse malfunction, pop-up menu, sound system failure, or the blue screen of death.
Pure commonsense, anticipation, preparation, and redundant equipment will avoid or counteract most of the physical and logistical pitfalls, but there is still the vital matter of showmanship: How do you integrate all the elements of your demo: its physical components, your voice and body language, and your all-important audience? The Demo Demons may even give you a free pass and let you proceed without crashing, but you still have to make the demo go smoothly. After all, you are the surrogate for your audience; if you can't make your product work easily, how can they?
Here are seven simple steps to make your next demo a success.
1. Get out of the way. When the demo starts, you become subordinate to the demo and are no longer the focus of the presentation. Shift your position to the periphery, and make the demo the center of attention. Veteran actors get out of the way when children and dogs are involved. The demo in business is the equivalent of the cute kid or the adorable puppy on stage. Step aside and let your demo be the focus.
2. Become the voice-over narrator. Take a lesson from how the narratives are done in well-made documentaries. The narrator is unseen but tells a clear story. Be the VO for your demo, and make your narrative thorough. Don’t be vague. Don't ad lib. Be as precise as a synchronized soundtrack.
3. Say "you." The Internet abounds with references to a Yale University study of the most persuasive words in the English language in which "you" is at the top of the list—ahead of "love" and "money."
Most demos, in their effort to appeal to the broadest possible customer base, are impersonal tutorials that sound canned, and, therefore, detached from the audience. When you say "you," you involve your audience as if it is participating in the demo and, by implication, buying the product you are demonstrating.
Take a lesson from Dell Computer. In its recent advertising campaign to promote the customization of its products, its slogan was "We don't make technology for just anyone. We make it for only one. You." And then, to emphasize the message, Dell added a tag, "Purely you."
4. Make "Eye Connect"via the demo. In "The Power Presenter," you'll find a chapter and verse about the critical importance of eye contact—a trademarked term called Eye Connect. However, during the demo, everything changes. Don't try to engage with your audience’s eyes as you demonstrate. They are focused on the demo itself or on the screen, and not on you. If you turn to face them, they become conflicted about where to look. Take the same point of view as your audience. Look at your own demo or at the projection screen displaying your demo. Watch the demo evolve as if you were an end user.
5. Pause for action. Allow the demo to speak for itself, especially when there is a great deal happening in it. Pause at such points and allow the action to run its course. Silence is golden, and actions speak louder than words.
6. Use verbal navigation. Navigate your audience's eyes with your words. Direct their eyes by describing what is happening in the demo. Reference colors, objects, position, and direction. Reference top and bottom, center and sides. Reference left and right, too, but be sure you make it clear which left or right. Don’t force your audience to do the navigation. A simple fail-safe is to orient yourself with same point of view as your audience.
7. Learn Sullivan's Law. Sullivan's Law is a corollary of Murphy's Law, which reads, "Anything that can go wrong will." Sullivan's Law reads, "Murphy was an optimist." Develop a Plan B for what you will do and say if the Demo Demons strike.
Jerry Weissman is author of "The Power Presenter: Technique, Style, and Strategy from America's Top Speaking Coach" from John Wiley and Sons.
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