Claudio Sennhauser » Demo Skills

The Seven Deadly Sins of Software Demos

Claudio — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:01:10 +0000

Ideally, a software demo moves the sales cycle forward. Your aim, as a demonstrator, is to convey to your audience just how user-friendly your product is, while at the same time showing how it adds value to their business. Delivering your demo poorly, however, often leads to the opposite: it kills sales.

To help you avoid giving such bad demos, I have compiled a short list I call the Seven Deadly Sins of Software Demos:

1. Disregarding Time

Demos that start or finish late are guaranteed to leave a bad impression with your prospect. They signal your audience that you don’t respect their time and most people will associate this with you not caring about their business. Make sure you plan accordingly: arrive early at your demo venue to leave enough time to setup your equipment and keep an eye on the clock to ensure a timely finish of your demo. Finishing your demo before the allotted time has an added bonus: you will be able to engage your audience in a discussion that will allow you to better understand what parts of your product really will help your customer.

2. Saving the Best for Last

Too often, otherwise successful product demonstrators want to build up the excitement for their product. They show less useful functionality first, believing they should end the demo on a high note. However, what happens in practice is they begin to bore their audience and by the time they get to the high point of their demo, they may have lost the audience either mentally, because they drifted off into dreamland, or, even worse, physically, because they left the meeting early. Get to the heart of the matter immediately; no later than 1 minute into the demo. Show your best feature first and you are guaranteed to get the attention of your audience.

3. Being ill-prepared

This one goes without saying: if you don’t know your product in and out, your credibility will take a hit. If your audience asks how your product handles a specific task, and you have to search for it, your product will not look as user friendly as it actually may be. Along similar lines, if you don’t know your prospect’s business issues, they will sense this and not trust you to be in a position to solve their problems. Make sure you know your product like the inside of your pocket and have done adequate research about your prospect’s specific needs to demonstrate your product with competence.

4. Death by PowerPoint

Slideshows can be cool and do have their place in business. But not in a demo. When a prospect agrees to meet with you for a product demonstration, that’s typically what they want to see. They want to see your product in action and how it solves their most pressing issues. Avoid a lengthy introductory presentation about your company’s history, its revenues, and your management team. This only distracts from the real message: how your product will solve your customers specific needs. Focus on showing how your software will alleviate your prospect’s pain points.

5. Difficult to Understand

A presentation that shows feature after feature, has too many key messages for the audience to remember, and uses buzzwords is confusing and difficult to understand. Highlight benefits instead of features. Limit the number of key messages and repeat them throughout your presentation. Use simple language without buzzwords. Tell stories and use metaphors to get your point across.

6. Using a screen that’s too small for your audience

Nothing loses interest more quickly than if your audience can’t see the screen clearly. Use a projector that shows your screen in an adequate size, so your audience sees everything on the screen clearly, without having to squint their eyes. Use magnification to enlarge those areas you’re currently demonstrating. If you are using a MacBook for your software demo, there is a very nice zoom feature: Hold down the Control key, then drag two ﬁngers up your Mac’s trackpad.

7. Not getting any outside help during planning and preparation

As with anything in life, two or more brains are better than just one. Before you give your first demo in a real life environment, run through it with a peer, a family member, or contact me to get a third person’s honest feedback about the flow, messaging, and delivery style of your demo. Consider it a practice session with the aim to get valuable feedback that will make your demo even more effective. It can only increase the likelihood of your demo achieving what it is intended to do: move the sales cycle forward by demonstrating how your product solves your prospect’s issues in a user-friendly and natural way.

This Christmas Story Will Improve Your Next Demo

Claudio — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:03:12 +0000

Peter E. Cohan is the author of Great Demo!, one of the few books specifically written for product demonstrators. As of today, he is also the author of the first ever Christmas Story for product demonstrators:

‘Twas the Night Before The Big Demo
(with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore):

‘Twas the night ‘fore the demo and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, ‘cept my SC and his mouse;
I’d proposed a big licensing deal with great care
In hopes a big order soon would be there;

Management was restless and not in their beds
As visions of bonuses danced in their heads;
And my VP with his forecast and me with my own,
Had just started a long EOQ roam,

When out from my mobile there came a great ring-tone,
I sprang from my chair to answer my phone,
What could it be? Was it good news or no?
A last-minute order? A contract? PO?

Greetings, said my assistant, who spoke on the line,
It was someone to see me, offering help at this time!
Who could it be at this late eleventh-hour,
To make the deal sweet and avoid something sour?

Away to the door I flew in a flash,
And swept it open in my quest for fast cash,
When who to my wondering eyes should appear,
The DemoGuru! And standing so near!

He came in my office and, while dusting off snow,
Said, “I have some news that you’ll want to know.”

You will want to know too… So head over to Peter’s blog to read the rest of this entertaining story.

The Secret Ingredient in Memorable Demos: Storytelling

Claudio — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:36:20 +0000

Whenever you are introducing a new product or idea, you are proposing change. Change, however, is often met with skepticism.

You have to invoke strong mental images in your audience to which they can relate to in a good way, or otherwise your proposed change may not be perceived as positive change at all. Facts and figures may only get you so far here… But once an audience sees your message in a context that translates into a sensory experience, it will literally make sense. As a result, you are bound to get the necessary emotional response that will lead to action.

“People don’t really buy
your product, solution, or idea,
they buy the stories that are attached to it.”

Michael Margolis, author of Believe Me

So storytelling is important and stories can be useful in all aspects of communication, not just presentations and product demonstrations.

How to become a better storyteller in your presentations?

Actively Listen to Good Stories
You will find them everywhere… Great stories are what makes the world go around and they are found in large scale as well as on a very small scale. The key is to become a good storylistener. A listener who has a good ear for the words and ways in which a story is delivered. What is the plot? How are the characters described? How is the story chunked and sequenced? Those are all aspects that will make a difference in how a story is being received. Start to tune into those finer details in other people’s stories and your own storytelling will automatically improve.
Hang Out with Storytellers
The world wide web is a fabulous place for people of like minds to gather. Drop in to some of the places that cater specifically to storytellers. Places like the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Network, and the Society for Storytelling are great places to find inspiration and information to make you a better storyteller.
Join a local theater group
Great storytellers often have a theatrical way in which they deliver their stories. I’m not proposing you should present your next product demonstration in the ways of Othello. What joining a theater group will give you is a greater appreciation for the elements of your voice (volume, intonation, pitch, modulation) as well as the knowledge and skills to better use these elements.

Where to find your stories?

If you are in a large company, ask your co-workers to tell you the stories they know that relate to your business or industry. If you have access to the founder of the company, even better – ask him or her what made them so passionate to end up starting their company. Look out for those stories that people tell with passion, laughter, and enthusiasm.
If you are the founder of your own company, take a trip down memory lane. What were the stories that led to the company in the first place? I’m convinced there are many neglected stories worth telling in there…
Ask your customers and prospects about their issues. What are some of the stories around your field of activity that they are passionate about?
Look at any area of your business and then chunk up and chunk down. What do you see when you look at the bigger picture? What do you find in the details? Taking different perspectives will often lead you to discover some interesting facts just waiting to be told as a story.

The power of stories doesn’t end with the presentation or product demonstration. There is room for great stories at every step of the sales cycle. I worked for a few companies that provided high quality products that came with an appropriate price tag. As a result, I often had to deal with discussions about the price of our products. I never did it in a direct way. I rather told a story:

“Many years ago I attended an industry event where Jim Lovell was the keynote speaker. His presentation was excellent and the slides with photos from his space travels were stunning. During the Q & A session one of the audience members asked: “How did it feel to fly to the moon in a spaceship assembled with parts from lowest bidders?” Mr. Lovell, not sure if it was a humorous or simply a sarcastic question, answered with a smile on his face: “Sir, NASA never bought from vendors that had the lowest bids; NASA always bought from vendors who wanted to fly with us to the Moon.”

What stories are working well for you? Can you find even more to add real life context to your demos and presentations? I bet you can.

How to Make Your Online Demos a Success – 9 Tips

Claudio — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:37:07 +0000

The above presentation was created with Prezi – my favorite new slide show alternative.

Review: “Creating the Automatic YES” by Jonathan Altfeld

Claudio — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:44:51 +0000

Jonathan Altfeld is an internationally known trainer of communication skills. He recently released his latest creation, the 4-CD set “Creating the Automatic YES”. In this program, Jonathan teaches how to elicit and influence emotional states in elegant and natural ways. Although the program focuses on one-on-one communication, all of the skills and knowledge taught can be applied to product demonstrations and group presentations as well.

The program starts out with the two modules The Power of Context and People Only Take Action in Action States. The listener will quickly understand why emotional states in communication are key to getting a message across. The course then continues to educate the listener about the importance of emotional awareness in all of our communication — and especially in our persuasive communication.

Listen to this sample track from CD 1, Our Ability to Influence is Proportional to EQ. In it, you will hear Jonathan say: “Lead your audience to an Action State in a way that aligns with their values and beliefs.” With that sentence, Jonathan sums up what you will get from the program: the ability to elicit and influence emotional states in your audience.

“Creating the Automatic YES,” not surprisingly, is all about emotional states. You will learn how to lead someone from an Encounter State to an Action State — not in one big step, but through the chaining of smaller state changes in between. This is a skill that will set you apart from other presenters. Thinking about how your audience will feel when they watch your product demo will most certainly help you add great stories — and sequence them for maximum impact — when preparing your demo script.

Although I didn’t plan on it, I listened to the entire course in one sitting. It takes a little under four hours and the quality and logical order of information, bundled with Jonathan’s entertaining presentation style, makes this program seem shorter than it actually is.

For me, this program is a keeper! I recommend it to any product demonstrator as a secret weapon. Armed with it, you will be able to elicit and change the emotional states of your audience with elegance. I consider this the main ingredient that will lead to truly memorable demos. Here’s a link to Jonathan’s product page.

Learning the Language of Short Form…on Twitter

Claudio — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:40:33 +0000

This morning I came across the blog post “From Telegraph to Twitter: The Language of the Short Form“ by Roy Peter Clark, the author of the book ”Writing Tools” and producer of the hit podcast by the same name.

In his post, Clark writes about the impact Twitter has on language. As a late adopter, Clark just recently joined Twitter and in his article, he thoughtfully discusses the value Twitter offers to language, despite (or perhaps because of) its 140 character limit.

Clark’s main message is that

The brevity of an e-mail message, a blog post, a text message,
even a tweet, is no obstacle to powerful information,
a persuasive argument, a literary moment, a zinger, a joke.

This made me think of presentations and product demonstrations…and how they could benefit from this long known, but too often overlooked, understanding: less is often more.

Less slides, less words, less introduction… many presentations would see major improvements in their effectiveness. So how can you hone your Short Form Skills? One way is to join Roy Peter Clark on Twitter and become active on it. By regularly communicating in 140 characters or less, you’ll train your mind to constantly look for ways to be get your point across in a short and concise manner.

Praise for “Giving Memorable Product Demos”

Claudio — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:55:31 +0000

Did you know, the book Giving Memorable Product Demos, written by Nathan Gold and yours truly, is now available on Amazon.com? Although local Amazon stores do not carry the title, people abroad can order it on Amazon.com for worldwide delivery.

I am especially proud of the feedback we have received from our early readers. Here are a few of the kind words we were sent:

“Giving Memorable Product Demos is the difference between being forgotten and generating raving fans and profits through every word and action.”
Joel Bauer, Author and Infotainer

“The authors have given a career’s worth of memorable product demos and generously shared their expertise with hundreds of product pitchmen. This book captures all that experience in a concise, valuable, highly-useful text. Giving Memorable Product Demos is a Must Read for every product manager, no matter what your industry.”
Chris Shipley, Executive Producer, The DEMO Conferences

“ANY salesperson will profit from this wonderful book. It talks not only about Product Demos but how to put ideas and feelings in the head of the customer to make them want. Great job done Nathan and Claudio!”
Chris Mulzer, CEO kikidan media, Berlin

“In all things, your growth is limited by the quality of the experts you choose to learn from. To give powerful and compelling demos, you can do no better than learning from Sennhauser & Gold. This is it; this is the pinnacle. If you don’t want to leave your future demos to chance, get this book!”
Jonathan Altfeld, Trainer of targeted uses of NLP, & author of NLP & Hypnosis home-study programs such as “Finding Your Irresistible Voice” and “The Metaphor Machine.”

“Finally a book dedicated to the art of giving successful product demos. The advice given by the authors is right on and will make even the most seasoned presenter more effective while planning, preparing, and executing their demo.”
Kate Purmal, President, Kate Purmal Consulting

“If giving technological demos is important to your business, then ‘Giving Memorable Product Demos’ is a lifesaver. In it, Nathan and Claudio arm you with all the strategies you need to educate, entertain, and influence your audience, so that they’re excited to do business with you.”
Mark Levy, Founder of Levy Innovation LLC, and author or co-creator of four books, including “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to be Persuaded”

“This is a bible for all people who think they understand how to demo products. It shows you exactly how to KISS!”
J. Dennis Wolfe, Insurance Broker-Owner and Author

“Open this book and you’ll find that it’s much more than a primer for young entrepreneurs. It starts out with a simple idea: inventory and critique your presentation skills using a video camera in one continuous take. From that point on, Gold and Sennhauser show entrepreneurs and other presenters how to build and deliver effective live product demonstrations using basic and proven techniques.”
Jim Forbes, Executive Producer of the DEMO Conference

If you have read the book already, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below.

Giving Memorable Product Demos

Claudio — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:55:48 +0000

Some projects just take a while to finish. The book Giving Memorable Product Demos was one of those projects. The hard work and careful attention to detail was worth it though. I’m very proud of this book and tickled to see it now listed at Amazon.com.

Check it out. It’s a great gift for your friends!

Giving Memorable Product Demos – A Review by Jim Forbes

Claudio — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:18:26 +0000

Nathan Gold and I have co-authored the book Giving Memorable Product Demos, which will be available in print shortly. The first review is in and it’s flattering. Here is what Jim Forbes, Executive Producer of the DEMO Conference, said:

“Giving Memorable Product Demonstrations”,a new book penned by Nathan Gold and Claudio Sennhauser, provides the basics of how to quickly and effectively pitch any business or technology.

Open this book and you’ll find that it’s much more than a primer for young entrepreneurs. It starts out with a simple idea: inventory and critique your presentation skills using a video camera in one continuous take. From that point on, Gold and Sennhauser show entrepreneurs and other presenters how to build and deliver effective live product demonstrations using basic and proven techniques.
…
This book is a valuable resource to anyone who needs to deliver an effective memorable presentation that can be used for numerous categories of audiences.—Jim Forbes 06/15/2009

Thanks Jim!

Here’s the link to the full post by Jim.

Update:
And here is some more Praise for Giving Memorable Product Demos.