Get Up!

Demo Presenters: You are not bound to your chair!

 

I watched a ninety-minute face-to-face demo, and the presenter never left his chair! 

 

Result? 

 

He missed many opportunities to engage the prospect and make the demo more memorable.

And it was painfully boring! Click talk click talk talk click talk click click talk talk… Zzzzzzz.

 

I’ve done the research, and I have yet to find seatbelts, straps, or other rigging that ties or bolts you to your chair in face-to-face demos. And sitting for a half an hour or longer in a chair is boring – both for you and your audience.

 

Solution?

 

Get up and go to the screen! 

 

Complete a demo pathway and then get up from your chair, move to the display screen, and point precisely at the desired software element as you communicate the capability and its value, or provide an interim summary.

 

Bonus Solution?

 

Get up and develop an idea on a whiteboard!

 

Moving to a whiteboard will engage your audience. As you poise your pen just off the surface, your audience is wondering, “What will they draw?”

 

And moving to a whiteboard, particularly away from your chair, will refresh both you and your audience! Yes, simply turning in their seats provides a simple, but surprisingly effective “refresh” of their attention.

 

Remember: The average adult human can only pay attention for about ten minutes. They need to be refreshed at least every ten minutes, or boredom sets in!

 

And here’s a wonderful example of another approach to refreshing your audience: using props and visual aids: https://greatdemo.com/a-refreshing-example-of-using-props-and-visual-aids-in-vision-reengineering/