“Tell
them what you are going to tell them; tell them; then tell them what you just
told them…”
We
are often provided with this sage advice (for delivering any message, not just
for demos). Aristotle taught this idea over 2300 years ago – and people
are still trying to remember to follow his advice! Interestingly
(and perhaps a bit sadly) I rarely see people actually put this advice into
practice in demos.
Why?
I’m not sure, but most likely because we are rarely trained do it (other
than in Great Demo! Workshops, of course). Here’s what happens in typical
demos:
“Tell
them what you are going to tell them…”
This
is generally done as part of an agenda at the very beginning of a demo.
Very good, nice start. But if the demo lasts longer than 20 minutes
and/or has multiple segments, your audience won’t remember the overall
plan. Similarly, presenters generally don’t summarize at the close of a
segment (see below) or do anything to introduce the next segment – they just
dive right in.
Solution
#1: Return to your agenda at the end of each segment – have it available
as a PowerPoint slide, for example. Use it to remind you to summarize at
the end of the segment – then pause, to give time for the audience to take it
in and formulate any questions – before introducing the next segment.
Solution
#2: Remind yourself to introduce each segment at the beginning of each
segment. Many demonstrators ask, “Any questions so far?” when they have
completed a segment – simply remind yourself to follow this by doing the intro
for the next segment this (once any questions have been addressed). You
can use the “Any questions…?” inquiry as a trigger to prompt the
intro. Once you’ve done this a dozen times you’ll have formed a good habit
and you’ll continue to do these segment intros naturally.
“Tell
them…”
OK,
this is the easy one – this is what presenters do in their traditional
demos. The sad news is that most presenters never leave this mode!
“Tell
them what you just told them…”
As
noted above, most presenters simply move “seamlessly” from segment to
segment: “…And the next really cool thing I want to show you is…” (as the
mouse whizzes around the screen). This is called the “Run-on Demo” – and
there is a tendency for these to get worse and worse over time.
[Why? Each new release demands so much more to show, often in the
same amount of time, along with the tendency to “pre-answer” questions we’d
heard in previous sessions. The result? Much more talking about
features and functions, many fewer stops to summarize or take new
questions...]
Remembering
to summarize at the end of a demo segment is an act of personal discipline –
and it can be supported by the use of triggers (as above) as well as by help
from colleagues. We coach sales people to gently step in and “rescue”
their presales counterparts with periodic summaries.
For
example, at the end of a demo segment, our sales person interjects with, “John,
before you go on, let me do a brief summary of what you just covered…”
John, our presales person, is relieved – he now has a few moments to take a
breath, review where he is in the demo, and get ready for the next segment.
Very
elegant, very professional!
