What Stand-Up Comedy Can Teach You About Giving Better Demos 🎤
Last week, I went to Europe’s biggest stand-up comedy show – 1Live Cologne Comedy XXL. It was a blast. One comedian, Marco Gianni, really stood out. I hadn’t heard of him before, but he told a story that cracked me up. And the funny part? The story itself wasn’t even that great. There wasn’t a […]
9 Simple Ways to Regain Your Audience’s Attention During Your Next Demo
You Can’t Sell to Your Customers If You Put Them to Sleep 😴 Your demo isn’t just about showing off your product’s features and hoping for the best. It’s about managing your audience’s attention, making sure they stay focused and don’t drift off to check Slack, email, or their phones. Here’s the thing: talking at […]
Small Tweaks, Big Gains: Improving Demo Conversion
When companies look to grow their sales, the default strategy often revolves around ramping up lead generation and increasing demo requests. It’s not uncommon to see businesses boosting their ad spend by 10x in pursuit of more prospects. But here’s a question worth asking: what’s the point of drawing in more prospects if your conversion […]
Storytelling for Software Demos: Creating a Clear Underlying Theme
Delivering a successful software demo isn’t just about showcasing features; it’s about telling a story that resonates with your audience. One of the most critical elements of that story is having a clear, underlying theme that ties everything together. Without a theme, your demo can feel disjointed, and your audience may struggle to remember the […]
Stop Measuring Demos by Features and Start Measuring Progress
What really gets me fired up is hearing feedback like this after a demo: „It went well, we covered all features.“„Great, I could respond to all their questions!“„They seemed really intrigued and asked a lot of questions.“ Hearing this makes me cringe. This is NOT how you measure demo success. It’s not about cramming as […]
Avoiding the Demo Rabbit Hole: How to Keep Your Demo Focused and Effective
I’ve seen it happen far too often: demos that start with great potential but quickly lose their way by diving too deep, too soon. Instead of focusing on the business value, some solution engineers get tangled up in complex features and technical details that overwhelm the prospect. The result? Distraction, confusion, and a flurry of […]
Why Tailored Demos Win Over Generic Presentations
I talk to a lot of presales and sales engineers about the challenges they face when presenting software to potential customers. The main issue that comes up? Not having enough customer insights. But here’s something I’ve noticed that’s equally problematic: delivering generic demos, even when we do have great discovery insights. Sure, sometimes we don’t […]
Managing Feature Requests in Demos Like a Pro
Feature requests during demos can be tricky. Picture this: you’re in the middle of presenting, and your prospect lights up with excitement and says, „Can your product do XYZ? That would be awesome!“ Sounds like a great buying signal, right? Not so fast. In my early days in sales and presales, I made the mistake […]
Storytelling for Software Demos
Relatability & Specificity Storytelling in demos is a game changer. When done right, it can boost how much your audience remembers by up to 70%. But here’s the thing: traditional storytelling techniques often don’t work well in software demos. They can drag out too long or miss the mark when it comes to your customer’s […]
Demo Preparation Checklist
No Show Up and Throw Up – Why Demos Need Clear Objectives We’ve all seen it happen – the “auto-pilot” demo. It’s the kind where you go through your product’s features, but there’s no real connection to the customer. No goal. No spark of excitement. You’re just clicking through, hoping something resonates. But, more often […]
