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your demo.

Learnings and quick wins from analyzing 1,000+ demos.

Don't say: Can you see my screen?

Say instead: You should be able to see my screen.

The best demos get interrupted more often.

Demos where the customer interrupts you 2+ times are 3x more likely to end with meaningful next steps.

Less than 1 interruption
12%
of demos end with meaningful next steps.
"Interesting. We'll discuss it internally."
2+ interruptions (avg. 2.4)
37%
of demos end with meaningful next steps.
Follow-up meeting, technical deep dive, stakeholder introduction.

3xmore likely to end with meaningful next steps

When they cut in, follow them

An interruption means they care. Drop your plan and follow it.

You

And next I will walk you through the approval workflow, step by step...

Customer

InterruptsHold on. Do you mean you can set this up without IT?

You

Yes. Is that a problem for you today?

Customer

Every request goes through IT. It takes two weeks.

You

Two weeks. Then let us stay right here. Let me show you the shortcut.

Ask this instead of "Does that make sense?"

Average customer response length in words, by the question you asked.

Does that make sense?Asked 1,312 times
1.2words
Sound good?Gets a one-word yes
1.7words
Any questions?The classic way to end a demo
2.3words
How does this compare to what you are doing today?Asked only 78 times · range 3 to 74 words
15.7words

Swap the weak question

Confirmation questions get a "yeah". Reality questions get information.

Instead ofAsk
Does that make sense?
→
How does this compare to what you do today?
Any questions so far?
→
When was the last time this happened?
Would this help your team?
→
How are you currently solving this?
Does this resonate?
→
Where does the process break down?

Stop asking about an imaginary future

Customers are polite in a demo. "Would you...?" gets you "Yeah, I could see that."

Would this save you time?
→
How long does this take your team right now?
Can you imagine the benefit here?
→
Where do you currently lose the most time?
Could you see yourself using this?
→
How are you solving this today?

Want longer answers? Use their name.

Same question, one small change: ask a specific person instead of the room.

Ask the room
How does this compare to what you are doing today?
15.7words
Ask a specific person
Ben, how does this compare to what you are doing today?
27words

+72%longer answers when the question has a name in it

A question to the room lets everyone wait for someone else. In a group call, pick the person closest to the process you just showed, not whoever speaks fastest.

The more you reference their situation, the more they participate.

Context Bridges are references to the customer's situation, challenges, goals or environment during the demo. The chart shows how much of the meeting the customer spoke, by number of bridges used.

16%
27%
38%
26%
0 bridgesThe demo runs on features. Little to no connection to their world.
1 to 2 bridgesSome references, but not consistently.
Sweet spot3 to 4 bridgesConsistent references that tie back to their world.
5+ bridgesToo many. The demo drifts back to presenting.

Context Bridges

Reference what the customer said earlier.

  • You shared earlier...
  • You mentioned that...
  • Based on what you said about...
  • If I understood correctly...
  • Going back to your point about...

Value Bridges

Then say why it matters to this buyer.

  • For your team, this means...
  • The impact for you is...
  • What changes operationally is...
  • This gives you the ability to...
  • Here is why that matters for you...

Your best minutes are the first ten.

People remember the beginning and the end of a meeting. Most demos spend the beginning on the company overview.

Poor demo
21min
Average demo
12min
Top demo
3min

Minutes before any product is shown. The dashed line marks minute 10.

Send it, do not present it

Put the company overview in the calendar invite as a PDF and keep it for the end if someone asks. If your customer remembers only one thing, lead with that.

Reset attention with your camera

Screen shared: passive
Camera on: conversation

After a workflow, stop sharing, ask your question and have the discussion, then go back to the product. After the second time, customers expect it.

Buying signals are almost always missed.

Most presenters listen just long enough to find a problem. The best listen long enough to understand it.

88%of demos where the customer shared a challenge, a cost or a frustration. The presenter moved on without exploring it.

What a buying signal sounds like

  • This is very manual right now.
  • It is quite complex.
  • The process is slow and error-prone.
  • Nobody has a complete overview.
  • We have to do this in three different systems.

Words like manual, complex, slow, error-prone and repetitive signal friction. Do not show the fix yet. Find out how big the problem is: a process that happens once a year is very different from one that happens daily.

Three ways to keep them talking

Mirroring

Repeat the last important word. Most customers keep explaining on their own.

CustomerIt is incredibly complex.YouComplex?

Labeling

Name the emotion. Customers feel heard and share more.

YouThat sounds frustrating.

Paraphrasing

Summarize what you heard. It confirms you understood and often uncovers more detail.

YouSo the challenge is not finding the information. It is that it is spread across three systems?

Scripts you can steal today.

Four moments where most demos go wrong, with words you can use as they are.

Rename your demo invite

Before the demo, in your calendar

Instead ofProduct TourPlatform OverviewEnd-to-End Demo
TryHow to reduce onboarding from 3 hours to 2 clicks (Live Demo)

The invite sets the tone. A generic title means people show up to sit back and watch. A specific one tells everyone, including whoever it gets forwarded to, what this is about and why they should care.

Open with the next-next step

First minute of the demo. The next-next step is what the customer does after this demo.

Thanks for joining today. The goal of this session is to show how you could reduce employee onboarding from several hours of manual work to a few clicks. At the end, we will take ten minutes to answer your questions and determine whether what you have seen aligns with your expectations. If it does, as we discussed, the next step would be a meeting with your Head of Operations.
Close with: Based on what you have seen today, does anything speak against moving forward with the next step we discussed?

Gives the demo a purpose, an end point and a next step before anyone has seen a feature.

No discovery? Open with hypotheses

When you did not get a proper discovery call

Companies in your space often struggle with one of three things: lack of visibility across teams, too much manual effort in approvals, or slow onboarding. Which of these is most relevant for you right now?

The customer reacts, ranks the problems and corrects you. Spend most of your time on the one they rank first.

"Can we configure this?"

When a question could turn into a long detour

  • Answer brieflyYes, that is fully configurable.
  • Clarify intentAre you asking because you have a specific workflow in mind?
  • Decide on depthI can give you the concept now and show the detailed setup later.
  • Connect backSince our focus today is onboarding, I will keep this high-level for now.

Longest observed answer to a question like this: 11 minutes. The customer had only asked if it was possible.

Where do poor, average and top demos land?

The numbers behind eight habits. The things to try for each one are in the swaps, scripts and checklist.

HabitPoorAverageTop
Time before the demo startsTop performers skip the company overview. 21 min 12 min 3 min
Time before the customer speaksThe earlier they talk, the more they stay in the conversation. 10 min 4 min <2 min
Customer talk ratioShare of the meeting where the customer is speaking. <15% 20-25% >30%
References to customer challengesEarlier, you mentioned..., times per demo. 0x 1.7x 4.5x
Next step defined before the demo endsPoor demos end with we'll discuss internally. 0% 29% 93%
Explicit value explanationsFor your team, this means..., times per demo. 0.3x 2.4x 8x
Filler words per sessionKind of, sort of, just. Record: 119 kind of in one demo. 58 20 12
Hedging phrases per sessionHopefully, maybe, I think. 4.5 3.4 0.9

What presenters say most often.

The filler words and hedging phrases that came up most, as a share of all found in the analyzed demos. Most presenters do not notice they say them.

Top filler words
20 per session in an average demo, 58 in a poor one
kind of
35%
just
22%
sort of
15%
basically
10%
actually
7%
literally
4%
really
3%
essentially
2%
Top hedging phrases
3.4 per session in an average demo, 4.5 in a poor one
I think
22%
it depends
20%
probably
15%
maybe
12%
hopefully
10%
potentially
8%
I believe
5%
should be able to
4%
might be able to
2%
I guess
2%
119times "kind of" in a single demo. The record.
1,312times "Does that make sense?" was asked, with a 1.2 word answer.
11 minThe longest answer to a customer question that only asked if something was possible.

Swap the hedge, sound confident

Small changes in your language, big impact on how confident you sound.

Instead ofTry
I thinkSounds uncertain. Undermines your confidence.
→
In my experienceShares perspective. Sounds grounded and credible.
ProbablyCreates doubt. Leaves the door open.
→
TypicallySets clear expectations. Sounds confident and common.
HopefullyPuts the outcome out of your control.
→
UsuallyConveys reliability. Builds trust and confidence.

The words you use in demos shape how your customers feel about you, your product and your solution. Choose your words. Lead the demo.

Say it shorter

Same meaning, fewer words. Every extra word is more for the customer to process.

Instead ofSay
This kind of helps automate the workflow.
→
This automates the workflow.
This is sort of where managers can see the status.
→
This is where managers see the status.
You can just create a report here.
→
You create a report here.
Hopefully this will help reduce manual effort.
→
This automates the approval process entirely.
I think this should work for your use case.
→
Based on what you shared, this is exactly what it was built for.
This next part is kind of complex.
→
Let me break this into three simple steps.

Your next demo: ten quick wins.

Tick what you will do. Start with two or three. They stack.

0 / 10ticked

Where do your demos land?

Every number on this page can be measured in your own demos. RoastMyDemo shows you where yours land.

Score my demo on RoastMyDemo

Based on 1,000+ software demos from RoastMyDemo and coaching sessions with 500+ Solution Engineers and sellers.

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