Several years ago, I was asked to present at the Imagine Cup Finals (a global student competition hosted by Microsoft) in my adopted hometown of Seattle. The topic? How to give a great demo. I really wasn't sure what to present as many people I know are better placed than me to talk about this topic - but thankfully a few weeks before the event I had the chance to give a demo to 16,000 people at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC 14) with Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella. I figured this was as good a learning as any to help me put together some thoughts on what it takes to give a great demo. I'm not saying the demo I gave *was* a great demo (though I think it went as well as any demo I've done at Microsoft) but it certainly gave me some immediate thoughts I could convert in to ten tips - because everyone likes a list right?
This is an adapted version of the presentation I gave.
1: Given my job title of Chief Storyteller, this one had to come first. For me, the essence to a good demo (or indeed a good talk/presentation) is to tell a story.
Take your audience on a journey - or at the very least tell some stories during the demo that bring things to life and keep people with you. As an example, during the Skype Translator demo at WPC14, I told a personal story that I think helped to set the stage for the demo people were about to see.
The real key to this is to put yourself in the mind of the audience and think about where they’re at and where you want to get them to. Often, they’re bored and they just want to be entertained - telling a story is one way to do that.
2: Unless you're Bill Gates (aka the demo god), things are going to go wrong. Some days those demo gods shine on you — and some days they crap on you. The important thing is to have a plan for what happens if things do go wrong. Ideally it's a real backup plan in the form of a second system you can switch over to. At WPC I had a colleague back stage going through the demo on a second setup in lockstep with me which meant if my system failed, I could switch over to his with only a few seconds delay. That kind of backup is expensive in terms of time and setup but for this event it was essential. At the very least, aim to have an backup device with you, a video of the working demo...something. Anything other than nothing.
Another part of any backup plan is to know what to say - how to handle a failure and let the audience know. Being silent and trying to fix things while mumbling under your breath "this worked last night" doesn't cut it. Saying "sorry, give me a minute or two to see if we can get this back..." is better.
It happens to everyone....even the best.
3: My point here came from real experience. Pretty early in my Microsoft career I had the chance to present to some big audiences - 500, 1000, 5000 people. For a demo newcomer this was somewhat daunting but I learned that an audience of 5 is WAY harder than an audience of 5000. Why? Simple, with an audience of 5 you have to engage everyone in the room - face to face, quite directly. Plus, they can generally stop you at any moment to ask you a question that you don't necessarily want to answer. Or they can simply interrupt your flow. With 500 that's tougher. With 5000 it’s virtually impossible.
Now, that's not to say you should avoid small audiences - they're essential to hone your technique of answering questions and building intimacy in your demo that will serve you just as well with 5000. My point is that you shouldn't *fear* a big audience.
Bonus Tip: With any audience of any size, ensure you that you know more about what you're about to demo or talk about than 99% of people in the room. If you don't., you probably shouldn't be up there. Audiences can smell impostors a mile away.
4: Timing is everything. If you have 20 minutes, use 20 minutes - no more, no less. If you have 5 minutes, take 5. Not 7, not 4, not 10. Keeping to time shows respect to your audience, other presenters who are following you and reassures people that you know what you’re talking about.
The only way to know how long you're going to take is to rehearse. Do this as much as you can in the environment where the actual demo will take place - you'll be surprised how much this helps. And be sure to factor in point #5 below...
5: Talking and doing a demo at the same time can be a tricky thing. Have you ever watched a presenter who is very chatty and then as soon as it comes time for the demo, goes silent as they focus on the demo itself? It’s awkward, right? Which is why sometimes it makes sense to have two people involved. One to narrate, the other to demo - though it takes some practice, and some rapport, to pull this off well. A demo that our delivered at Build 2017 shows this to good effect.
My point though is to rehearse what you're going to say as much as what you're going to show. For my demos, I have a Word document that is a 3 column table. Column 1 has the running time, column 2 has a screenshot of the demo section and column 3 the words associated with that part of the demo. This is fairly standard practice for Microsoft demos and really helps you synchronize what you'll say with what you'll show. If you can learn to demo and talk at the same time it'll make things shorter and smoother...but it takes practice!
6: This is somewhat related to #2, #4 and #5 as it's about being prepared. The point I made here is to not get so tied up in what you're demonstrating that you forget to talk to your audience - when you're 5 minutes in to your killer demo and you've not said a word, you've likely lost them. This is easier to do than you think and often happens when you have a particularly intricate demo or a code based demo that you really have to concentrate on.
Try to strike the balance between talking to your audience and doing the demo to keep them engaged. Silence during a demo is useful for only one thing - building anticipation. Outside of that, it's a black hole you don't want to be in and nor does your audience.
7: I learned this from one of my bosses during my first few years at Microsoft. Building rapport with your audience is vital. It may be a story, an anecdote, some humour - whatever it is, find a way to have a great opening that gets your audience on your side, rooting for you. My favourite example of this is Sir Ken Robinson and his incredible TED talk - it’s littered with humour and stories.
But please, don't make your opening a series of caveats or apologies for what they're about to see. They're there to be wowed by you - not to hear a series of confessions about how this isn't your demo or you were up all night preparing or you're not sure if it's going to work. If any of those things are true, you shouldn't be there and your audience doesn't want you to be. They want to be as excited as you are for what they're about to see. So get them on board as early as you can. A tip on where to start? See #1 - tell a story.
Another tip - have your opening line firmly in your mind, memorized. Don't try to memorize anything else as once you have the line out and your audience with you, everything else will come flooding back from rehearsal. (You did rehearse right?)
8: You've just delivered the demo of your life - to rapturous applause and Twitter is alight with your name. Now what? Have a great close. That can be as simple as "thank you" or something a little longer but be sure to leave the audience with something - maybe a link to a download, maybe a release date or a teaser on what more is to come. At it's simplest though, thank them for their attention, smile and walk off. One of my favourite demos is from Blaise Aguera y Arcas, also from TED. Watch how he uses pauses and gently thanks the audience.
Oh, and know where you're walking off to - you don't want the last memory to be of someone who didn't know where they were going :)
9: Demos can be nerve wracking, high wire, sleep deprived and crazy rides. I've had a few of all of them - the key is to try to have fun. It's hard but try to relax. I do this by walking around the venue during the build up, getting a sense and a feel for the audience. Watch what engages them, listen to other presenters or demonstrations and be able to refer to them during yours.
Drink water (and have water on stage to drink) and eat something light. My personal preference is not to talk to many people beforehand as they often like to give you input at the 11th hour - none of which is really helpful as you've rehearsed, you know your opening line and you're ready to rock. (You did rehearse right?)
Bonus tip - get a VERY good night's sleep the night before. That's not always possible but burning the midnight oil on a demo is not a recipe for success. If there are issues with the demo, better to get an early night and work in it in the morning with a clear head. Trust me, I learned this from experience one evening in Munich.
10: You shouldn't be in any doubt and I really only put this one in because of the fun I had with it at WPC14. I'd just bought a pair of orange sneakers and debated whether to wear black sneakers or these new, bright orange things on stage. I knew the Skype Translator demo that was the finale was very risky and could go horribly wrong. I decided if I were going to go down in flames alongside the CEO, I may as well do it in bright orange sneakers. It's become something of a lucky demo charm for me (and a great excuse for my growing sneaker collection).
That's it - I hope you find some of it useful.
Oh and here’s the demo from WPC14 below to see if it was flames or success.