Giving A Great Demo

Today I had a client ask me for advice on giving great product demonstrations. She wanted to know if her demos were effective and was looking for ways to improve. She's a smart executive for asking the question.
Product demonstrations are one of the most necessary communications tool for any tech company; software, hardware or online service. You've got to be able to show someone the goods in a way that is memorable, engaging and different than the competition.
In fact, I have seen many interviews completely undone by the lack of a good demo. No matter how great the market analysis might be, or the business strategy, if the product doesn't deliver most journalists will turn a deaf ear. And, the only way to present a killer product is through an even more-killer demo.
So, what are my tips? There are only five but to get them right will take a lot of preparation time and effort. A good demo will make all of these look incredibly easy and straightforward.
1. Start from the beginning and treat the demo as if you are telling a story. As any good story, the demo should have a distinct flow (beginning, middle, end), it needs to have a plot, it needs to have drama, and it should have a protagonist. Most often the product itself is the protagonist and becomes the "white knight" solving the dramatic problems that are set-up in the first few minutes of the demo. Remember, you, the demoer, are NOT the protagonist. The demo isn't about you. The demo is about your product and about the consumers who will benefit from your product.
2. Start by assuming nothing and consequently your demo will be very complete. Start with a blank sheet. Assume your audience knows absolutely nothing about your space, your product, your service. Because you are so close to the product, this is actually very difficult to do. But, too often, demoers leave out critical, elementary information because they make too many assumptions about the listeners knowledge level.
3. Weave in interesting research, data and factoids to support your claims and give credibility to the features and funcitonality. Again, this sounds simple but takes a ton of work. You need to gather all the research you can about your market, your users, your business and distill them down into those facts that best support your claims. Some of this research will be from industry research firms (such as Forrester, or Jupiter), other material you will find internally from your marketing and product development organizations. Make sure you vet everything: focus group results, user testing videos, customer service reports.
I learned the essence of this approach from Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit who is a master of building brand credibility through consumer data.
4. Use intestesting language to keep the listener engaged. Let's face it, the people you are showing your demo too have seen hundreds of them. You've got to go the extra distance to make your demo stand out and be memorable. You can't rely on tired technology buzz words or catch-phases. You've got to pepper the narrative with words and comments that the listener isn't expecting to hear. One way to do this is to speak through the voice of the customer. Talk to customers and listen to their stories and then use these stories as your own throughout the demo.
5. Know what makes your product different than the rest and focus on these attributes. The objective of any demo is to make your product stand out from the pack. Before putting together your demo, you've got to do a thorough competitive analysis that compares your product with all others in it's related "set". You need to be brutally honest on how your product stacks up and delineate your strong suits. These points of differentiation are what you want to focus on in your demo.
Well, that about does it. Five simple steps to a flawless demo. Now, get to work!

Tips from the Pros: Crisis Communications

Last Friday the Silicon Valley Public Relations Socitey of America hosted a crisis communications panel and discussion. The panelists represented communications pros from such blue-chip companies as Intel, Franklin Templeton, McKesson and Facebook. All of these folks have been through more than their fair share of tough PR situations and had plenty of tips to share with the audience. Here's a snapshot of what they recommend; common sense but still worth mentioning again.
1. Understand the news cycle. Chuck Mulloy from the Intel Global Communications Group commented several times about the need to understand and manage the news cycle. His point: know when NOT to elevate a crisis by commenting and potentially extending the news cycle into another round. Some stories will die a timely death if just left alone.
This sounds straightforward but can be a tricky call to make; if a story impacts consumers and if consumer activists are involved, do not expect the story to go away until those activists are satiated.
2. Educate your executives. It was recommended that this be an ongoing education process with all the leading executives at the company, helping them to understand the nature of a crisis and what would be expected of them in the face of a crisis. Several of the panelists described ongoing media awareness training offered internally to executives and managers.
3. Have a plan. All of the pros agreed that every firm should have a business continuity plan in-place so that in times of crisis there are pre-set guidelines to keep the business and communications flowing. These plans should be tested periodically and revised annually.
4. Know your people. As a PR pro, you need to know who does what internally and who knows what internally so you can quickly and effectively marshall resources as needed. This knowledge allows you to be responsive and prepared throughout the crisis.
5. Think globally. In today's world crisis are not contained to a specific geography; they quickly become global issues. Any plan, proactive or reactive, needs to take this into account.
6. Use technology to monitor the news. Brandee Barker of Facebook talked about how she and her staff routinely monitor, not just their own and other social media sites, but also Twitter, Digg, and the other leading edge "new media" services.
7. Remember always, be open and honest. The key to any crisis situation is maintaining the trust of your constituents. Communications need to be timely, open and honest.
Thanks PRSA Silicon Valley and all the panelists for such a valuable program.