Demos Done Right - Preparation

By this time in the series, hopefully, you have hosted at least one demonstration and made some small mistakes to learn from. Now, it is time to discuss preparing for a presentation. Given there are already four posts detailing other aspects of the actual demonstration, aren't we past the concept of preparedness? No! Before my days of consulting, I would spend hours preparing for demonstrations and trying to capture all possible questions into a clean script. As commented on in an earlier post, this was not a sustainable practice. There is merit in preparing for a presentation, no matter the size. The topic discussed in earlier posts I have found to be more important for a successful demonstration than any preparation step.

My first attempts at preparing for presentations were long and arduous tasks. I would attempt to capture all the details that I thought were remotely important. Sometimes that could be down to single pixels on the screen. As I was collecting this data I attempted to get in the head of the audience asking myself questions that I thought they would be asking me during the presentation. Thinking I would have a complete collection of all the answers to all the questions that could be asked. As you can imagine this could take over an hour to prepare for a single 15-minute demonstration. Eventually, this process could no longer be supported with my available work time, not to mention the feeling of failure as I could not anticipate all the questions the audience had. So my process had to change and the experimenting began. These years of experimenting with each aspect of a demonstration have led me to the following process while preparing for a presentation.

To start I collect all the components that could be presented during the session. During this step put some thought into how long this component will consume of the demonstration. With these 2 pieces of information, I then determine if I have enough content or too much content. Weeding out the demonstration components that do not rise to the level of importance for the allocated time.

With a rough idea of what will be shared, I then begin to sequence the demonstration components into an order that is logical from an end-user perspective. Staging demonstration components that are a part of the same workflow together and in the order the component fits into the workflow. This continues until all demonstration components are sequenced.

At this point in the preparation steps, there is enough information to do a quick dry run of the material. While executing the walk-through of demonstration components I continue to evaluate the length and sequence of each component, making adjustments as the dry run dictates. I will also begin to take notes about the demonstration and its components. Noting areas to highlight to the audience, bringing attention to components that were not important enough to be a main presentation and the audience member should take a look after the demonstration. In the instance that this is a reoccurring demonstration, there are select notes I will make to point out bug resolutions and feedback that audience members have provided in the past. Lastly, I will take a couple of notes that highlight the business value the component adds to the end product. This roots everyone back into what we are all here to do, provide business value. The next step is to go and show off some amazing work you (and possibly a team) have done.

While this preparation process may appear long and daunting, these changes have given me back hours of my days. As I became more experienced with this process, I began to learn what notes to take and how fast to dry-run the presentation. To bring that into context, for a 30-minute demonstration preparation takes about 10 minutes. Given how minimal the time commitment is to prepare for a demonstration, I tend to start preparing for a demonstration within an hour of the presentation starting, such that the material and notes are fresh in my head as I navigate my way through the content.

Next time you are preparing for a demonstation, consider a quick dry run of teh material. Sequencing the content into the workflows the end user follows and taking quick notes on areas to draw attention to as they are seen in the demonstration. Always noting the business value the changes bring to the product.