7 Ways to Make Online/Live Demos Successful
I like to deliver live (face-to-face) demonstrations of software. Being able to look into peoples eyes and read body language is extremely useful in a presentation or demo. I also enjoy online demonstrations because they don’t require travel and can be set up quickly and easily. But one thing I have never enjoyed is the concurrent live/online demonstration. Most of the time these employ some online presenting software like Webex or GotoMeeting as well as a speakerphone. Sometimes they only involve a speakerphone, which is arguably even worse. The problem with meetings like this is that they split your attention between the people in the room and the people who are remote. Most often the result is a poor presentation for both parties.
My first suggestion for these sorts of demos is don’t do them! If at all possible try to schedule separate meetings for the online and live versions of the demo. It may require a little extra time but if the prospect is willing it is worth the effort. But if you are forced to conduct a split demo, there are a few suggestions I can offer that might help it not turn into a train wreck.
- Find out exactly who will be remote and who will be live. Determine where you should direct which portions of your presentation based on the nature of the audience. For example if the technical people are on the phone and the business people are in the room, then you should focus your attention appropriately depending on your material.
- Find out where the decision-makers are located. If your live audience is just the folks from the local office and the remote group are the people who will regularly use and implement your software, then you need to find a way to really give that remote group what they are looking for. In instances like this it might be worth treating the demo as if it were entirely online.
- Don’t demo to the speakerphone. Nothing is more annoying than a presenter talking into the spreakerphone when there are people in the room. Make sure to position the speakerphone as close to the presenter as possible and as far away from the projector (or other noisy equipment) as you can.
- Pause often for questions. If you have a group on a speakerphone they may have burning questions that they are uncomfortable asking without being able to raise their hand. By pausing regularly you can make sure that any issues they have are addressed.
- Ask the remote group for feedback during any breaks. This may seem awkward, but I often see breaks as the most important time during a demo to do selling. By getting more casual comments from the prospect during a break you can redirect your material or speed of presentation based on what you hear. One way to approach this before a break is to say “We’re going to break in 3 minutes, but I have a question or two for those of you on the phone that I would like to ask at the start of the break”. What’s the best question to ask? How about, “What do you think so far?” followed by “Is there anything you saw from our competition that you would like to see addressed?”
- Don’t apologize for using visual aids. Just because remote audience members may not be able to see your white board and flip chart drawings does not mean you should avoid them entirely. If you are going to use visual aids, you should do so with commitment, and not focus much on whether the remote group “gets it” right away. You can offer to take photos of the visuals which you can send onto the remote group if they are interested.
- Do a dry run with the live/remote setup. Check out my post about why dry runs are so important.