iLighter won an award at DEMOfall 06 with this presentation:
Presentation coaching that will help you win awards or raise capital!
Archive for the ‘DEMO Conference’ Category
DEMOgod Award Winner: iLighter
Sunday, October 15th, 2006I give. You win.
Thursday, December 29th, 2005OK. I give. You win. I understand and appreciate that most of you reading this don’t have tons of extra money to hire a demo coach. I really do understand. But, you still need one, no matter how good you think you are.
So, instead of using my approach of tackling DEMO as a project, I am offering my demo coaching services ONLY on an hourly basis for DEMO this year.
Call me to discuss your needs and I will work within your budget. We can work together over the phone, in person, over the Web, using VOIP, or whatever means you have at your disposal. I am here and ready to help.
I can be reached at 1.510.579.8530 or email me. Good luck on your way to the stage and make it memorable.
DEMOgod Award Winner: Homestead
Monday, February 28th, 2005Homestead won an award at DEMO@15 with this presentation:
DEMO@15 Last Minute Hint To All Presenters
Friday, February 11th, 2005There are three days remaining before some of you will walk up on stage or to the microphone to give your best demo ever. I wish you luck and I will keep my fingers crossed that all goes as planned.
Speaking of planning…If you haven’t already planned for a breakdown in your demo, now is the time. I know I have said it before, but having a backup plan is so important in this venue because you only get one shot at your 6 minute or 1 minute demo. Once the clock starts, it will click down with no stopping.
So, please be sure that you have a back up plan and more importantly, practice the backup plan so that you won’t be flustered on stage. If your demo breaks, keep moving and don’t worry. The audience understands that it’s a pressure cooker situation. If your demo goes South, just take a moment, collect your thoughts, and keep going with your backup plan.
Unfortunately, I will not be attending this year due to another opportunity for my little business on the other side of the world. Things get pretty quiet for me right after DEMO and this opportunity will potentially keep me busy for many moons to come.
Break a leg, as they say in show business. I’ll be watching from afar.
Not this year
Wednesday, September 8th, 2004Sadly, I will not be attending the DEMOmobile 2004 conference this year. I am not very happy about that because it’s where I get to do my research and have new stories to tell and examples to draw from.
The good news is I am going to the CEDIA EXPO in Indianapolis. It’s quite different than DEMOmobile. This conference is all about home theaters and custom home installers. It’s the biggest show in the U.S. for home electronics and the creature comforts that go with having your own home theater. I’ll post some notes and photos just for the fun of it. I plan to take copious notes on every product demo I see.
So, if you are reading this as a presenting company at DEMOmobile 2004 (6-minute or 1-minute spot), I hope you have a peak experience in your life this week. If you are well prepared and worked hard at this demo, the results should be a story you tell for many years. Remember, if you have fun, if you are compelling, and if you are passionate while demoing your product, the audience will remember you for good reasons. Be sure and plan out the feelings you want the audience to have when you are finished. How they feel after your demo is the key to attracting people to you and your product.
Until next time…Demo with passion or don’t demo at all.
DEMOmobile Hint-To-Success #9
Wednesday, September 1st, 2004Aim and practice to finish in under 6-minutes.
During your rehearsals (and I hope you are serious about your rehearsals), if you aim to finish in 5:30, then you give yourself a little float time in case something doesn’t go as planned. You might even aim to finish in 5:15 to be safer. It is better to finish early than finish late.
Don’t even think of going over on your time whether you are on stage or giving a 1-minute mic spot. If you have to be escorted off of the stage or have the mic pulled from your face, you have lost any chance for an award. All the positive feelings you have created in the audience during your demo can turn negative in a heartbeat. Remember, finish in 6-minutes or less!
DEMOmobile Hint-To-Success #8
Tuesday, August 31st, 2004Music Maestro!
One of the best methods of motivating yourself is through music. Find one or two pieces of music that set you on fire so you can use them to instantly get you in the right frame of mind for your demo.
Personally, I use the Rocky theme song (from the original movie) anytime I need to get motivated. When the movie came out in the summer of 1976, I saw it 12 times in 5 days. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I actually watched the movie 3 times back-to-back on the first day. What can I say. It inspired me to know that I could have anything I really wanted in life if I wanted it bad enough like Rocky did, but am also willing to work at it too. The music and movie are so ingrained in my brain that I don’t even need my MP3 player anymore to listen to it.
Use your inspirational music as often as possible to get you motivated to do your best. Play the music just before you walk out on stage, in your head, of course. Go out on stage and have fun. Smile and look out over the bright lights at the audience who is anxiously awaiting your demo. Demo your product and get the audience excited and inspired to visit your booth. Give it your best shot and let your favorite music pave the way to a DEMOgod Award for you and your company.
DEMOmobile Hint-To-Success #7
Monday, August 30th, 2004People in the audience will make an unconscious judgment about you and your demo BEFORE you speak your first word. What you choose to do in the first 15-30 seconds will completely set the stage for the following 5-6 minutes of your demo.
Think about it for a moment. We all make “first impression” judgments of people and we usually do this before we hear them speak. We base our first impressions on what people are wearing, how they are standing, how they carry themselves, what’s going on with their facial expressions, how their hair is done, and so on and so on. So, what are you going to do to make a great first impression?
When thinking about what you will say and do in your demo, keep these study results in mind…
Dr. Albert Merhabian, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at UCLA, published a study in the early 70′s that is still valid and that people often quote today. Unfortunately, they usually quote it incorrectly. Let me explain:
He published a qualitative and quantitative study proving that people make judgments about you based on 3 aspects of communication. The 3 areas are the words you use, how you use your voice, and your body language. Actually, back in the day when this study was published, he called what we now call body language, facial expressions.
So, it turns out that the study showed that the words you use when you communicate make up a mere 7% of the total pie. Your voice accounts for 38% and your body language is 55%.
If you believe these numbers, and I certainly do, it clearly proves that it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Therefore, when you walk out on stage, you are communicating through your body language and facial expressions before you speak your first words.
Speaking of words, how you use your voice to say the words in your demo is crucial to keeping the audience interested and engaged. If you tend to be monotonous in your delivery, guess what? That’s how the audience will feel about your product. If you are excited and animated, the audience will be too. You have control over many aspects of your voice. You can control the volume, speed, tonality, and pitch. Play with different aspects of your voice to become more interesting to listen to. Have fun. Come out of your shell and use them to your advantage. Think of this demo as a short play. You are the main character and you have ultimate control over the character seen by the audience from the moment you take your first step onto the stage.
So, go out there and make this time count for you, your DEMOmobile team, and your company back home. Walk out there with confidence and poise. Use your body language and facial expressions to convey excitement and enthusiasm for your product. This is not the time to be conservative, reserved, or gentle in your approach. Make a BIG splash. Leave a lasting first impression by making the most of those first few seconds and let that first impression develop and carry you through your 6-minutes of fame.
DEMOmobile Hint-To-Success #6
Friday, August 27th, 2004Have one main message theme that can be effectively and passionately communicated in your demo.
Since you only have 6-minutes to demo your product, you need to make sure that your messaging is clear and concise. Otherwise, you will confuse the audience and the DEMOgod Award judges.
Here is the one of the most effective exercises you can do for yourself to get clear on your messaging for this conference:
Gather some people together from inside your company and from your PR firm, if you have one. Pose the following scenario. Then, ask each person to write down their answer BEFORE you have any open discussion. I guarantee the results will be shocking and eye opening.
Scenario: You are sitting at the lunch table with people from various non-presenting companies. Accidentally, you overhear one person say to the other, “Hey, I missed the demo from So-n-So. What did they show?”
Of course, your company is So-n-So and you can hardly wait to hear what they say to one another. So, the question for your team is what do you want that person to say to the other person? What’s the one thing that you want the audience to remember about your product and be able to articulate it?
You may have several messages you want to convey, but there needs to be ONE overall message that everyone in the audience will remember. When you zero in on the answer to this question, you will be more effective and focused when writing and fine tuning your script. Then, all you need to do is dig down deep for those creative sparks of genius and deliver a memorable and compelling demo that people will talk about for many years to come.
DEMOmobile Hint-To-Success #5
Thursday, August 26th, 2004Get to your demo in the first 10-15 seconds.
Don’t make the same mistake that many other demonstrators have made in the past. Do not stand up there and talk for one, two or three minutes before your demo actually starts. Some people make a gross error by replacing their PowerPoint slides with several minutes of lip flapping. Don’t tell the audience what they will be seeing. Show them.
You have been invited to the stage to demo your product, not give a speech. So, get to the demo as quickly as possible. I always coach people to have something moving on the big screen within the first 10-15 seconds unless you are showing the audience something in your hands or on a table.
Keep it moving and keep it exciting, especially if you want people to remember you with good feelings in mind.