When building a demo around a specific feature or task, I start by doing it a few times and really understand how it works. From there I “cut the fat”- identify which steps to through quickly or skip altogether. An audience might give you their attention but YOU have to keep it.
I used to demo a product where one user completed a form and another reviewed it. NO ONE wants to watch you fill out a form.
To make the story flow I showed a slightly different version of the form in each step of the process, a strategy I’ve heard called a ‘cooking show demo’, which is a great way to explain it.
- Show the user opening the form and answering 1-2 questions (a new form each time but I answered it the same way)
- Show the form completed but not submitted (the same form each time but pretend to click submit)
- Show the submitted form (the same form each time but completed and submitted so they see the outcome)
Filling out a form or showing the 4th approval is a great way to lose your audience’s attention so always try to cut the fat!
