7 Deadly Demo Sins

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Nate Westheimer

I see a lot of presentations. Every month at the NY Tech Meetup I see at least 7 or 8 presentations, in the other community events I attend I see more, and as a VC, first at Rose Tech Ventures and now at Flybridge Capital Partners, I see even more.

Last month, while I was attending another meetup, I saw almost every “demo sin” imaginable… so I took notes. Let me say, I’ve been guilty of most of these sins at one point or another. I present this list less to make fun of people, but more to remind everyone — including myself — what breaks an otherwise great demo. (Feel free to add to this list in the comments!)

  1. Powerpoint. Seriously, you have an web company. Need a few slides? No you don’t. Demo your effing product. Really, really, really need a few slides? Put them on a website somewhere. You’re an effing web company.
  2. Winging it. Oh you’re sooo comfortable with your product and that crowd, to you, that crowd was born naked — who needs to imagine them so?! Well, no matter how comfortable and confident you are, you should still practice and plan your demo. It’s not about your confidence, it’s about a good show for your audience. (Disclaimer: I am most guilty of this sin. Correcting this is my resolution of 2010.)
  3. Using your time on stage to try and save a buggy demo. Bugs happen. If you use your time well and explain what you do, roll with it because people trust you it works. If you spend 4 of your 5 minutes trying to “save” your demo, people don’t trust you actually know what to do in time of crisis.
  4. Out of all of your clients or content, demoing the scantily clad cheerleaders. That’s just lame. Maybe that was okay with your colleagues in the Mad Men era, but today we just think you’re a anachronistic asshole.
  5. Going over allotted time. There are two main reasons this is bad: 1) it pisses off the organizer, who is your best friend for putting you on stage; 2) it pisses off your fellow demoers, who are your potential evangelists and business partners.
  6. Turning down the opportunity to use a microphone because you think you have a loud enough voice. You don’t — and especially not to that person sitting anywhere but directly in front of you.
  7. Keeping video volume up while you’re talking about your product. Everyone knows video has sound in 2009. Nobody heard you say what your company does.
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  • abtfulmind
    The advice seems great. However, at some point, it starts to come across like the food critics on the iron chef; it's too crisp, over-cooked, and has no imagination, etc. The outlook and attitude becomes like the producers at a casting call, where the entrepreneurs are little more than wannabe broadway stars hoping for their big break. Unfortunately, the power asymmetry in today's VC/Start-up market lends itself to this development, but I am unconvinced that this is leading to any kind of healthy outcome.
  • As an entrepreneur, VC, and event host, I humbly disagree. If you are
    putting on a presentation, public or private, you are a showperson.
    It's your responsibilty o your audience, and especially the rest of
    your team, to do your company justice by being prepared an following
    the other advice above.
  • abtfulmind
    Thanks. But I'm not sure what you disagree with. I think presentations should be done well, too. What I am driving at is this: if the VC you are presenting to finds that you are, to use Mark's hypothetical, incapable of handling a company crisis because you have difficulty making a smooth transition from a web presentation to powerpoint, then do you want to have that VC on your board? Shouldn't you be terrified at the prospect of having someone who would draw such ridiculous conclusions get a vote on how your business is run? (and participating preferred stock, to boot?). I mean...really...what might be very useful is a commentary on what to avoid in a VC, yes? If the VC is so busy, for example, that they are forced into having the attention span of a gnat, shouldn't you avoid them until they are a little less busy?
  • rlwesty
    THis article has some good additions at the end (Some final "no-no's")

    http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/01/31/how-to-not-suck-at-a-group-presentation/
  • davehonig
    backup plan essential. Mifi a must! Couldnt agree with you more on PPT. The days of powerpoint slides are over. Show how your product works. Demo it..Wow your audience. We can all see Fluff within the first 30 seconds.
    @davehonig
  • I feel that I have a loud enough voice. What have we learned pitching?
  • Pitching generally doesnt require a mic, so you're good. But imagine if you tried to shout at TC50 or even NYTM... wouldn't have worked.
  • I'd add two...

    Avoid stunts - similar to your cheerleaders reference. Stunts in general just make people scratch their head and wonder what the joke is, instead of paying attention to your presentation. At AlwaysOn a few years ago a presenter pretended his laptop wasn't working and threw it on the floor. It took the audience the full five minutes to figure out it was a joke.

    And my biggest pet peave - vulgarity, vulger jokes, sexual references or dirty jokes. I've seen several presentations at places like AlwaysOn and various tech meetups and there's just no place for it. I mean grow up.
  • Great list Nate.
    After hosting the Chicago Tech Meetup last week (with almost 200 attendees) I do need to amend your first sin. I think that you must must must have a powerpoint...as a backup.

    We saw one of our most impressive demos last week almost fail because the web went down for a short and unexpected period. He quickly pulled up his .ppt and the demo lived on, victoriously!

    I agree, use the web where available, but have a back plan A, B, & C.
  • Good point on the backup plan. But having your own MiFi should be plan B, having a local version should be plan C, then the powerpoint should be plan D.
  • Indeed. Good call....
  • rlwesty
    Great idea.
    I'd add:

    0) Leaving out the value proposition (or business proposition or revenue model)
  • Great list. Emphasis on practicing and getting a smooth conversation type of pitch down helps everyone vs. a recorded presentation that doesn't allow for the flow of conversation and questions.
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