Compelling Product Presentations
A successful product presentation must be the 3C’s… Compelling, Clear and Credible. These are the presentations that are interesting and move our audience towards some important call-to-action. Here is how I create presentations in a deliberate way to achieve this. It’s useful to mention that many of the concepts I will mention are applicable to any type of presentation you are giving, not just product demos.
Demos Were My Day Job
In the early part of my career, I was an Applications (Sales) Engineer. My day job was to give technical product demonstrations. As my career moved into Product, giving product demos was still a part of the job. As an empathetic people pleaser, I naturally and continually refined my way of giving demos until I consistently got satisfying reactions from people. It was only later that I reflected on how I gave demos, to understand why they worked well. It’s those realizations I will share here.
I will describe the story arc I like to use for my product demos. By following this flow, your presentations will be both compelling and credible. Those are 2 of the 3C’s. “Clear” is the other. It is achieved more by your style of expression, rather than by content or approach. Make your content easy to consume with simple terms that everyone knows. Try to avoid unnecessarily complex terms and acronyms. Overly complex presentations can leave your audience feeling “dumb”. You want them to feel “smart” thanks to you. It’s this later result that creates a fantastic relationship for everyone moving forward.
Another very useful point to make is that your presentation’s goal is to compel, not educate. Ask yourself… at the end of your presentation, is it more important that they know how to install and use your solution, or be excited to buy it? It is so common for presentations to turn into tutorials. This is appropriate in some situations. Just be clear to yourself about your goals, and if a tutorial is the best way to achieve those goals.
The Story Arc
Here is a general flow that I like to use which strives to compel the audience to some desired call-to-action. Each major step tries to achieve something important in the story telling. As the presentation unfolds, the audience’s reactions will progress in this way:
Recognition of the relevance is immediate and obvious
Strong desire for the success this solution will provide
Can envision the path to this success
Your team and/or solution are credible
Here is Step 1
Recognition of the relevance is immediate and obvious
It would be ideal if at the start of your presentation, your audience immediately leaned in and listened more intensely. They will do this when they see the topic as relevant and important to them. So task 1 is to identify a topic that is both of those things. If you’re unsure what that is, then the right kind of conversation will help uncover this.
The start of our presentation should be a ToM (Top-of-Mind) frustration or important need. Finding something ToM is great because they will reflexively react without having to think. Frustrations are powerful because they represent an inability to accomplish something that is important to them.
Get to these important points very quickly. Sometimes my first sentence is something like… “Doesn’t it suck when [insert ToM frustration here]”. Obviously you want to choose phrasing that is appropriate for your audience.
Example: “Isn’t it frustrating when you get your credit card bill at the end of the month, and you once again went over your budget!”
Strong desire for the success this solution will provide
Then you want to show how your audience’s situation will be genuinely frustration free through the use of your solution. How it will help them accomplish that important goal.
Example: “Our solution proactively tells you how your monthly bill is looking, with each purchase you make. It takes the amount, timing, category and your current balance into account. You then get an instant and easy to understand recommendation on the purchase you are about to make. Allowing you to take action when it matters the most. And your CC bill is never a surprise at the end of the month.”
Can envision the path to this success
Describe how your audience would use your solution. Do this in a way that they see can really happen. Are the big steps reasonable to accomplish, simple, and all together look like they will get me to that happy place.
If they see the solution as being too complex for them, or they don’t have the other resources to use, the perceived usefulness of your solution will plummet.
Example: “After installing our app on your phone, use it to scan each of the credit cards you would like to track. Your bank will ask for confirmation of this connection, and our system will then do the rest. Every time you swipe your card to make a purchase, a recommendation image will appear on your phone which will suggest whether or not to proceed with the transaction.”
Your team and/or solution are credible
So the prospect can envision the plan to achieve a successful outcome. Now you want to ensure they see a partnership with you, or that use of our solution is key to getting them there.
There are a number of ways to establish credibility. Some include your team’s credentials, their relevant accomplishments, and endorsements by trusted and respected individuals and organizations.
Example: “Our team brings decades of experience from the banking and Internet security spaces. And our solution has been approved for use by 7 out of 10 major credit card companies.”
Here is Step 1
At this point, your prospect should be excited by the potential of your product. They are anxious to adopt it and begin using it. Make that first step obvious and easy. That is usually the step with the most inertia to overcome, and a small bit of guidance from you will get them rolling towards success.
Example: “To get started, go to www.starthere.com to create your account and link your first credit card.”
Summary
Using this framework to give a product demo or presentation can be a very compelling, clear and credible way to move your customers towards an important call-to-action.
This framework can also reveal to you and the team any shortcomings you collectively have. As a part of early product planning, use this framework to craft the best story you can tell about your solution. Are there product capabilities or team skills that don’t exist yet? This can be an excellent exercise to uncover new team priorities. Fill these gaps and you can eventually tell that genuine and amazing story.
