10 Demos

Your final demo is a major highlight of the semester! It’s important to have a plan and a backup plan.

Create an elevator pitch: An elevator pitch is a short statement that anyone (including those outside of our field) may understand in approximately 30 seconds to 2 minutes. You want to describe your project and contributions in the short amount of time that you would spend on an elevator. The pitch should be engaging and exciting for someone to remember. Work with your team to create an elevator pitch. You’ll want to practice and rehearse it at least two dozen times.

Share your elevator pitch:

Plan your main points: Create an outline for your demo and the specific steps. For instance, start by creating a list of the main points that you want to highlight. After you complete your list, give a priority of each point using a scale of 1 to 5.

Create an outline of your demo: You will want to start with an introduction and end with conclusions. There is creative freedom for the steps in between the introduction and conclusions, but you want to thoroughly cover your system. Decide with your team if it makes sense to have the flow cover features for individual users sequentially or if you will weave this coverage throughout the presentation. A good outline will make it easier for the audience to understand the important contributions!

Record practice demos: Students often say that they are good at “winging” presentations. Yet, I have rarely witnessed this. You will want to practice your demo multiple times in advance. Create a script and edit it as you practice multiple iterations of your demo. After you have practiced several times, record your demo and watch the video. Continue to modify the demo after watching it. For instance, team members may need to better coordinate so that the presentation flows better during transitions. You may notice that you covered something too quickly, spoke too softly, or that you want to adjust the content. Once your demo is in a good state, record the demo so that it is available in case a problem occurs during your live demo.

Plan for the live demo: Use the following checklist before your demo:

• Dress professionally.
• Arrive early to set up.
• If you have props, set them up before your demo. You don’t want this to take away from your short demo time. For instance, if your software demo is for software at an ice cream stand, set up a mock ice cream stand. If your software demo is for an electronic restaurant, set up a mock table for the restaurant.
• Check the equipment and practice using it before your demo. For instance, if you will attach your laptop to a projector, make sure that everything works seamlessly before your demo. If you will use a microphone, test it ahead of time. You should feel confident about the setup before you begin your presentation.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm and maintain the attention of your audience.
• Stick to the script and transitions between team members. At this point, you have practice the demo many times with your team members. Be respectful of the plan so that all team members have their respective turns.
• Anticipate and practice answers to questions. If you demo your software to friends and family members, they may be able to help you to anticipate questions. Practice answering their questions. However, be flexible as you may still be surprised with questions that you didn’t anticipate!

Avoid common mistakes: There are common mistakes that we observe and hope that you will avoid.

• Avoid speaking when it is the turn of another team member. Sometimes a student will speak out of turn and take over the presentation instead of allowing their team members to have their planned moments to speak.
• Speak slowly. Some students speak quickly when they are nervous. Try to be aware if this happens to you and simply slow down. Stop and take a deep breath if needed.
• Stay calm if anything goes wrong and respond respectfully. Do not use profanity or act in an angry manner. Move forward with the demo and use the rest of your time wisely.
• Avoid dishonesty during the demo. If something doesn’t work or you don’t know the answer to a question, be honest. You may even want to say that it’s a good question and share information about what you would do to correct an issue if you had more time. Try to stay positive and avoid melting down.
• Don’t skip the creation of a backup demo video. There are many issues that may surprise students during demos. For instance, we have witnessed student teams experience problems with internet outages, quotas that went over limits, licenses that expire, and other issues that they didn’t anticipate. The video backup will help if your team if anything goes wrong!
• If you will present a slide deck during part of your demo, make sure that you number the slides for reference and keep it short. In this class, you should avoid more than 5 slides.
• Be sure to thank your audience for questions. Good questions mean that your audience is engaged! This is a great opportunity to connect with others and to grow.
• Bring index cards with key points in case you get nervous and need a reminder. The index cards should include key points at a high level. You don’t want to read directly from the index cards.
• Watch a clock or timer to stay on schedule.
• Do not blame team members for anything during the demo. If there is a problem with a team member, you may want to talk about this later. Your demo time is not the time for criticizing others.