product demo presentation

Demo Presentation Template

Captivate your audience by delivering a professional product demonstration. Show customers or investors how your product or service will benefit them.

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About the Demo Presentation Template  

This Demo Presentation Template helps you get your flow of ideas across easily and professionally. With this template, you can show potential and existing customers what your product or service can do.

When you have a visual presentation showing how your product works, customers can better understand how it solves their pain points. Use a demo presentation to enhance your sales presentation and stimulate interest in your product.

What’s a demo presentation?

A demo presentation is a meeting between your business and a client (or potential client) in which you showcase and present a product or service. It typically includes a full run-down of the product’s key selling points, uses, target audience , and other relevant features. 

The aim of a product demo is to demonstrate your product’s selling power and hopefully win over the client in question with a deal. It’s all about showing your product in the best possible light and answering any questions the client may have. 

An amazing demo presentation should inform, enlighten, and excite your client. 

While it’s important to be vocal about your product’s highlights and potential, a big part of any product demonstration should include a fair degree of listening. The essence of a demo presentation is to bring life to your business’ product or service and inspire clients to take action. 

What should a demo presentation include?

Miro is the perfect online presentation creator . When putting together a demo presentation, the following several boxes need to be ticked: 

Excellent product/services knowledge

If you don’t know your product inside and out, clients will be able to tell, and they’ll be put off as a result. Make sure to conduct a thorough analysis of your product well before the presentation starts. You need to be able to clearly communicate the product’s attributes and confidently answer any questions.

Real-life examples and scenarios

Clients will gain a much stronger impression of your product if they feel they can apply it to their own lives or businesses. Providing real-life examples of how they can benefit from your product is a crucial aspect of any demo or prototype presentation.

Effective visual aids

Make it even easier for clients to fall in love with your product by providing effective, well-designed visual aids. From infographics and images to demo videos, visual aids can make your presentation more impactful and increase the client’s likelihood of conversion. 

When to use a demo presentation

A demo presentation is helpful for connecting with clients. Just about every product and service can benefit from a strong presentation, such as: 

A sprint demo presentation. Within the Scrum framework , a demo presentation comes at the end of a sprint. Sprint demos are needed to showcase progress and project status to stakeholders who are invested in the outcome.

An app demo presentation. This type of presentation is especially useful if you’re trying to find investors for the development of an app. It sheds light on the potential app’s revenue and social impact.

A prototype presentation. A prototype presentation is also useful for gaining support from investors for a still-developing product. By presenting a prototype, you can summarize the problems your product is trying to solve and improve investors’ overall understanding of your product.

How to use the Demo Presentation Template  

If you’ve never created a demo presentation before, using a template can be tremendously helpful. Follow these simple instructions to make the most out of Miro’s Demo Presentation Template: 

Step 1: Fill in your template

You’ll need to fill in your template with information for each slide. You might include the following information in your slide deck:

the product’s identity

the target market

the revenue potential

key selling points 

potential risks along the way 

Step 2: Edit and customize 

Whether you’re creating an app demo or prototype presentation, this customizable template can suit your needs. Edit, refine, and polish the order, layout, visuals, and structure of your Demo Presentation Template to suit your business and what it offers. 

Step 3: Brainstorm ideas and collaborate

With Miro’s presentation mode , you can preview your entire presentation as a team. With an easy-to-navigate structure and flexible framework, your demo presentation plan can evolve and be improved with ease. When you’re ready for your final presentation, simply select this mode and use the forward and back arrows to move smoothly through your presentation.

Tips for a great demo presentation

Whether you’re delivering a sprint demo presentation, an app demo presentation, or a prototype presentation, here are a few helpful tips to bear in mind: 

Know your product well. Uncertainty and lack of knowledge aren’t going to win over clients. You want to demonstrate confidence, diligence, and professionalism. Make sure to do your research well and have answers prepped for questions you might be asked.

Have a clear intro, middle, and conclusion. Using a storyteller structure in your presentation can make it more digestible to clients. Use visuals and clear communication to break down your product’s features into distinctive, cohesive sections.

Listen well. Even though this presentation is about your product, it’s important to leave some room for others to speak. This will make the presentation more conversational and allow clients to flesh out your product from their perspectives.

Don’t be distracted. When delivering a professional demo presentation, you want to emulate reliability, uniformity, and expertise. Maintain strong eye contact and stay focused on the presentation’s goals. Make sure your connection is strong, especially if the presentation is virtual .

How do you start a demo presentation?

Your demo presentation should start with a brief description of its agenda. Then, dive into your intro, work your way into the main points, and end with a conclusion or call to action. An open Q&A session can be held at the end.

How do you prepare for a demo?

Prepare for your demo with lots of research on your product/service and the clients you will be presenting it to. The more you know about these things, the more influential your presentation will be.

What makes a good demo presentation?

An effective demo presentation should include relevant and accurate information about your product. The presenter should have great communication skills and use strong visual aids. Your demo presentation should have a clear structure and logical flow — which you can get using this Demo Presentation Template.

Get started with this template right now.

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How To Prepare a Great Software Demo Presentation in 2024 [With Demo Scripts]

Last week we were at a friend's place for dinner when our friend's 10-year-old daughter appeared from the kitchen wearing her chef's hat and holding a pan with some delicious-looking pudding. She announced, "Look what I have whipped up for you all." And at once, we're all curious! 

Almost all of us asked in unison, "What is it?" She smiled and said, "Why don't you try it yourself?" We all took a spoon and tasted that yummy caramel pudding she had baked for us!

That's what a demo presenter is an expert in —-- to create a great demo experience for their potential client. 

In fact, the famous Pepsi Challenge campaign gained its popularity because the brand asked the same question to its audience. 

In the 1970s, Pepsi grew tired of being the second best to Coca Cola which dominated the soft drink industry at that time. To create a stir, Pepsi took to the shopping malls in America and asked the customers: Why don't you try it yourself? Shoppers were encouraged to taste both Colas, and Pepsi was preferred. The Pepsi Challenge became popular and has been in Pepsi's ongoing marketing campaign for years. 

Software companies can create a similar buzz with their product demos. This article will discuss the different aspects of a great software demo presentation. Plus, there are some free script templates for those who can hang around till the end. 😉 

What is a Software Demo Presentation?

A software demo or demonstration is a visual walkthrough of the software. Sales reps, solution engineers, and AEs heavily depend on product demos to show the product in action to their customers to engage, attract, and persuade them. A software product demonstration includes a complete rundown of its features, selling points, and how it solves the customers' pain points. 

The Anatomy of an Effective Software Demo Presentation

Now that we know what a software demo is, let’s understand the key ingredients of a software demo presentation. 

An Interesting Opening

Start your demo with something that sparks the viewer’s interest. It might be a fun welcome message, an interesting stat tying to their pain point, a success story of one of your customers with a similar problem, an image, or a video. 

Relevance to Audience and Their Problem

Before you start creating a software demo, understand the purpose of your demo. If the purpose of the demo is to solve a customer problem, understand the problem you're trying to solve. Once this is created, you can better focus on your demo. 

A Narrative that Ties Back to the Pain Point

Once you have gathered all the information, map the painpoints with your product features and how they ease your prospect’s painpoint. To maintain viewer engagement with your demo, don't just focus on guiding them through your product. Create a compelling narrative that ties back to the pain points. 

A Strong Demo Script

To build an effective software demo, you need a strong demo script where you can weave in a storyline that engages the customer. For example, a story that starts with a problem and then tells the solution and the product's benefits works best for a demo script.  

Product in Action

Of course, people want to see how your product works, but they also want to see and understand the step-by-step process of which button to click and how to make the most use of each feature button. So pay attention to breaking down the process in a small step-by-step guide. 

Engaging Visuals

Don't make your demo presentation too boring. Add visual elements like attractive title screens, icons, characters, and transitions to make the demo appealing. 

A Clear Call to Action

Your demo presentation should be tied back to the purpose of your demo creation through a strong call to action or CTA. For example, if your purpose is to drive more sign-ups for a free trial, your CTA should say, "Sign up and enjoy a free trial”!  

Track Engagement

Examine the analytics like when the demo was viewed, which screen had the longest and shortest view time, who all have viewed the demo, etc., so your sales team can follow up with the prospect. 

Secondary CTA

Some viewers might not reach the end of the demo. Encourage them to take action by placing a secondary CTA in the middle of the demo. 

What Not To Include in a Software Demo 

No matter how great your software is, if it's not presented well, it will fail to pique the interest of the decision-makers. In this section, you will learn where most sales reps go wrong so that you can learn from their mistakes.  

Curse of Knowledge - The Cognitive Bias

Most demo presenters don't visually emphasize the mouse pointer on the screen and help us see what they're doing on the screen. This happens from the curse of knowledge or cognitive bias that arises when you have used any tool for a considerable period. As a result, the sales rep assumes the software is easy for everyone unless someone points it out. 

How to solve it: Make sure to zoom in on where you're clicking so that everyone can see what you're doing. Highlight and mark important areas in the software so that everyone can see and understand easily. Zoomit.exe is a free tool that you can use for zooming and highlighting. 

Overloading with Features

Your prospective client doesn't want to listen to all the features of your product and how incredible they are. They are only interested in how those features can solve their problem.  

How to solve it: Highlight the features that will be useful for them. Remember to prioritize value over functionality. 

Sticking to the Script

It's always advisable to create a demo script and prepare and rehearse well before going for a demo presentation. But it may look awkward if the prospect asks you any question in between, but you draw a blank simply because it’s not in your script.

How to solve it: Learn to be flexible in using the script. For example, if the prospect is asking some questions, pause and take a moment to respond to the question. 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Software Demo Presentation

While you need to think and act quickly on the field while presenting a demo, it’s always helpful to think ahead and structure your demo to keep it under your control. It helps you stay prepared, feel confident, and have a structured flow to your demo presentation. 

Introduce Yourself

The main purpose of introducing yourself is to warm up with the prospect. Once you introduce yourself, give a brief context to your demo. Here’s an example as shared by  Alexander Mackinlay of Qobra: 

“I had planned 45 mins for our meeting today. Is that still okay for you? Do you have a hard stop afterward? What I had in mind for us today:

•  We'll start with a recap of what we discussed last time so that we can readjust if anything has changed.
•  Prospect X and Y *(who were not there at the first meeting)*, this recap will enable you to add your own points of view and to let me know what you are individually expecting from this meeting.
•  I have listed a number of questions I would like to ask you;
•  Then we can move on to the demo;
•  We'll need to keep 20 minutes at the end, where I'd like you to be in a position where 1) either you tell me that you want to move forward with us and we plan a potential next step, 2) you'd prefer that we stop our conversations there.

How does this agenda sound to you?”

Ending the introduction with a question always opens up room for initiating a conversation!

Tie Back the Product Features as the Solution to Their Problem

As we mentioned earlier, don’t stuff your demo with all the features and every little detail your tool has. Instead, focus on the prospect’s pain point and tie back the features as the solution to those pain points. Here’s an example as shared by Gong .  

You: As we discussed last week, it seems that (problem) is one of your major concerns at the moment. Is that right?

Prospect: Yes, that’s right.

You: Great, let’s dive in and allow me to show you how our product can solve your problem. 

Create a WOW Moment

Create a WOW moment that will compel the prospect to remember you and your product. It’s the time for the showmanship and you don't tell but show it to your prospect.

Using an interactive product demo is a great way to create this WOW moment sooner because it lets the prospect try out the tool themselves in a sandbox environment without the intervention of a salesperson.

Here's how Semrush uses Storylane's interactive product tours to showcase their platform👇

Also Read: How Horizon Education eliminated manual sandboxes for product trials with Storylane

Here’s a sample script:

‍ “Now let me show you how you can send emails to your entire email list by clicking this one button.”   

Encourage Them to Ask Questions

Prospects who’re more engaged are more likely to buy. Encourage them to ask questions to ensure they’re still engaged with your demo. Here’s how Gong suggests doing it.  

“I’ll pause here for you to ask questions, if any, before we move on to the next step. 

Is this something you’ll use for [the prospect’s problem]

How do you see you and your team using this tool?”

Next Step and Close

Reiterate the message at the end of the demo presentation and close it with a CTA or the next step. Do you want the prospect to sign up a form, schedule a follow-up meeting, or move into the final stage of signing the deal? Whatever may be your next step, add it to your demo script and communicate it clearly before ending the presentation. Here’s a sample:

"How does this compare to your current process?"

"You previously mentioned one of the things you are looking to solve is X. I just showed you how our platform solves that. On a scale of 1-10, how well do you feel we address your issue?"

Keep the question open-ended and be specific. That will encourage the prospect to speak. Avoid questions like “Do you have any questions?” which will mostly lead to a no, in most cases, especially if the prospect has already lost interest in the product. 

3 Software Demo Presentation Templates

 DEMO START

Recap customer's issues and ask to validate again. Then ask if things have changed or if we missed anything last time. Ask those who were not there prior to this meeting for their challenges and expectations for this meeting. Ask all questions you might need answers to before starting the demo.

DEMO SCRIPT

During the demo, ask validating questions after each feature presentation. 

For example, if the prospect says, “My current pain point is X,” your script should say, “Based on X pain that you mentioned, this is how the feature Y solves it.”

Here’s another example. 

If the customer says, “I’m concerned about data security,” your script should say, 

“Y is a SaaS Cloud-based platform with SOC2 certification. This means that your data is very secure.”

CLOSING THE DEMO

At the end of the demo, don't say, "Do you have any questions?" which will only lead to a "No, that's okay.” Prospects who lose interest during your demo won’t usually tell you what they think unless you ask them. Add a personal touch. You’d better say:

“What about this is most interesting to you?”

“How do you see this helping with [challenge or goal they shared during discovery?”

“Was there anything you were hoping to see on this call that you didn’t?”

“Was there anything you saw on this call that didn't meet your expectations?”

If everything goes as planned, these questions above should then naturally take your prospect to set up the next step around pricing and ROI with decision-makers.

- As shared by Alexander Mackinlay , Qobra

While scripting for a product demo, one of the most important things to highlight in the product demo is what is in store for the end user in the form of a value proposition. Missing the focus on the key benefits and only explaining the features is the biggest demo mistake one does in a product demo. 

The script should be organized in this sequence 

• Pain points your solution solve
• How that problem is solved
• What is the value added to the customer? 

Here’s a sample script template

‍ “In our last meeting, you mentioned how vendor management is one of your biggest concerns at the moment. Our product just solves that! We have built an integrated solution that [ tell how it solves the problem].

 One of our customers has been able to streamline their vendor management by [incorporate the result they have achieved here] and you can do the same”

- As shared by Disha Thakkar, PMM Expert

The first thing to understand is that a software demo is just an opportunity to understand prospects better and show how your software solves their challenges.

The actual software and its functionality - things everyone wants to show is irrelevant. No one can really follow someone quickly jumping from screen to screen demonstrating features (that can't sell) and any questions come only from some past experience with other software.

When you carry on a conversation based on features, it's hard to sell. So here is a sales-oriented software demo scenario below. 

💡Note: You have to insist on more decision makers to be present on the very first demo because usually different people in business have very different ideas about their needs and you can win by catering for different needs.

1/ Ask questions and be inquisitive to understand what is the problem they want to solve.

2/ Ask what they see as a perfect solution

3/ Ask what software they are using currently (used in the past) to achieve that

4/ Ask what is not working or is annoying (chances are that your software does it as well, but at least you know what the person dislikes before showing proudly what your solution can do - you can annoy them that way too)

5/ Only then jump into screen sharing and this is where you have to be innovative and do a demo from the perspective of a solution this person is seeking. It's important to understand that whatever is cool about your software is only interesting from the perspective of solving their challenge and nothing else. Therefore showing features that they don't ask for is nice ... but is not a reason why they will buy. Why? Because your wonderful features often sound as "too good to be true".

6/ You have to show enough that they "buy" the idea and express their feeling that that's what they need. Do not proceed to discuss the pricing until you reach this point in the conversation.

7/ When there are no more questions they have and you answered them all, I recommend asking “if it's OK to talk about money now.”

After a positive response provide a clear, easy-to-follow pricing structure and ask how they wish to proceed. 

If you did 1-6 right at this point any objections are about price and it's hard to object because they just stated they are happy and interested. Then there are special techniques to handle price objections.

- As shared by  Assia Salikhova , Managing Director, Smarketing Lab Limited, author of "7 Keys to Successful Cold Calling" course.

Top 5 Tips to Keep in Mind While Creating a Software Demo Presentation

1. know who you’re presenting to.

Are you presenting to an employee (who's perhaps going to use your tool) or a decision-maker in the company? 

Research and do your homework to learn as much as possible about the person. 

What are their pain points? 

What kind of solution they're looking for? 

Knowing the finer details can help you stay prepared for all meeting scenarios. 

For example, if the person is reserved, you need to prompt them with questions to initiate a conversation. If you get to know the person will ask many questions, come prepared with answers and customer stories to back them up. If the person is a multitasker and attending the demo while working on the phone or laptop, grab their attention by making a bold statement or humor that can grab their attention. 

2. Prepare a Script and Practice

Always prepare a demo script, especially how you will deliver the humor, punch lines, or Twittable sound bites ( a short sentence or phrase in audio or video format that can be Twitted to give an essence of your message) that can grab the audience's attention. 

Once your script is ready, practice and rehearse until you're comfortable delivering the demo. You can practice in front of a peer or a family member. Or, if no one is available, record your demo speech and review the flow by hearing the recording. While you don't need to memorize the whole script, you should know in detail each of the points and be able to speak in a conversational tone. 

3. Support Your Claims with Use Cases

If you have solved a similar problem in the past, begin your demo with the same problem and how your product overcame that problem. Emphasize how the prospect can too achieve a similar outcome. Supporting your claims with a use case makes a strong case for you, and the prospect can better relate to your product. 

4. Customize Your Demo

Not all audiences are the same, so you need to customize your demo accordingly. For example, if you demo a CEO, your demo should be customized with relatable use cases. Highlight the features that will be most relevant to the prospect. 

5. Follow Up

Don't assume they will remember everything once the demo is done. A good practice is to follow up with a thank you note. Share a link to the automated demo so they can see it again internally, share relevant documents and brochures, and give them an actionable next step. 

Elevating Your Software Demo Presentation with Storylane

Storylane is an interactive product demo software that lets you create effective demo presentations. The platform has some advanced features like analytics, personalization tokens, unlimited sharing, auto update of the demo when there is a new release, integration with CRM and Slack and many more. 

Do you know that G2 has recently recognized Storylane as the Demo Automation category leader? Book a demo today to empower your sales teams to perform better.

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—CHRIS LANCASTER, SUPPLY CHAIN PROJECT

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How to Prepare a Product Demo: Checklist for Flawless Presentations

You don’t need to be a perfect salesperson to deliver a great product demonstration. Expertise, research, planning, and practice can prove far more useful than excellent presentation skills. (Of course, those skills don’t hurt either.)

With a comprehensive plan, you can make a great product demo with anyone and for any organization. The following product demo checklist will walk you through everything you need to build a great demo.

Understand Your Audience

The foundation of any successful virtual event is understanding your audience. That necessitates in-depth research into your target market to learn who your product serves, the struggles they face, and topics of interest to them so you can tailor your product demo accordingly. You can employ a few tactics to uncover this critical information. 

Research Prospects

• Most product demos possess basic requirements similar to those of job interviews. The companies and people you present to expect you to understand their needs, specific pain points, and how your product can accommodate both.

Your product can have any number of excellent features and great functionality. But you need to match the solutions it offers with the prospect’s unique needs to build the groundwork for a successful product demo.

Focus on pain points and the step-by-step explanation of how your offering can fix them.

Read more: Solutions for sales teams

Screen in Advance

Email marketing before the demo is crucial for ensuring a high attendance rate. But it’s also an opportunity for research. Take advantage of this time to ask your event registrants about:

• Their backgrounds
• Their current roles
• Their most important pain points
• What tools they currently use

Then, use that information to mold your demo experience and wow your attendees.

After a succession of happy clients, you can also feature case studies. If you already have the information you need, start fine-tuning your product demo script. Client success stories should be engaging and present the story through the eyes of customers whom your attendees can relate to.

Capitalize on built-in virtual event features like polls or post-event surveys to collect honest opinions from attendees about where your demo excelled and where it fell short.

Define Your Objectives

Key performance indicators (KPIs) measure the success of a product demonstration but you also need to monitor other metrics to determine how well your demos align with customers’ goals and needs.

KPIs are important benchmarks for decision-makers, and you should design each demo to reach them.

The most important KPIs are conversion rate and profits. You need to gain qualified leads and transform them into customers as well as ensure your expenses don’t exceed your revenues.

Additionally, there are many more KPIs to set for the product demo experience, like engagement metrics. An interactive demonstration will have a greater impact on those attending than a passive one.

Need a starting point? Check out Demio’s built-in engagement metrics for its engagement features .

Other Success Metrics

The other part of the equation is tailoring the demo environment to the audience. This requires researching your target segment (like we discussed earlier). However, virtual event platforms and their email marketing integrations enable you to collect post-demo data to craft better experiences with ease.

Q&A sessions and post-event surveys included in your virtual event software are the primary methods of gathering this information. Ask general questions about attendees’ interests as well as satisfaction scores and other quantifiable feedback.

Prepare Your Agenda

Background research and defined objectives are the foundation of a winning agenda.

Product Demo Structure & Script

Craft an engaging narrative that highlights your product value and functionality. Use that narrative to build your script with the following structure:

Start with a compelling and relatable hook in the introduction. This is the moment you capture your audience’s attention and hint at the value proposition you’re offering.

Incorporate elements of storytelling element. Focus the hook on a real-life problem your company and product can solve.

2) Context & Background

Briefly introduce your team members, company, and background. Then, move into a short description of the product and tie it to your hook.

Provide testimonials and statistics that highlight your product’s value. You can connect it to industry trends and statistics, if relevant; the goal is to show your audience how your product is valuable.

3) Features & Functionality

Next, highlight your product’s most important features. Stay laser-focused on solving customer problems and thus alleviating their pain points. Explain how those features benefit the user’s workflow and resolve their most pressing challenges.

4) Integrations (if any)

Show off how your product can integrate (if applicable) with other products, tools, and software solutions. Emphasize any particularly effective partnerships or how your product can otherwise cooperate with other products for enhanced effectiveness.

5) Use Cases

Case studies, testimonials, and other “before and after” presentations that show your product in use are powerful social proof. Capitalize on this opportunity to emphasize the substantive benefits your product offers. Importantly, hone in on the “before and after” aspect so the benefits are clear.

6) Objection Handling

Draw on past experiences and audience research to anticipate and prepare for the common objections your attendees may have. Leave time at the end of the event for a Q&A session as well so you can answer any specific concerns.

7) Demonstrate Use

After providing case studies that tell your audience your product’s worth, show them by putting your offering to use. Take your time in this segment to ensure attendees clearly understand how it operates. This is also a prime time to highlight its ease of use or user-friendliness.

Running the Demo

Throughout the demo, there are a few elements you should incorporate.

Simple Language

When drafting your script and rehearsing for the Q&A, remember to keep things simple. Some product demos may have a larger proportion of more experienced audience members, but it’s better to err on the side of caution and ensure your presentation is easily digestible to as broad of an audience as possible.

Explain how the product works in simple language that’s engaging and revolves around  solving problems.

Interactive Features

Insert interactive elements often. Virtual event platforms normally offer a variety of engagement features to encourage participation among audience members and hold their interest. Demio specifically possesses engagement features like surveys, Q&A sessions, featured actions, and more for a memorable and unique experience. These opportunities introduce fun into your event and keep audience members invested in the experience.

Prepare Slides

Slide decks take time to build and need to be done well to yield results. However, they can highlight product features and structure your presentation so the speaker can manage its progression more easily.

Introduction slides acquaint attendees with your company and presenters, as well as set expectations for the event. After that, simple but well-designed company slides serve to highlight key information that audience members should know.

Meanwhile, product overview slides are the meat of the deck. Include a high-quality photo, name, and logo, but keep the text to a minimum; include two to four of the most important benefits in large text so they’re easy to grasp. Refer to them throughout the script as well to drive home their value.

Conclusion slides are the last of the crucial deck additions. You need one of these to summarize the experience, outline next steps, and share your company’s contact information.

Ensuring all Demo Materials Are Ready

After you’ve crafted an agenda and prepared your materials, it’s time for final checks before the formal presentation. At this point, you have a few simple but important choices to make.

Reliable Platforms

The right virtual event platform simplifies the creation of a stellar product demo, so choose carefully. Additionally, they possess different interfaces, levels of complexity, features, and integrations with other marketing tools like CRMs and email marketing. Those elements contribute to a memorable attendee experience from registration through post-event follow-up.

Demio’s platform focuses on engagement and easy-to-use interfaces that are simple to navigate. You also gain access to a wealth of features that provide everything you need for an incredible online session without overwhelming your staff. Everything is centered around the analytics and reports you receive, which give you a thorough understanding of your product demo’s success.

Supporting Materials

In addition to the main presentation and slides, handing out supporting material is now standard practice for virtual events. If you want to impress your demo attendees, prepare high-quality digital handouts that provide additional value for audience members.

Rehearsing the Product Demo

Rehearsing the product demo is crucial for troubleshooting and ensuring everyone is prepared for the live launch. If any issues arise, you can rehearse again to remove the kinks and maximize the chances of a successful demonstration.

All staff and stakeholders should be present for rehearsals. Technical issues, unclear speech, or delivery problems can ruin a live presentation, so make sure to identify and resolve these challenges durings rehearsal. If possible, throw random questions at presenters from your knowledgeable staff members to simulate possible scenarios during the real demo.

Record every dress rehearsal as well so everyone involved can review each step carefully.

Moderators oversee product demo time frames and audience interactions, curating attendee inquiries and ensuring everything goes smoothly. So, take the opportunity during rehearsal to troubleshoot issues that could plague the moderators during the real demo.

Confirm the Date and Time

People have busy lives, and your demo won’t always be a top priority. That’s why confirmation is so important; it reminds as many people as possible about the event so they attend, leading to large audiences. 

Confirmation Emails

Built-in or integrated email marketing connects registrants to the event. It thus ensures a higher number of them attend your demo. Upon signing up, registrants should receive one email with all the event details.

After that, take advantage of email marketing to send reminders at specified intervals prior to the demo.

With Demio, you can create customizable experiences with automated and branded email reminders. Easily edit your communications and toggle automation on and off to maximize your attendance rate.

Registration follow-up emails promote event readiness and help maintain people’s interest. So, build anticipation with sneak peeks and teasers that keep your event in their heads.

Ask Questions in Advance

Product demos are meant to be interactive, so, why not start before the event?

Use email follow-up to find out more about your demo’s prospective attendees. Ask them what they’re most interested in and problems take top priority. Show them you care and that this event is about them , not your product. This thoroughness ensures the demo covers important ground.

Retrospection and Improvement

Retrospection and improvement are about analysis and readjustment. Here’s how it works.

First, collect satisfaction feedback from attendees after every product demo. Ask them questions that they can answer on a rating scale of 1 to 10, such as:

• How satisfied were you with this product demonstration?
• How likely are you to use our product or recommend it to a colleague/friend?
• How much value would you say you gained after joining our product demonstration?

Analysis & Alterations

In addition to these surveys, you’ll also have to sift through a lot of statistical data. Remember the metrics and KPIs you set earlier? Now’s the time to review them. These metrics gauge your demo’s performance against past and future events. Use them to set new benchmarks and refine successive demos for stronger results.

Smash Your Next Product Demo

With the right checklist guiding your efforts, you can consistently organize and execute fruitful product demos. Although it takes time and attention to detail to craft a memorable event, the elements we’ve outlined in this article will help smooth your path forward.

To simplify the creation process, look for a robust virtual event platform. With included features like automated event reminders, interactive elements, and communication templates, the right platform can remove much of the headache of building a product demo.

Get started for free with Demio and showcase your products on a professional, reliable platform.

Frequently Asked Questions About a Product Demo Checklist

What are the stages of a product demo.

A product demo includes the following segments:

• Introduction
• Event outline
• Statement of the problem
• Introduction of the product
• Features and benefits
• Case studies and testimonials
• Live demonstration
• Pricing and plans
• Closing remarks

What Should I not do during a product demo?

A few mistakes that many product demo organizers make (and that you should avoid) include:

• Neglecting audience research
• Information overload (focus on a few key solutions)
• Lack of rehearsal
• Not focusing on value
• Being too “salesy” (hone in on problems and solutions; don’t push)
• Poor technical quality
• Ignoring engagement opportunities

How do you start a product demo?

Start your product demo with a strong and energetic introduction of yourself and the brand you represent and welcome the audience. Go over the agenda and set clear expectations right away so people don’t get antsy.

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The Top 7 Tips for Pulling Off a Great Demo Presentation

Demo presentations are a powerful tool for running and growing your business. When done well, a demo presentation allows clients, investors or potential customers to see and feel how things will be better for them if they buy or invest in your company or product. Often generic demo presentations do just the opposite, leaving the meeting participants bored and disinterested. Here are seven tips to pull off a great demo presentation.

What is a demo presentation?

A demo presentation is a visual demonstration of a product or service for current or prospective clients. A great demo presentation will grab your audience’s attention right away by clearly communicating what they care about and by using reliable, high quality video presentation tools.

Step one: determine who you are presenting to 

In order to deliver an effective demo presentation, you must know your audience. Do your homework and find out all you can about your prospects so you can tailor your presentation to them and be prepared for different meeting scenarios. This is vital in deciding how you’re going to best convey everything you need to get across in your presentation and what use cases you will share that directly relates to them. Here are four common types of meeting participants and how best to deal with them. 

The Wallflower

Do you know the person you’re presenting to is reserved? The wallflower may need you to prompt them with questions or ask them for their input to really spark a conversation. Having an open dialog with meeting participants will help you connect with them and personalize the presentation. As you continue your software demo, refer back to the participants’ contributions to continue to make them feel included in the presentation.

The Questioner

If you anticipate your audience asking a lot of questions, come ready with answers and customer examples to help back you up. If the questions are not adding value to the demo presentation or become too disruptive, politely ask the audience to hold questions until the end of the presentation.

The Combative

Going in knowing it’s going to be a tough sell? Do all your research beforehand and anticipate what their push back might be. No matter what, don’t get flustered during your demo presentation. When the audience senses your frustration, it’s likely to be a distraction, and it will not result in a positive outcome. Always remain professional throughout your presentation no matter how your audience behaves. If necessary, ask the audience members to hold questions and comments until the end of the meeting. 

The Multitasker 

Presenting to people who are using their phone or laptop during your demo? In order to grab their attention, start your presentation with a bold statement, humor or question. Continue to engage your audience by making your presentation interactive and relatable to pull them away from their devices. 

Three types of product demos

Pitching in your office.

This is the ideal place to host your presentation because you have home-court advantage. The Florida State football team won 37 games in a row at home for a reason: it’s an advantage. When presenting in your own office you get to use presentation tools that you’re comfortable with, limit distractions, control the environment and set the tone for the presentation. 

Pitching in their office

When you are presenting in an unfamiliar environment, it’s important to know which presentation tools are available so you can prepare in advance. Arrive early to the meeting to get set up, familiarize yourself with their presentation tools and practice a run-through of your demo to make sure everything runs smoothly. Also, arriving early gives you the opportunity to meet and connect with some of the people in the audience to help tailor your demo and customer stories to their experiences. 

Pitching remote

In order to save time and travel cost, doing a demo presentation over a video conference call is a great option. Make sure you use a high-quality, easy-to-use video conferencing solution. Don’t give off the wrong first impression by having a poor connection or pixelated video. Lifesize’s video conferencing technology will help you put your best foot forward to really wow clients with stunning 4K video quality and full motion 4K presentation sharing. 

Three ways sales demos can go seriously wrong

Confidential messages get shared on screen.

We’ve all been in meetings where the presenter’s private work and personal messages start popping up on screen and disrupting the meeting. To save yourself embarrassment and major distractions during your presentation, make sure you only share what is relevant to your demo.  Silence all notifications on your laptop and other smart devices before the start of your presentation.

Your video software flakes out

Technical snafus in the middle of a presentation is one of the most common ways demos go wrong. This not only looks bad for you and your company, but it has the potential to completely derail the entire presentation. Make sure you use a reliable video conferencing solution and test it out before the start of the presentation. Sometimes issues are outside your control, like a bad internet connection, so have a backup plan for your demo presentation.

Directly reading your notes or slides

Nothing is less engaging than a presenter directly reading from their notes or slides during a demo. Bring notes just in case you need to refer to them, but don’t directly read your notes or slides during your presentation. Your slides should contain just a few words or short sentences to set the tone of the topic you’re discussing but ovoid cluttering your slides with wordy paragraphs.  Practice your pitch until you can consistently and comfortably talk about your new product without reading from your slides or notes.

Seven tips for a winning demo presentation 

1. prepare a script.

Start off by preparing a presentation outline or script that follows a logical flow. Keep each section short, precise and easy to understand. If possible, try to work in bold statements, humor or simple tweet-able soundbites to really capture the audience’s attention. 

2. Practice and rehearse

Since you will not be directly reading your script during your presentation, practice memorizing and saying your script until you’re comfortable with it. You do not have to memorize your script verbatim, but you will need to be familiar enough with it that you can speak about each point in a conversational tone. Presenting to coworkers or family members is a great way to practice your demo and you can also record your demo presentation  to review the content and get comfortable with the flow.  

3. Anticipate questions

Each audience member will come to your presentation with different experiences and backgrounds so be prepared for a variety of questions. Try to anticipate possible questions and how you will respond to each one. When practicing your demo for coworkers or family members, ask them to help you come up with an exhaustive list of all the different questions that may be asked during your presentation.  

4. Tailor for specific audiences

Every audience is different, and your demo presentation should be too. The presentation should be built specifically for the prospect to reflect their unique business processes and include data that directly relates to their company. In addition, you should tailor how you conduct your presentation for each audience as well. An effective demo presentation for an HR manager may not go over as well for a CEO. Some prospects may be more interested in the details and appreciate graphs and diagrams while others may get more out of watching a video or live demonstration. Research the company and decision makers you are presenting to and find ways to make your demo engaging for them.

5. Provide use cases

One of the best ways to make your demo presentation relatable to your audience is to find examples of customers similar to them that have successfully used your product or service. Start with the pain points your customer was facing and give specific details of how your product or service solved those issues. Demonstrate how your audience can have the same positive outcome as the customers in your use cases. 

6. Have reliable video conferencing

Even if most of your audience is in the same room as you, video conferencing enables remote participants to get access to critical nonverbal communication elements. For virtual attendees, the quality of your video service will set the tone for your presentation. Partner with a solution that makes it easy for remote participants to join the demo presentation without having to download an app or install software.

7. Share slides & follow up

After you’ve completed the demo keep the conversation going by sharing your slide deck and following up with your audience. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, if they heard a pitch once, they understand it. Chances are they didn’t get it all the first time so you must tell them again. In your follow up message, thank the audience for their time, reinforce the value your product or service can provide them and give them an actionable next step.

“Presentation time with potential clients is a precious and limited commodity so it’s important to make the most of it.  The more details you know about your prospects before the meeting, the better you can tailor your sales demo to speak to them as individuals. A generic presentation won’t stir up an emotional response.”

— Jeremy Wycherly, Senior Director, Inside Sales at Lifesize

How Lifesize demos products

Face to face.

To save time and travel costs, a face-to-face video conference call is a great option for demo presentations. The human element of face-to-face communication provides a more natural experience and helps you connect with the audience. Lifesize video and audio clarity makes you feel like you are in the same room as your audience and lets you present your business in the best light and make an unrivaled first impression.

Wireless screen sharing

From sharing your laptop screen to playing full-motion videos, Lifesize Share™  makes it remarkably easy to wirelessly present in the meeting room. You don’t have to waste time trying to find and pass along the right dongle or cord. Share your screen in real-time, play a video and control your presentation right from your mobile device or laptop with Lifesize Share.  

Full motion content sharing

No one enjoys sitting through a presentation with pixelated and poor-quality video. Lifesize’s 4K full-motion content sharing ensures that the quality and fine details of the product or service you’re demoing are maintained during your presentation. Prospects feel more confident purchasing a product or service when the presentation visuals are crisp, clear and realistic. The unmatched Lifesize full-motion 4K content sharing and stunning 4K video quality brings your demos to life.

You can have a great product or service but if your demo is not winning your audience’s attention, then you’ve wasted their time and yours. As you gain experience and become more confident doing demo presentations, you will soon approach them as an exciting opportunity to win new business rather than a daunting challenge. Communicating clearly, focusing on the things your audience cares about and using reliable, high quality video presentation tools will greatly improve your chances of closing the deal. Don’t give off the wrong first impression by having a poor connection or pixelated video. Lifesize video conferencing technology helps you put your best foot forward to really wow potential clients with stunning 4K video quality and ultra-high definition full motion content sharing.

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Improving the Video Conferencing Experience in the Era of Remote Work

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months, it’s clear that remote work and distributed teams are here to stay, even after the pandemic recedes. While some workers will gradually find their way back to in-person (office or otherwise) workplace settings, this is just the on-ramp to the highway of working from anywhere for many others.

How to Demo a Product: Tips for a Winning Presentation

When you’re about to showcase a product, the goal is clear: show how it works and why it's useful. A good product demo it’s more than just going through a list of features. It's about clearly demonstrating how your product solves specific problems or improves certain tasks.

In this guide, we'll cut through the fluff and focus on what matters. You'll learn how to demo a product, from how to understand your audience, highlight your product's key features effectively, and keep your audience engaged throughout the demo. 

This guide is for anyone who wants to improve their demo skills, whether you're new to it or seasoned in the art of product presentations.

What a Product Demo Really Means for Your Prospects

At the heart of learning how to demo a product is understanding what makes a demo truly effective. It's not just about showing off your product; a product demo is your chance to show how your product fits into the daily lives or work of your potential customers.

Think of a product demo as a bridge. On one side, you have a customer with specific needs, problems, or goals. On the other side is your product, with its unique features and capabilities. 

Your demo is the bridge that connects these two sides, showing your audience how crossing over to your product can make a real difference for them.

Every time you plan how to demo a product, focus on making it relevant and relatable. It's about saying, "We understand what you need, and here's how our product can help." For example, if you're demonstrating a new software, don't just talk about its features; show how these features can save time, reduce errors, or make tasks easier.

Remember, a successful demo doesn't overwhelm the audience with technical jargon. Instead, it speaks their language and addresses their concerns or aspirations. More than showing what your product can do, focus on what it can do for them specifically.

Getting to Know Your Audience: The Key to a Great Demo

A critical step in figuring out how to demo a product effectively is knowing who you're talking to. This means figuring out what they need, what problems they face, and what they want to achieve. 

Start by researching your audience . Are they tech-savvy or do they prefer simplicity? What are their business goals or personal aspirations? Are they looking for cost-effective solutions or are they more interested in premium, high-end features? This kind of knowledge lets you tailor your demo to address their particular concerns or desires.

For instance, if you're demonstrating a new project management tool to a group of busy project managers, they'll likely be more interested in how it can streamline their workflow and make their day-to-day tasks more manageable.

While presenting, it’s also important to engage with your audience. Ask questions and encourage feedback. This not only helps keep the demo interactive but also provides you with real-time insights into their responses. 

Are they engaged with a particular feature? Do they seem confused or need more clarification on a certain point? This immediate feedback is invaluable and can guide you to focus on areas that are hitting the mark or to adjust your approach if something isn’t clear.

Demonstrating a product with understanding means you're not just showing a product, but offering a solution they find valuable. This way, your demo becomes more effective and builds trust with your audience.

Preparing for Your Product Demo

Effective preparation is crucial for a successful product demo. 

Before diving into how to demo a product, start by outlining your demonstration. Identify the key features of your product that align with your audience's needs. This plan acts as a guide, helping you focus on the essential aspects of your product during the demo. For instance, when showcasing software, prioritize the functions that will most appeal to your audience.

As you prepare, think about the questions your audience might ask. Being ready with answers demonstrates your expertise and preparedness, which strengthens your credibility. 

Practicing your demo is also important. Run through it with a colleague or record yourself to refine your presentation and build confidence.

Halfway through your prep for how to demo a product, double-check your technical setup. Make sure all your equipment works and that you're comfortable using it. Avoiding technical hiccups keeps the attention on your product and your message.

In the final stages of preparation, focus on streamlining your presentation. Keep it concise and relevant to your audience's interests. This helps ensure your demo is not only informative but also engaging.

This thorough preparation paves the way for a smooth, impactful demo that clearly communicates the value of your product to your audience.

Crafting Your Demo with a Storytelling Approach

In learning how to demo a product, think about telling a story . This means starting your demo with a problem that your audience faces and showing how your product solves it.

For example, if your product is a time-management app, begin by talking about the challenge of juggling many tasks.

Next, introduce your product as the solution to this problem. Describe its features in a way that relates directly to solving the issue you've presented. For instance, show how the app organizes tasks more efficiently. 

As you move through your demo, focus on the change your product brings. Illustrate how life or work is better with your product. If you're talking about a time-management app, show how it frees up time or reduces stress. This part of the demo is about showing the real, practical benefits of using your product.

Towards the end of your demo, wrap up your story. Recap how your product addresses the problem you started with. This helps your audience remember the key points and the value of your product.

In short, using a storytelling approach in your demo can make it more engaging and relatable. It helps your audience see your product as a practical solution to a real problem, which can make your demo more impactful and memorable.

Demonstrating Key Features

This part of your demo is where you get to showcase what sets your product apart. The trick is to focus on how these features benefit the user. Each feature you present should directly tie back to a need or problem your audience experiences.

Start by identifying the most important features of your product. Think about what makes your product unique and how these features meet your audience's specific needs.

For instance, if your product is a project management tool, you might focus on its unique collaboration capabilities or its intuitive user interface. Remember, the goal is to keep your audience engaged, so pick features that you know will interest them.

Also important, explain each feature in simple terms. Avoid technical jargon that could confuse your audience. Instead, use clear, concise language.

For example, if you’re demonstrating a new camera, rather than diving into technical specifications, you could focus on how its advanced lens improves photo quality in low-light conditions. This approach makes it easier for your audience to understand and appreciate the value of the features you're demonstrating.

As you conclude this section of your demo, briefly summarize the features you've shown. This helps reinforce what your audience has learned and makes it easier for them to remember the key points. 

In summary, when demonstrating key features in your product demo, focus on simplicity, relevance, and benefits.

Engaging with Your Audience

Engaging your audience during a product demo is about making each participant feel like an active part of the experience. Here’s some advice to elevate your engagement:

• Tailor Content in Real-Time : Listen actively. If certain features spark more interest, focus more on them. Shift gears if you sense a topic isn’t resonating.
• Incorporate Storytelling with Data : Combine relatable stories with concrete data. This balance keeps the content compelling and credible.
• Use Humor Appropriately : A light joke or a humorous remark can make the atmosphere more relaxed, but always keep it appropriate and professional.
• Polls and Q&A Sessions : Use interactive tools like live polls to gather instant feedback. Reserve time for a Q&A session to address specific queries.
• Real-Case Demonstrations : If feasible, show your product in action. Solving a common problem live can be very impactful.
• Leverage Social Proof : Briefly mention other clients (without revealing sensitive info) who have benefitted from your product, especially those similar to your audience.
• Personalize Examples : Use your understanding of the audience’s industry or specific challenges in your examples. This shows that you’re not just selling a product but offering a solution.
• Encourage Notes and Follow-ups : Suggest that attendees take notes and offer follow-up material. This keeps them engaged beyond the demo.

Handling Technical Difficulties Gracefully

Technical hiccups can occur during a product demo. How you handle these moments can greatly impact your audience's perception of both you and your product. Here's how to manage technical difficulties gracefully while demonstrating how to demo a product:

• Preparation is Key : Always test your equipment and software before the demo. This includes checking internet connectivity, presentation tools, and the product itself. Even with preparation, be ready for unexpected issues.
• Stay Calm and Collected : If a technical issue arises, remain calm and professional. Your composure reassures the audience that you’re in control and capable of handling unexpected situations.
• Have a Backup Plan : Always have a plan B. This could be pre-recorded segments of your demo, screenshots, or a simple whiteboard explanation. This way, you can continue to convey your message without relying solely on technology.
• Communicate Transparently : Inform your audience about the issue succinctly and let them know you’re working on it. Avoid delving into too many technical details which can be distracting and detract from the product's value.
• Use the Time Wisely : If the problem takes time to fix, use this as an opportunity to discuss other aspects of the product or answer any questions. This keeps the audience engaged and ensures the time is used productively.
• Learn and Improve : After the demo, analyze what went wrong and how it was addressed. This reflection helps improve future demos and your ability to handle similar situations.

The Art of the Follow-Up

Mastering the art of the follow-up is as crucial as knowing how to demo a product. The follow-up is where potential leads are nurtured into customers. Here’s some seasoned advice:

• Timeliness is Key : Reach out within 24 hours of the demo. This ensures your product remains fresh in the minds of your audience. A prompt follow-up shows professionalism and enthusiasm.
• Personalize Your Approach : Tailor your follow-up message. Reference specific points or questions raised during the demo to show that you were attentive and value their input.
• Provide Additional Resources : Include helpful materials like detailed guides, case studies, or a link to a recording of the demo. This not only reinforces your message but also provides value to your prospects.
• Set Clear Next Steps : Be clear about what the next stages are. Whether it’s scheduling another meeting, a call for more detailed discussion, or a trial period, make sure your audience knows what to expect and by when.
• Gather Feedback : Use follow-up as an opportunity to ask for feedback about the demo. This shows that you’re open to learning and improving, and it can provide valuable insights for future presentations.
• Stay Consistent and Persistent : Sometimes, one follow-up isn’t enough. Maintain regular, but not overwhelming, communication to keep your product on their radar without being intrusive.
• Use CRM Tools Effectively : Leverage your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to track follow-up activities. This ensures no lead falls through the cracks and allows for more efficient follow-up processes.

Bonus: cut sales cycles with async product demos

When it's tough to schedule calls with prospects, asynchronous demos are an efficient and flexible option. A recorded demo also helps your champions spread the word about your product. Here’s how to approach it:

• Start with a Personalized Video : When you’re stuck in the scheduling back and forth nightmare, create a personalized video to demo your product. Claap is a great tool for this and you can even include a CTA at the end of your video.
• Create a Shared Content Library : Post-demo, create a library of resources for your internal champion. This could include the recording of your live product demo, presentations of use cases identified during your call, and any relevant product vision or roadmap materials. This method allows your champion to share this information internally without additional meetings, thus speeding up the decision-making process​​.
• Nurture and Train at Scale : You can also use video to share updates, showcase specific feature, or answer questions. For example, sharing a new integration or feature update through a personalized video can help build stronger relationships. It demonstrates effort and commitment to providing tailored content and support​​.

Incorporating asynchronous methods in how to demo a product not only caters to the evolving preferences of B2B buyers but also effectively accelerates the sales cycle. By using personalized videos and shared resources, you can engage prospects and customers on their terms, making your sales process more adaptable and responsive​​.

And there you have it! From preparing your product demo to the art of follow-up, we've covered some key aspects of how to demo a product effectively. 

Keep in mind that every demo is a learning experience. Each time you present, you'll discover new ways to improve and connect more deeply with your audience. Stay open to feedback, be adaptable, and always look for ways to refine your approach.

Above all, enjoy the process. Your enthusiasm for your product is contagious, and when combined with the tips we've shared, it can make your demos not just informative, but also inspiring. Here's to many successful product demos ahead!

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How to Give A Good Product Demo Presentation

As a SaaS company, giving memorable product demonstrations is key to winning new customers. Effective product demos highlight your software's key features and benefits compellingly. Here is a guide for crafting and delivering impactful product demos.

Preparing to Wow Your Audience

A compelling product demo presentation is crucial for landing new customers and promoting your SaaS software solutions. When prospective witness a live, engaging demo of your product in action, they can deeply understand the key benefits and truly appreciate the value you offer.To give a standout product demo:

• Do your homework and practice beforehand.
• Ensure you are familiar with your product's capabilities and best use cases.
• Prepare some tailored demo scripts highlighting features and workflows that match the specific needs of your target prospect.

With practice, you'll sound more confident and be able to provide a smoother, more persuasive experience.

Setting the Right Expectations

On the day of your demo, set the right expectations. Explain the structure and objectives of the presentation to keep the audience focused. Start with an overview of your company and solution to provide context. Share your product's key differentiators and what problems you solve. Highlight recent growth, awards, or industry recognition to build trust in your brand.

Engaging Your Audience

Once you dive into the demo, highlight the key features and functions that would be most relevant and useful to your audience. Showcase how those elements can save time, reduce costs, increase revenue, or optimize key metrics. Share real-world examples and case studies from existing customers whenever possible. An authentic story is far more compelling than just theoretical benefits.As you move through the demo, encourage questions and discussions. Pause periodically to ask for feedback or ideas. An interactive presentation will keep your audience engaged and make the content more memorable. Address any concerns or objections openly and honestly. Explain how you overcame similar challenges for other customers.

Making a Compelling Call to Action

End your presentation with a clear call to action, such as setting up a private trial or scheduling follow-up meetings with your team. Leave time for informal Q&A and networking as your guests evaluate how your software could suit their needs. Follow up with all attendees within a day or two to keep the conversation going.

Mastering the Art of the Product Demo

With practice and persistence, you can master the art of product demo presentations. Highlight the key differentiators of your SaaS solution, showcase real customer stories, encourage active participation, and issue a compelling call to action. Great demos can lead to more conversations, demos, and long-term customers. Keep at it and stay confident in your ability to sell the value of your product.

Bringing Demos to Life with Interactivity

Interactive product demos, enabled by product demo tools like Folio, can make presentations even more engaging and memorable. With interactivity, you can give audiences hands-on control of your software, guiding them through workflows step-by-step. They can explore features at their own pace, ask questions, and provide instant feedback on what's most useful or confusing.Interactive demos create a highly immersive experience for your prospects. They feel like they're truly using your product instead of just watching a staged demo. This leads to a deeper understanding of capabilities and greater confidence in the value your SaaS solution can provide. Audiences will leave more impressed and ready to take further action.Folio and similar product demo tools make creating and sharing interactive product demos easy. While navigating the app, you simply record your screen and microphone, then trim and enhance the video. Add highlights, callouts, and more to keep viewers engaged. Interactive demos can include real-time collaboration for joint demo sessions with remote participants.Moreover, interactive product demos pay off through higher conversion rates, larger deals, and more successful implementations. When customers fully grasp how your software works before purchasing, they avoid costly rework or needing extra handholding. Use the interactivity to strengthen trust in your brand, simplify complex features, and ensure customers hit the ground running.

With the right tools and techniques, you can bring your product demos to life and boost demo impact. Whether recorded or live, interactive presentations allow for a multi-sensory experience that sticks with audiences long after the demo ends. Make interactivity a standard sales process to accelerate customer success and fuel business growth. Remember, an interactive approach and in-person and on-demand demos will establish you as a leader in customer experience and support.

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15 inspiring product demo video examples to help you drive results

When you’re selling a product online, static images and text only go so far. 

Interested shoppers can’t hold your products in their hands, but a product demonstration video offers the next best thing.

Also known as promo videos , these videos can highlight a product’s features, explain how they solve relevant problems, explore what life could be like with the product, and stress the challenges people face without it.

There’s more than one way to make this video content part of your product marketing strategy. Here are 15 product demo video examples you can learn from, and tips on how to create your own.

How to make a product demo video

Before we get to the examples, let’s quickly go over the steps to create a product demo :

• Define your audience. Think about your target audience’s frustrations, motivations, and favorite video platforms. For example, if you’re selling running shoes to a Gen Z audience, a short-form TikTok video might be the best format for a product demonstration.
• Set clear objectives. Every product demo aims to drive sales, but it can also meet other objectives like educating customers or creating brand awareness. 
• Create a script and storyboard. Storyboarding is a key part of any video production process because it keeps your video focused. Plan out each scene and write an accompanying script to talk viewers through how your product solves their problem. If you use Descript, you can script and storyboard in the same place you record and edit your video. 
• Choose a format and length. Consider how your target audience consumes content. If they prefer short-form videos, create sub-60 second vertical videos for Instagram Reels or TikTok. If they have time to invest in lengthier content, create longer landscape videos for YouTube and your website. 
• Create a shooting setup. You don’t need a fancy studio to record a product demo video. You can film professional videos at home with your smartphone camera, its built-in microphone, and natural light. Video editing can do a lot of the heavy lifting. 
• Record your product demo. Hit the record button and start filming your product demonstration. Give a 360-view of your product and show off its best features. Either record yourself throughout the video or add a voiceover after. 
• Edit your video. Make your product demo video more professional with an editing tool like Descript. It lets you edit videos like a text doc, and you can also remove filler words in one click, enhance speaker audio with AI, record your screen, and more in one video editing platform. 

15 of the best product demo video examples

• Sierra Design

1. Slack promotes Canvas as a product, not a feature

If you’re creating a product demonstration video for a software company, you can focus on a single key feature instead of covering everything your app does in one video. 

Communications platform Slack takes this approach by marketing each feature like a product. Instead of telling users everything they can do with its software, Slack singles out Canvas and the main problem it solves: sharing and organizing knowledge in a crowded workplace messaging app. 

2. WHOOP partners with creators to demo its watches

Sometimes the best product demonstration videos don’t feel like ads. WHOOP, for example, uses a TikTok-style video produced by a creator to showcase its stress-monitoring watch in action.

The watch isn’t the protagonist of the video. The story centers on the creator who uses her watch to monitor her stress as she watches the Women’s World Cup. The video subtly shows how WHOOP watches work, the different color bands available, and what its reported stress levels actually mean. 

3. Nespresso gives a visual tour of the Aeroccino Plus

Nespresso creates product demos for each of its coffee machines. But instead of diving right in with feature explanations, there’s a five-second introduction that uses video editing techniques—like slow motion and zoom—to build up to the demo you’re about to watch. 

Nespresso is positioned as a luxury brand, and it communicates the same brand values in its video. There’s no talking head or voiceover, just a smartly dressed coffee connoisseur showing you how to make coffee with its machine.

4. Apple shows off the AirPods Pro by visualizing sound 

Apple’s creative team regularly produces incredible product demonstrations for new items. Take this product launch video for the new AirPods Pro. Switching between close-ups of the earbuds and subtitles to highlight its best features, there’s an exciting background track and accompanying sound effects to keep the viewer’s attention.

To echo Apple’s creativity, the product demo video also showcases a dancer using the AirPods. These elements come together to create a short, simple advertisement that makes people want the product even more.

5. Rhode Skin is used in Hailey Bieber’s skincare routine

Rhode Skin is a skincare brand founded by celebrity Hailey Bieber. Instead of the traditional product demo format where the product is in the foreground, Hailey published a YouTube video walking potential customers through her skincare routine using her own Rhode Skin products.

This type of explainer video is often more impactful because viewers can connect with the founder—in this case, a celebrity they already know and trust. Plus, when people can see a real-life application of a skincare product, they can answer their own question of whether it’ll work on their skin.

6. YETI shows instead of tells with lifestyle videos

YETI is no stranger to video marketing . Its YouTube channel is home to full-length documentary videos to showcase its connection with an outdoor lifestyle. Mixed among those videos are short-form product demonstrations, like the one for its M30 Cooler. 

This product demo video example doesn’t explicitly tell you about the cooler’s features—instead it shows you how the product works through real life moments. Viewers see a 15-second video of a sea diver heading out on their boat and jumping into the sea. When they get back on board, they pull a canned drink from the YETI cooler that has kept their beverages ice cold. 

7. Sierra Designs overlays lifestyle footage with feature specs

Like the last product demonstration video example, Sierra Designs sells their products as part of a lifestyle. We see two people heading up a mountain carrying the brand’s hiking backpack. That’s interrupted by B-roll footage of a close-up of two different bag sizes, with the product’s unique selling points appearing at certain points of the video. 

Sierra Designs also uses subtitles instead of voiceovers. Viewers can listen to a light, upbeat background track and focus the rest of their attention on the story being told in this product demonstration video.

Tip: Take the same approach with your product demonstration video by leaning on Descript’s built-in library of royalty-free music and sound effects .

8. HelloFresh uses animation to explain how its service works

HelloFresh is a meal delivery service that uses an animated product demo video to show how its service works. It addresses the pain points of its ideal customers within the first 15 seconds, promising people they “don’t need to worry about meal times” when signing up for a subscription. 

What’s also interesting about this video is that it’s optimized to reach people on YouTube who are searching for terms like “food delivery subscription” or “fresh meals.” When a new customer finds HelloFresh through this video, they’re primed on exactly how its subscription model works and can address any objections they have about joining. 

9. Mixpanel turns a screen recording into an in-depth product tour

Mixpanel is a business analytics tool that uploaded a product demonstration video to YouTube. At over 11 minutes, it’s longer than the other examples, but is broken down into sections through YouTube chapters (insights, charts, segmentation, etc.) to help people navigate to the feature they’re interested in. 

The software demo video also uses screen recording to walk through the dashboard. This helps people visualize their own data inside the software, and can make the interface feel less overwhelming to new customers once they sign up.

10. IKEA Place uses first-person camera to simulate the app

IKEA is a brand known for its experiential retail experiences. In-store shoppers see entire room setups furnished with IKEA products. As a way to give online shoppers the same experience, the brand launched its own augmented reality app to let you see products in your own home using your smartphone camera.

Its live action video uses the holiday season to showcase how the app works. We see four people choosing where to place an IKEA tree in their home. In the final scene, the 3D model becomes a real tree as several more trees pop up to show off the rest of the product collection.

11. Duolingo enlists its mascot show you around the product

Duolingo is a language-learning app that created an animated video to demonstrate how the app works. Against funky background music, viewers see the brand mascot—a green owl—jumping around the screen and using its most popular features.

12. HOKA combines different video styles to show off its sneakers

Storytelling is a great video marketing technique for engaging viewers. Sneaker brand HOKA takes this approach with its product demo video. It starts by showing two people racing across a city, interrupted with 360-view footage of its new Mach X sneakers. 

Around 17 seconds in, triathlete Sunny Margerum (a credible spokesperson for HOKA’s target audience) starts talking about the sneakers. There are several jump cuts to keep the viewer engaged—including a close-up of the sneakers, a breakdown of its materials, and someone tying their shoelaces on a running track. 

13. Headspace brings the ambiance of the app to its product video    

Headspace is a meditation app that helps people feel more calm and relaxed, so it’s no surprise that its animated product demo video has the same ambiance. The voiceover artist has a calm and soothing voice that’s overlaid onto relaxing background music. 

Headspace also anticipates any doubts and hesitations by addressing them in the video. If a viewer wants to join but thinks they won’t have time to mediate, the product demonstration highlights their “three-minute sessions for when you’re short on time.”

14. Pipedrive shows what happens on screen and behind the screen

Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform for businesses. It’s packed with features, but this product demo video example prioritizes the most impactful ones.

Screen recordings make up the bulk of this video to show the software in action while mixing in live footage of the people behind the tech. A salesperson talks over the recording to explain what they’re demonstrating, the benefits of using Pipedrive, and how customers can extract more value from their own CRM dashboard.

15. Descript embraces YouTube to demo features made for YouTubers

Sure, this is biased. But at least we put ourselves last. Descript has a large collection of YouTube videos that act as both product tutorials and demos for different features in our video editing software.

The example here covers Regenerate : a tool that lets you make those awkward speaker audio cuts sound smooth and liven up voices through the magic of AI.

The introduction covers why Regenerate exists. Then our host Ramdy offers screen recorded tutorials on how to use Regenerate in ways that resonate with YouTubers.

What makes a great product demo video?

As these product demonstration examples show, there are a lot of ways to show off a product or service. But there are key concepts they all use to capture a viewer’s attention and convince them to buy.

You can create a product demo video that does the same by ensuring it checks the following boxes:

• Clear product presentation. The goal of a product demo is to show your product in the best light. Make that possible by putting it front and center, using different camera angles and shots to replicate the experience someone would have interacting with your product in person.
• Emotional appeal. People buy things they’re emotionally connected to . Use your product demo as an opportunity to connect with your viewer and evoke emotion—whether it’s happiness, frustration, or motivation. Bonus points if you can position your product as the solution to a negative emotion.
• Professional production quality. From audio improvements to fancy transitions, the right video editor can turn even screen recordings and iPhone footage into an impressive product demo video.
• Call to action. Don’t assume people who watch your product demonstration will immediately visit your website and buy on their own. Ask them to do so with a call to action that includes a strong verb like “go,” “try,” or “buy.”

Script, storyboard, record, and edit product demos in Descript

As these product demonstration video examples illustrate, the editing process can turn even simple screen recordings into professional video productions.

Descript is a video and audio editing software anyone can use to create product demo videos with features like:

• Professional voiceovers using Studio Sound to enhance speaker audio with AI
• Voice cloning and a roster of stock AI voices for narrating your videos or making changes to speaker audio without rerecording
• Automatic filler word removal that identifies words like “um” and “like” 
• Screen recording functionality to film your screen, camera, and mic 

Sign up for free and start creating your product demo video today.

Product demo video examples FAQ

What should be in a product demo video.

A great product demo video showcases your best product features, use cases, pricing, and the challenges it solves for your target audience. 

How to make a good demo video?

• Determine your target audience
• Set clear objectives
• Create a script and storyboard
• Choose a format and length
• Create a shooting set up
• Record your product demo
• Edit your video with Descript 

How long should a product demo video be?

This depends on the platform you’ll be publishing it on. Social media demo videos should be short-form and grab attention fast, whereas product demo videos published on your website or YouTube can be several minutes long.

What is the difference between brand video and product video?

A brand video talks about a company’s values, products, or services. A product video, however, focuses on a single product. It covers the product’s best features and use cases.

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The Ultimate Guide to Product Demos

In modern enterprise sales, sales reps only get about 5% of a customer’s time . Before speaking with a rep, most buyers look to self-educate on a vendor’s website. Even after a sales conversation, prospects may carefully weigh the purchase decision with peers via a buying committee. Regardless of the stage in the buyer journey, product demos can shorten sales cycles and increase conversions. A product demo, or product demonstration, showcases a product’s features, benefits, and functionality in action. In this guide, we dive deep into the world of product demos, exploring their benefits, types, and their pivotal role in navigating the complex modern sales cycle.

You can read this guide from start to finish or skip to the sections you’re most interested in learning about.

What is a product demo?

Benefits of product demos, types of product demos.

The sales funnel for product demos

The best product demo creation tool

Frequently asked questions: demystifying product demos

A product demo is a presentation or interactive showcase of a product’s features, benefits, and functionalities. It is a strategic and visual way for businesses to effectively communicate the value of their products to potential customers. Product demos provide a tangible and experiential understanding of how a product works and how it can address the needs and pain points of the target audience.

In a product demo, businesses typically highlight the key aspects of their product through various means such as live presentations, interactive demos, video presentations, or even hands-on experiences. The aim is to engage the audience, create a memorable experience, and convey the unique selling points that differentiate the product from competitors.

By showcasing a product in action, a product demo goes beyond text-based descriptions and abstract explanations, giving potential customers a concrete understanding of how the product can meet their requirements. This approach helps build trust, establish credibility, and address any uncertainties that potential customers may have about the product’s capabilities.

Overall, a product demo serves as a powerful tool in a company’s go-to-market arsenal , playing a crucial role in influencing purchasing decisions and driving conversions.

Product demos elevate sales processes to new heights of efficiency and effectiveness. By providing tangible evidence of a product’s capabilities, they transcend mere descriptions and provide evidence of how a product will work for potential customers. Sales team members can rely on direct feedback gained through the discovery process to tailor product demos to meet the needs of their prospect.

Demos give customers a taste of product ownership before they commit to making a purchase. For marketing teams , these demonstrations can elevate a company brand, creating a great first impression and instilling confidence in a product’s fit for a prospect. Ultimately, a high-quality product demo can be the driving force behind closed deals.

Product demos hold significant importance for businesses across industries, serving as invaluable tools that can make a substantial impact on various aspects of their operations and success. Here’s a closer look at why product demos are important:

Clear Communication of Value

A product demo allows you to visually and experientially communicate the value of your product to potential customers. Instead of relying solely on textual descriptions or static images, a demo brings the product to life, showing exactly how it works and how it can benefit the customer. This clear and tangible presentation of value helps potential buyers better understand how your product can meet their needs.

Addressing Customer Pain Points

Product demos provide a platform to address specific pain points and challenges that potential customers may have. By showcasing how your product can solve real-world problems, you demonstrate that you understand a prospect’s needs and are offering a viable solution. This personalized approach enhances the relevance of your product and increases the likelihood of conversion.

Building Trust and Credibility

Demonstrating your product’s capabilities in a real-time setting builds trust and credibility. Potential customers can see the product in action, which helps establish authenticity and minimizes skepticism. When they experience the product’s benefits firsthand, they are more likely to believe in its claims and view your business as a reliable source.

Engagement and Company Brand Building

Product demos are engaging by nature. They captivate the audience’s attention, keeping them focused on your product and its features. This engagement leads to better retention of information and a stronger connection with your brand. An engaging demo experience can leave a lasting impression, making your product more memorable.

Faster Decision-Making

Seeing a product in action can expedite the decision-making process for potential customers. A well-executed demo provides stakeholders with the necessary information to evaluate the product’s fit for their needs. However, you don’t have to have every decision-maker in the room for every demo. Interactive demos can enable companies to build consensus in the buying process, without requiring repetitive demos to multiple stakeholders. This can reduce the time spent on research and consideration, leading to quicker purchasing decisions.

Direct Feedback Loop

Product demos enable you to receive direct feedback from potential customers. As they interact with the product, they may ask questions, share concerns, or provide insights. This feedback is invaluable for improving your product, enhancing its features, and refining your marketing and sales strategies.

Differentiation from Competitors

In a competitive market, standing out is crucial. A compelling product demo allows you to showcase what makes your product unique and superior to competitors. It’s an opportunity to highlight key differentiators and position your product as the optimal choice.

Enhanced Sales Processes

Product demos streamline the sales process by providing a tangible and persuasive presentation. They serve as a powerful tool for sales representatives to guide potential customers through the buying journey. Well-prepared demos can help overcome objections, address doubts, and ultimately close deals more effectively.

In essence, product demos play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between a potential customer’s curiosity and their decision to purchase. They facilitate understanding, build trust, and provide a memorable experience that can set the stage for long-term customer relationships and business success.

Businesses rely on different types of product demos to engage audiences and showcase their offerings in the most compelling way. Each type caters to diverse preferences and varying stages of the customer journey. From interactive product demos to product tours to personalized demos, let’s explore each of the product demo variations.

Interactive Product Demos

Forrester research shows that 60% of buyers will go to a vendor’s website before accepting an online or in-person sales meeting. Interactive product demos are a great first step for buyers to explore a product’s key features and benefits hands-on. Unlike static product tours, interactive demos empower potential customers to explore a product in a meaningful way. They serve as immersive experiences that drive sign-ups and ensure customers are well-acquainted with SaaS tools’ functionalities. Many companies choose to add interactive product demos to their homepage or marketing campaigns to engage prospects looking to self-evaluate.

Self-guided product tours offer a customer-driven way to explore features. This allows users to learn about the product at their own pace, diving deeper into the functionality that matters most to their specific pain points. Ultimately, many teams choose to embed product tours via an interactive demonstration on their product page, driving user satisfaction in the evaluation process.

Personalized Demos

Once prospects are ready to talk to sales, live demos can play a critical role in closing the deal. According to a study from Bain & Co. demos are one of buyers’ most widely used sources of information during the consideration stage: 72% of respondents said the vendors they ultimately chose outperform the rest of the field by using demos and trials. By addressing the specific pain points and challenges of prospects, personalized demos bring customization to the sales process. These demos typically follow a qualifying marketing interaction or discovery call. Live demos enable teams to achieve personalization in sales, by helping prospects visualize how a product will work for their needs, or within their specific environment.

Video Demo Tools & Videos

While video demos hold potential, they come with downsides such as limited interactivity and personalization. However, when used strategically, they can provide quick insights into a product’s features and benefits. Popular video demo tools enable businesses to create compelling product demo videos that capture attention and convey value effectively. While product demo video examples abound on enterprise companies’ websites, interactive demos may get twice as much engagement as static content — such as the product screenshots typically shared within a demo video.

The Sales Funnel for Product Demos

Companies can use product demos throughout the enterprise buying cycle . In the awareness phase, marketers and product teams embed interactive demos on the website to help buyers understand product value immediately. According to Forrester, interactive product tours featured on the website resulted in 60% uplift in average website interactions that converted to leads.

From there, sales and presales teams use live, personalized demos to tailor the product experience to a prospect’s specific use case or pain points. In the closing phases, interactive product tours can help buying committees evaluate products, even in the absence of final sales interaction.

Here are a few ways different personas can use product demos throughout the sales funnel.

Prospective Customers

The product demo process serves as a prime opportunity to delight prospective customers. Early in the buyer experience, interactive demos can help prospects self-evaluate. Further down in the sales funnel, personalized demos can help in building relationships and fostering trust among buyers. Live demos should be a two-way conversation rather than a rehearsed presentation — successful reps look at demos as an opportunity to engage buyers about their pain points and highlight product features most relevant to their needs.

Sales Reps & Marketing Professionals

Both sales representatives and marketing professionals can leverage demos as a tool for showcasing a product, building trust, and improving the buyer experience. Through effective product demonstrations, they can forge connections with prospective customers and lay the foundation for long-term relationships.

Delivering successful sales presentations and demonstrations requires careful planning, effective communication, and a deep understanding of the audience’s needs. To do it right, honing in on your target audience’s industry, challenges, and pain points is critical to tailoring your presentation to address specific needs and concerns. Customize examples and scenarios that resonate with your audience’s experiences. Know your product inside and out, and be prepared to handle potential objections or questions that may arise during the live demo process.

Sales Cycle & Process

The product demo weaves seamlessly into the sales cycle, catering to each stage of the buyer’s journey. From the awareness stage to the consideration stage and beyond, product demos accelerate the buyer’s journey, facilitating more informed decisions. Both interactive and personalized demos play a pivotal role in shortening the sales cycle, making them an indispensable asset.

Here are a few ways to use demos throughout the sales cycle:

• Awareness stage: Interactive demos can be used directly on the website or product page, or embedded within marketing materials to showcase product benefits directly.
• Consideration stage: Live demos help sales teams connect directly with buyers based on their individual needs, and are often a critical part of the sales process.
• Decision stage : According to our recent survey of sales practitioners , the majority of enterprise sales teams (86%) have lost a deal to a committee decision at least once in the last month. Instead of the typical PDF or demo video recording, an interactive demo can guide buying committees through the best features within your solution, making it much easier for your champion to help you close the deal.

Sales Presentations & Demonstrations

Sales presentations and demonstrations serve as the dynamic duo that brings a product to life. Through strategic planning, engaging content, and personalized delivery, sales presentations and demonstrations bridge the gap between a product’s potential and the customer’s understanding, laying the foundation for successful conversions .

Delivering a successful sales presentation requires careful research of a buyer’s industry, pain points, and objectives. From there, it’s key to develop a narrative that highlights relatable scenarios or customer case studies. Showcase what sets your product apart from competitors, by comparing your product’s features and benefits to alternatives in the market. The ultimate goal is to clearly articulate the value that the product offers to the prospective customer.

The Best Product Demo Creation Tool

The right demo creation platform should help anyone on your go-to-market team build demos quickly and easily. Demo creation platforms make it possible for go-to-market teams to generate and share high-fidelity, custom interactive demos that look, feel, and behave just like a software solution without developer involvement.

Among the tools available, Reprise stands out as the first fully integrated, interactive demo creation platform. Reprise is the only solution built for the entire go-to-market demo lifecycle. It’s easy to use and extensible for all types of demo creators, from product marketers, to solutions engineers, to account executives. Reprise enables anyone to build product demos and illuminate key features at any stage in the sales process — improving both conversion rates and the prospective customer experience. In addition, using Reprise removes the security and failure risks that often arise from a homegrown demo sandbox environment.

The Reprise demo creation platform is made up of three core products. Here are some of the key features and benefits of each.

Reprise Reveal

Reprise Reveal helps sales team members easily customize a live application or existing demo environment on-demand, with no code required. Reveal works by sitting on top of your real product, helping you tell an interactive, compelling story for prospective buyers. Using Reprise Reveal, you can create demo templates by use case, vertical, or persona. Reveal applies edits to your live demo environment instantly so sales teams can give buyers an immersive experience, without extensive setup time or engineering involvement.

Reprise Replay

Reprise Replay enables go-to-market teams to create interactive demos and product tours with ease. You can create demo templates or demo libraries by use case, vertical, or persona. With Reprise Replay, it’s simple to edit, customize, or change the look and feel of your application to create tours, leave-behinds, and demos that show off the breadth of your product’s capabilities. Depending on the prospect’s needs, you can change charts, add data, swap pictures, build animations, insert videos, show integrations, hide or highlight parts of your product, and much more.

Reprise Replicate

Reprise Replicate helps teams create a safe, stable demo environment. Instead of demoing in their homegrown demo environment, which can be difficult to maintain and prone to error, teams can clone a full application into a new environment for flawless demos without the headaches of traditional sandboxes. As with other Reprise products, it’s simple to genericize your data, then customize by vertical, use case, market segment, and more.

Hundreds of enterprise customers trust Reprise to tell their story with product demos. Customer case studies from companies like Cloudera, EvaluAgent, and Unbabel showcase how Reprise shortens time-to-value for prospective customers, shrinking sales cycles and conveying complex product messaging much better than tactics such as free trials. More customer language and testimonials can be viewed on review site G2 , as well.

Frequently Asked Questions: Demystifying Product Demos

How do product demos improve close rates? Product demos provide a tangible showcase of a product’s value, addressing concerns and building trust, which collectively contribute to higher close rates. Demos allow buyers to self-qualify earlier in the funnel so buyers are more educated and purchase-ready by the time they get to sales. And, they enable SEs to be more efficient, so they can give customized, best-practice demos that result in higher close rates.

What is the purpose of a product demo? The purpose of a product demo is to visually and experientially communicate a product’s features, benefits, and functionality, allowing potential customers to make informed decisions.

What makes a product demo good? A good product demo is engaging, informative, and tailored to the audience’s needs. It effectively communicates the product’s value proposition and leaves a lasting impression.

What should you include in a product demonstration? A product demonstration should include a clear presentation of key features, benefits, real-world use cases, and a compelling narrative that resonates with the audience.

When do product demos happen in the sales process? Product demos are strategically placed throughout the sales process, from the awareness stage to the consideration stage to close, guiding potential customers toward making a purchase decision.

What is the goal of a product demo? The goal of a product demo is to provide potential customers with a firsthand experience of a product’s value, leading to increased understanding, trust, and ultimately, conversions.

In the complex enterprise sales process, product demos emerge as one of the most effective ways to showcase a product’s key features and benefits, while weaving in compelling and targeted narratives that help potential customers understand how your product will work specifically for them. Armed with this comprehensive guide, you’re now equipped to take advantage of the power of product demos, forging prospect connections, accelerating conversions, and driving go-to-market success.

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How to Make a Product Demo Video that converts (+Free Template)

Did you know that by the time someone is looking for a product demo video, they’re already very keen on the idea of buying that said product? In fact, there’s a good chance they’re already sold.

Research by Think With Google found that over 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store, making it crucial for businesses to invest in product demo videos. Without a compelling demonstration of your product, you run the risk of losing potential customers to competitors that have invested in video marketing.

Make amazing demo videos!

Make professional-quality demos videos quickly and easily with Camtasia. Record your screen or upload an existing video, then bring the “Wow!” with effects, music, and much more.

You may already have a good idea of just how important video marketing is and the impact it can have on driving sales. But, creating a product demo video might seem intimidating if you’re not familiar with the process. 

That’s where this guide comes in! 

In this article, we’ll provide you with the necessary resources and skills to create a top-notch product demo video that will help you showcase the unique features and benefits of your product.

What is a product demo video?

In a nutshell, a product demonstration video illustrates how your product works by showing it in action. This can be a compelling way to communicate the value of your product to prospective customers and persuade them to make a purchase.

In fact, product demo videos are one of the most popular types of instructional videos out there – and for good reason! Plus, knowing how to make a product demo video is a skill that will serve you well across a wide range of industries and professions — maybe even all of them! 

What’s more, you don’t need to be a video expert to create an amazing demo video! With the right tools and a bit of planning, you’ll be well on your way to creating a stunning video that showcases the full potential of your product.

In this guide, we’ll break down the process of how to make a demo video into four easy steps, so you can create outstanding video marketing content. But first, let’s take a look at some of the other ways businesses can benefit from demo videos.

The Marketer’s Ultimate Guide to Video

Text: In our FREE ebook, we’ve put together practical strategies to get out of the woods and create engaging, powerful video content on your own that reaches your audience.

How can product demo videos benefit your business?

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: product demo videos are an effective — possibly the most effective — way to showcase a product’s features and use cases.

By visually demonstrating how your product works and highlighting important features, you can help potential customers understand how it can meet their needs. This is especially important in today’s market, where consumers are bombarded with countless options and are often looking for guidance on what to buy. 

However, the very best demo videos can benefit businesses in a number of ways. From building trust and credibility to increasing traffic and sales. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most valuable ways in which a video demo of a product can help businesses grow. 

Product demo videos build credibility

Perhaps one of the key benefits of product demo videos is that they can help establish credibility and encourage your audience to trust that your product is going to help them in the way they need. 

By giving potential customers a clear understanding of what they can expect from your product and what makes it the best solution to the problem they’re trying to solve, you can help them feel more comfortable in taking the next step and making a purchase. This is especially important for newer or lesser-known products, where customers may be hesitant to take a chance on something they’re unfamiliar with.

Product demo videos introduce product features

Showcasing the features of a product and its USPs is a great way to sell to an audience without making it feel like a heavy-handed sales pitch. Rather than telling your audience they need to buy your product, you’re showing them how it will help them. 

This ‘show don’t tell’ approach can be a great way to explain how your product will address their needs, without seeming too “salesy”. In turn, this will help you build trust with your audience, and come across as a brand that’s authentic and approachable.

You can also use product demos as a way to announce product updates and explain new features. By walking viewers through the changes and showing how they’ll benefit, you can get your audience excited about what’s to come. 

Product demo videos increase traffic

There are a number of ways that video can help boost traffic to your website. First, the internet has become an incredibly visual space and with this change, videos have become more and more important for SEO.

In fact, research shows that websites featuring videos are 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google than those without. And with over 25% of searchers clicking on the first organic search result , getting links to your website as high as possible on the first page of Google is key to driving traffic.

And what do users do once they’re on a website with lots of video content? They watch the content! Your videos will encourage users to spend more time on your page, which sends a positive signal to search engines — boosting your SEO and web traffic even higher! It’s like the opposite of a vicious circle. 

Finally, videos can be shared across a wide range of platforms, from YouTube to Facebook, all of which can increase your brand’s visibility and reach. In fact, viewers will share the very best videos with their friends and family, further increasing your exposure and driving more traffic to your website.

Product demo videos increase sales

When potential customers see your product in action, they’ll start to understand how it can solve their problems, which will make them more likely to buy. It’s not just about showing them what your product can do, it’s about addressing any doubts or concerns they may have about the quality or effectiveness of the product in question.

Good advertising has, at some point or another, fooled all of us into thinking that some product is going to be the best thing since sliced bread. But then when we finally get our hands on it, it doesn’t live up to expectations and we’re left disappointed. 

As a result, many people have become skeptical of advertising and wary of products that might not be all they’re cracked up to be. However, showing people how your product works will give them a little taste of what it will be like to use it themselves. This can alleviate doubts, which will make consumers more likely to make a purchase.

So, if your business is yet to make a product demo video, then what are you waiting for? 

How to make a product demo video

Step 1: plan your product demo video.

As the old adage goes, failing to plan is planning to fail — and the same goes when you make a demo video. To create a successful demo video it’s absolutely vital that you take the time to plan out your video. 

This means thinking about your video’s message, working out what you want your audience to learn from it, and what they’ll need to see in order to take the next step. As you plan your product demo, you’ll also want to include the following points:

Describe the product

Provide a high-level introduction to what your product does — but keep it brief. Remember, your audience is already interested in buying your product, they wouldn’t be watching your video if they weren’t! 

Provide a solution

While it can be tempting to focus exclusively on cool features, be sure to mention the problems and pain points that your product will solve. The idea here is to remind your audience why they need your product, which will encourage them to take the plunge. 

Show how the product works

A video demo wouldn’t be a demo without a demonstration. But remember, while it’s important to show your audience how your product works, you should avoid going into too much detail. 

Your demo video doesn’t need to outline every single step required to use the product. In fact, it’s usually better to put the more intricate details in a tutorial video .

If you are working with a complex product, however, you might consider creating multiple demo videos that address different functions and uses. However, we’d still recommend starting with a more general overview that’s likely to appeal to your entire audience.

Provide the audience with a clear call-to-action (CTA)

At the end of your demo video, always provide a specific and clear next step for your audience to take. Your CTA can be super simple, such as a button to “Start a Trial”, “Request More Information”, or even “Buy Now”. In fact, we’d say that the best CTAs are simple and effortless — because customers are more likely to follow the path of least resistance. 

Once you’ve thought through each aspect and have an idea of how to incorporate them into your video, you might find it helpful to write a script and storyboard . This will ensure you have a solid foundation for your product video demonstration.

Then, with a clear plan of action, it’s time to move on to step two.

Step 2: Start with a product demo video template

Now, if you’re thinking that you need to create a product demo video from scratch, we’re here to tell you otherwise. 

With Camtasia, you can access a wide range of templates to help make the video creation process as smooth and easy as possible. And before you ask, yes, we do have a product demo template that you can use in Camtasia. 

This template is called “feature demo”, and as soon as you open it into Camtasia, you’ll see that, as if by magic, your entire video will already be laid out for you. Best of all, the template is completely customizable! You can change colors, logos, fonts, and more to fit your product branding.

Once you’ve opened up your template, it’s time to move on to the third step: recording your footage.

Step 3: Record your product in action

To capture a software program in action, you’ll need a tool that will let you record your screen. Fortunately, we at TechSmith have several screen recording tools you can use.

Of course, if you’re filming a demonstration of a physical product, you’ll need a physical camera rather than a screen recorder. But most of the other steps discussed in this guide will still apply to you. 

For desktop software

If you’re using a desktop, Camtasia is a great all-in-one program for creating a demo video project, as it offers tools to record your screen and edit your video.

For iOS apps

On the other hand, if you need to record an app or feature on an iOS device, we can help you there as well! With the TechSmith Capture mobile app, you can easily record your smartphone screen and import the recording into Camtasia .

Once you have your software open on your computer, you may want to walk through the product demonstration a few times for practice, kind of like a dress rehearsal!  When it comes to doing the product demonstration for real, it’s worth considering the desired dimensions of your finished video, as resizing it later on might affect the picture quality. Knowing the output size before you record will ensure that your finished video is crisp and clear .

Then, when you’re ready, open Camtasia and select the record option. You’ll then be prompted to select the part of your screen that you wish to capture.

This is also when you’ll need to select which audio sources you want to record, including system audio, microphone audio, neither, or both. Recording system audio means anything that would normally play through your computer speakers will also be captured, which might be important if your software features any sound.

However, system audio refers to all the sounds that your computer makes, including things like email notifications. So be sure to adjust your settings so your recording isn’t interrupted by distracting beeps and tones.

If you choose to record your narration as you demonstrate your product, then you’ll also want to capture your microphone . However, if you have prepared a script, you might find it easier to record your voiceover separately, after you’ve captured the onscreen action. But don’t worry, Camtasia makes it easy to sync audio and video sources .  

Once all the prep and practice is out of the way, it’s time to hit the Record button and capture your demonstration. Don’t worry — you’ve got this! 

When you’ve finished showing how the product works, hit Stop. 

You can follow the same steps to capture any additional recordings that you outlined in your plan. Keep in mind, it’s easier to remove or trim down any unwanted footage than to have to re-record a missed step later.

Step 4: Edit your product demo Video

Once you’ve planned and filmed your video, it’s time for the fun part – editing! Don’t worry if you’re new to this, Camtasia’s easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor makes editing easy and intuitive.

The editing suite is where you can trim your footage , insert your audio narration, add captions , add music , and play with animated effects — as well as a load of other things that will make your video stand out. 

From the TechSmith blog to the free TechSmith Academy, there’s a whole library of resources and instructional tutorials that you can use to familiarize yourself with all of Camtasia’s tools.

However, do keep in mind that despite the cornucopia of tools and effects, it’s important not to go overboard. We know firsthand how tempting it can be to use every neat trick you learn, but remember to refer back to your storyboard for guidance, and always keep your audience in mind.

The best videos are usually kept simple so that your audience can focus on the information you want to convey.

How to edit with templates

If you used a template to create your video, even better! Your editing process will be even faster and more efficient.

With the template already laid out on your timeline, it’s as simple as taking your screen recording (or real-life footage) and dropping it into the placeholder.

Camtasia will give you a few options for adding your footage to the placeholders, but we recommend using Ripple Replace. This option adjusts the length of the placeholder to fit your footage, without removing affecting the other items and effects. It’s all customizable though, so feel free to adjust the transitions and identification (often called lower-third) graphics as you see fit.

The “feature demo” template also has options to add device frames that can make your footage look like it’s on a computer screen or mobile device. All you have to do is drag your clip into a scene and transition into the full screen of your recording.

Pretty sweet, right?

Bonus! Reuse your template

Now this part is really cool. Once you have your demo video set out the way you like, you can save it as a new template, ready to be used for your next video, and the one after that! 

This can save a lot of time in the future as you’ll already have all your own brand elements ready to go. The only thing you’ll have to do next time is swap out the footage and any visual aids, such as text or annotations, that are specific to your recording.

Saving the video you just made as your own custom template is easy too. In fact, it’s probably easier than all the other steps we’ve covered — and even they weren’t that hard, right? 

The first step is to replace the screen recording with a placeholder, after you’ve saved and/or exported your demo video that is. To do this, right-click any piece of media on the timeline and choos Convert to Placeholder.

Then, go to File > Save as Template and provide a name for the template file. This saves the template in Camtasia on your computer.

If, on the other hand, you want to share your template, go to File > Export > Template, and name the file.

Your template will then be exported as a Camtasia Template file, known as a CAMTEMPLATE. Once it’s exported, you can send the file to colleagues or place it in a shared location. All they have to do is download the template file and double-click to add it to their templates menu, where it can be selected at any time.

The Camtasia template file works on both Windows and Mac, so you don’t have to worry about sharing between different platforms.

Product demo video FAQs

The ideal length for a product demo video is between 60 and 90 seconds, though two minutes is okay for more complicated products. This should be the perfect amount of time to showcase the key features of your product, without overwhelming the viewer with information.

Most product demo videos have a product intro, a demonstration of its key features, and a call to action. This way, you can show your audience how your product will help them, and encourage them to take the next step, such as registering for a free trial or making a purchase.

When it comes to budget, there’s no one-size fits all solution. Big companies spend thousands of dollars on their demo videos. But, with the right knowledge, a little planning, and some practice, you can create a demo video in-house for little to no cost.

Ryan Knott is a Marketing Content Strategist at TechSmith, where he creates content about easy, effective, and efficient video creation, editing, and tips and tricks, as well as audio editing for creators of all kinds. He/him.

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Sales | How To

How to Give Product Demos That Sell + Script Examples

Published April 20, 2023

Published Apr 20, 2023

REVIEWED BY: Jess Pingrey

WRITTEN BY: Bianca Caballero

This article is part of a larger series on Sales Management .

• 1 Qualify the Lead
• 2 Send Detailed Demo Meeting Invitations
• 3 Start with Expectations and an Agenda
• 4 Build Your Company’s Credibility
• 5 Explain Your Product’s Value
• 6 Provide Use-case Scenarios
• 7 Discuss Product Implementation
• 8 Answer Questions
• 9 Establish a Post-meeting Plan
• 10 Best Practices for a Successful Product Demo
• 11 Product Demo Statistics

Product demonstrations (demos) are a key component in the sales process that let leads see your product in action. They require lead qualification, formal invites, an organized agenda, and a focus on your product’s value and uses to be effective. By doing so, demos build trust in your brand and your business’ expertise. In this article, we show you how to give a product demo (with example scripts) and suggest tools to help you get the most value out of your demos.

What is a product demo and why does it matter?

A product demo is a presentation of a tangible product or software application and is typically presented live, either in-person or via video conferencing, or through a prerecorded video. For businesses like software as a service (SaaS) companies and office equipment retailers, product demos are a crucial stage in their sales pipeline . Demos could make the difference between winning and losing a deal, so there should be extensive sales training for reps in this area.

Now that you know the definition and importance of a product demo, you can begin filling your pipeline with leads and guiding them toward this stage. Follow these nine steps on how to give product demos that sell.

1. Qualify the Lead

Before inviting a lead to a product demo, make sure this potential customer is a good fit for what you’re selling. As part of the lead qualification process, ask extensive questions during your introduction calls or through email exchanges to understand their situation and purchase timing. This helps ensure you aren’t wasting time presenting demonstrations to buyers who don’t have a need (or budget) for your products.

Pre-demo questions also help you gear your demonstration to things that matter to your leads. To best understand their needs and priorities, you can refer to these example questions below as a guide to uncover important information before a product demo:

Qualification Questions

• What is your budget for this type of solution?
• Are you the primary decision-maker for this solution, or should other people be involved in the buying process?
• What specific problems are you looking to solve?
• Are there specific features or product attributes you want to get out of this solution?
• When would you like to implement this solution?

If any answers to these questions don’t fit your pricing, product or brand attributes, or ideal timeline, consider not moving forward with the demo.

Product Demo-related Questions

• What current product or provider are you using (if any)?
• Is there anything in particular that you like about this product or provider?
• Is there anything you’d like to see improved about this product or provider?
• Do you have any concerns about making this type of change?

Focus your demonstration on addressing the answers to these questions. This will be most applicable later during the product demo, specifically in step six, when we explore use-case scenarios.

2. Send Detailed Demo Meeting Invitations

Once the lead has agreed to allow you to present your product and you’re confident they are a solid fit, the second step in learning how to do a demo is to send out the invitations. It’s essential to have anyone involved in the buying decision present at the meeting. You should have found this information when asking about “other decision-makers” or “other people involved” during step one.

In addition to the actual invite (that’s likely a Zoom or other video conferencing call), you should include an email message acknowledging your appreciation for them taking the time and showing interest in a demo. Additionally, include directions required to get on the call and a brief description of what will take place.

Below is an example template to construct this email:

Email Template

Subject: Our Demo Call Next Thursday

Hi [lead name],

Thank you for agreeing to a product demonstration. While you may or may not be the sole decision-maker for a purchasing decision, please feel free to invite any other members of your business to the presentation.

Below are the instructions for logging into the meeting:

[Include meeting instructions, links, and any other relevant details.]

Per the information you’ve provided, the product demonstration will focus on [aspects of the product you want to show and addresses the lead’s pain points]. Please let me know if you have any questions prior to our meeting.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

[ Email signature ]

If you are meeting with them in person at their office, rather than include instructions to your meeting, ask if there’s any information they need to know about parking, entering, security, and so on. If you are hosting the in-person meeting, your instructions should include basic directions to your office building and additional details they will need to know once they arrived.

Pro tip: Scheduling a product demo can be a breeze using scheduling automation tools like Calendly. This software lets you configure a system based on your needs and around your schedule. Users can also send a link to their leads in an email or using an online button, taking them to a scheduling portal to find a time that works for everyone. Upon creating a meeting, the attendees’ calendars are automatically synced with the Calendly event.

Team scheduling portal (Source: Calendly )

Visit Calendly

3. Start With Expectations & an Agenda

The next step in exploring how to make a demo presentation is to give brief introductions once all attendees have arrived. Some teams like to bring in a product or software expert from the organization to help explain some technical aspects—the sales rep should introduce that person. This is also when you’ll review the agenda and assure everyone you will stick to the allocated time established before the meeting.

Pro tip: Some video conferencing software like Zoom has a whiteboard or note-taking feature you can use to show your agenda before starting the meeting. You can even take notes throughout the meeting to send to the attendees upon completion.

Whiteboard feature for collaboration (Source: Zoom )

4. Build Your Company’s Credibility

The first section of your product demo presentation should be an overview of your business to build brand credibility. Quickly review your founding story, the products and services you provide, and the types of customers and clients you work with. This is also an excellent time to discuss any awards and accreditations your company, product, or key personnel (such as your CEO) have received.

You can also use testimonials or customer success stories. These help expand your credibility and trust by letting your customers and the value they’ve obtained speak for you instead of you building your brand without evidence or context.

Below is a demo script template you can use:

Script Template

In line with the agenda, I’ll briefly go over a little bit about our company. We were founded in [date founded] for the purpose of [mission or other purpose statements]. In addition to [product you’re doing a demo for], we also assist with [other products or services you offer].

Over the course of [years active] years, we’ve helped a multitude of [clients or customers], including [list clientele]. Our high-quality work has [won us {awards}, helped our company grow, and kept our customers happy].

Enough about us—let’s get into why you are here today.

It’s important to keep this section brief so you can focus on the product and customer needs of your attendees. Ultimately, the presentation isn’t for you to brag about past achievements, but to show how your product can help customers achieve their goals.

Pro tip: For product demonstrations, you may need copywriting, graphic design, or video production services. Fiverr is a cost-effective platform that connects your business with talented freelancers to help in these areas. The platform makes it easy to find freelancers, assign projects, and pay them all in one place.

Popular freelance services (Source: Fiverr )

Visit Fiverr

5. Explain Your Product’s Value

Once you’ve established trust and credibility with your leads, go right into the product they want to see and share its unique selling proposition . If the product has an interesting backstory, such as a unique way it was designed or an initial purpose different from today, share that story with them so they can understand your product better. Next, go into how the product works by describing its architecture, design, and how it’s delivered and hosted.

After the baseline product description, walk through the specific features of the product. During a software demo presentation, you could show the modules, such as the home dashboard that lays out the button options for navigating the platform. You might even dive deeper and show how a data entry is made in the system, then talk about the advantages and benefits of your product’s design as opposed to others.

For example, if you were selling software, go into how it’s cloud-based so the data isn’t stored on-premise and can be automatically backed up. If you are showing something tangible, such as a multipurpose printer, go through the subfeatures of the unit to show it printing, scanning, and faxing. When you show the features of a product, focus more on the end result to help your prospect remember how your product can help address their pain points.

6. Provide Use-case Scenarios

This step is arguably the most valuable one in the eyes of your lead attendees. It is your chance to take those features you briefly showed and put them into action through real-life scenarios. Directly address a pain point or daily activity the lead or their employees face. You can refer back to the answers they gave to your demo-related questions in step one.

Let’s say you’re selling a customer relationship management (CRM) system specifically for marketing agencies. Your platform has a built-in project management and content management system (CMS) . Marketing agencies often struggle with collaboration because of the many different specialists involved, such as content developers and project managers. Some of them aren’t necessarily employees of the agency, but contractors for other companies.

Therefore, focus your use-case scenario on this pain point by showing the project management module in use. Show them exactly how it works by creating projects, adding personnel, creating and assigning tasks, uploading content and materials, then updating the project status. The point is to take the “explain product” step further by adding relevant context.

7. Discuss Product Implementation

After presenting the product features and use cases, outline the implementation process. It could be a simple one-day installation, one-week order to deliver, or more complex, like a three-month process of subscribing and then going through training. This is also an excellent time to explain any infrastructure requirements of your product.

For example, your software might only work for certain operating systems, integrate with specific tools, or be restricted to cloud or on-premise environments. If it’s an industrial printer, it may need specific space dimensions and power channels to be fully installed. On the other hand, a cleaning spray might require a certain temperature for safe storage. These details should be discussed during your presentation, along with purchase costs.

Total cost, pricing model (flat fee, per unit, per user, and so on), financing options, and any warranties, free trials, or return policies should be explained. You may also have customizable options or a tiered pricing system if the lead wants to purchase from you but needs to stay within a certain budget.

Pro tip: Download and customize our free estimate templates to quickly and consistently lay out your proposed pricing model for your product or service. Our article also comes with tips for writing estimates.

8. Answer Questions

While answering questions during a question-and-answer (Q&A) session seems simple, it’s best to anticipate what might be asked prior to the product demo. Be prepared to re-show the product in use as common demo questions involve going over a feature a lead wants to see. If a question is asked but you do not know the answer, include your response in the post-meeting plan to address it in a follow-up email.

Additionally, you can offer to set up another meeting that will address the questions or concerns they had during the initial demo you were unable to answer. You can also record a video to include in your follow-up email that answers their questions.

Pro tip: You might also get outspoken concerns during this session such as the cost or fear of change or commitment. These are considered sales objections you can easily manage by reading our how-to guide for overcoming objections in sales . You’ll learn how to take various common concerns and turn them into opportunities.

9. Establish a Post-meeting Plan

The final component of a product demo is developing a plan to move forward. Odds are, the lead won’t be ready to make a purchase decision after the demo and will need some time. You’ll need to listen carefully to the position they are in during that moment. They might need to include more people in the buying process, take the idea to the board, or learn more about the product before making any decision.

To keep control of the process, offer to send anything relevant to their current position. For instance, if they expressed interest in pricing, send a proposal or quote information . Send product information following the call if they need upper management to review anything first or want to learn more about the product. Also, reference that you’ll get answers to their unanswered questions and provide them with the next steps based on their situation.

Below is one of the product demonstration examples you can use to conclude your product demo:

I hope we addressed your questions, and concerns, and “wowed” you with what our product can do. As for the next steps, based on where you are now, I’ll send a follow-up email with [proposal, quotes, more product information, an invite to another call, and so on] for you [and/or upper management, other decision-makers, other users] to reference.

I’ll also get [answers or confirmation] to those questions you had about [unanswered questions]. Feel free to reach out if you need anything else in the meantime.

Even if the lead is undecided on a purchase decision, sending more information following the demo keeps you fresh in their minds. After a demonstration, it may still be months to a year before the decision is made, especially for high-dollar sales deals with multiple decision-makers. Don’t be discouraged, as timing can be a factor despite plenty of interest. Continuously follow up to check in with the lead and see if anything will speed up the process.

Best Practices for a Successful Product Demo

An effective sales demonstration is customized to the prospect’s business needs and process. It should show your client how they would use your product or service and how the latter can address their problems or pain points. Below is a list of best practices to meet your product demo objectives.

Gather Information About Your Customers

Discovery is an essential step you need to take before presenting your product. This involves gathering data from your current customers, market research, and potential prospects. Find out what they want in a product like yours and if other stakeholders will be present during your demo. Use the information you have gathered to establish rapport with your customers and their need for your product or service.

Highlight Important Points

At some point in your demo, your prospect might be distracted and miss some important points of your presentation. To regain their attention, you can pause for a moment, address your prospect by name, and briefly highlight your point.

Keep Your Mouse Under Control

During your presentation, your prospects will be following the movements of your computer mouse. Avoid jerky and unnecessary movements and only move your cursor when needed, like when you want to show how to execute a command.

Manage Your Time Wisely

Most modern buyers research your product before scheduling a demo and are likely looking into another brand. That said, it is best to keep your presentation short and simple by tailoring it to their needs and pain points. While demos usually run for 30 to 60 minutes, the ideal time for one is 15 minutes or less.

Be Prepared for Fails & Crashes

When you give a software demo, you are bound to encounter fails, bugs, and app crashes. Prepare yourself to deal with these contingencies by opening in advance the apps or pages that take a while to load. When any of these things happen, it is best to tell the prospect the truth about what’s going on. You can also use such an instance as an opportunity to walk them through the process of contacting your support team.

Record Your Demo

When you record your live demo, you can replay it to review your performance and refine your technique in closing deals. You can also use prerecorded demos as a tool to market your product and to screen qualified prospects. It will encourage prospects who are genuinely interested in your product to get in touch with you.

Key Product Demo Statistics

Whether you’re conducting a live presentation or recording a demonstration video, these statistics show just how valuable product demos are and objective ways to optimize them:

In 75% of situations in small businesses, it takes more than three days between a demo request & the actual demo.

Takeaway: As mentioned in the previous section, customers nowadays do their own research on multiple products before attending a demo session. It is best to shorten your response time to a demo request so you can get in touch with your prospect quickly and find out how to address their business needs.

(Source: Navattic )

A standard sales demo lasts 30 to 60 minutes.

Takeaway: Demos don’t need to be as comprehensive as product training. Keep your presentations shorter by focusing on the product features relevant to your prospect’s needs.

20% of prospects engage with products via interactive demos.

Takeaway: Interactive product demos are a great way to let prospects engage with your product without the lengthy setup process. The rise of this engagement process shows users are looking for ways to try a product before they commit to a paid subscription.

96% of users have watched an explainer video to gain information about a product or service.

Takeaway: An overwhelming majority of customers and internet users watch an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. In addition, 89% of them said that doing so helped convince them to make a purchase.

(Source: Wyzowl )

36% of marketers used product demo videos in 2022.

Takeaway: Business marketers create various videos, and prerecorded product demos were among the most widely used last year. As mentioned in the previous section, demo videos are useful not only for marketing, but also for screening prospects.

Bottom Line

Business owners and sales management personnel must develop compelling product demo procedures to convert interested leads into potential buyers. This stage of the pipeline helps prospects gain confidence in your brand and see how your product will help them achieve their goals. By using our guide on how to give a product demo, product demonstration examples, and recommended software tools, you will close more deals and help your business scale.

About the Author

Find Bianca On LinkedIn

Bianca Caballero

Bianca Caballero is a subject matter expert at Fit Small Business who covers Sales and Customer service topics. Prior to working at FSB, she was in field sales and territory management. When she launched her career as a writer, she worked with companies from the US, Australia, and China. At present, she uses her 12+ years of writing experience to provide FSB readers with the best answers to their questions.

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Navigating the challenges and opportunities of synthetic voices.

We’re sharing lessons from a small scale preview of Voice Engine, a model for creating custom voices.

OpenAI is committed to developing safe and broadly beneficial AI . Today we are sharing preliminary insights and results from a small-scale preview of a model called Voice Engine, which uses text input and a single 15-second audio sample to generate natural-sounding speech that closely resembles the original speaker. It is notable that a small model with a single 15-second sample can create emotive and realistic voices.

We first developed Voice Engine in late 2022, and have used it to power the preset voices available in the text-to-speech API as well as ChatGPT Voice and Read Aloud . At the same time, we are taking a cautious and informed approach to a broader release due to the potential for synthetic voice misuse. We hope to start a dialogue on the responsible deployment of synthetic voices, and how society can adapt to these new capabilities. Based on these conversations and the results of these small scale tests, we will make a more informed decision about whether and how to deploy this technology at scale.

Early applications of Voice Engine

To better understand the potential uses of this technology, late last year we started privately testing it with a small group of trusted partners. We've been impressed by the applications this group has developed. These small scale deployments are helping to inform our approach, safeguards, and thinking about how Voice Engine could be used for good across various industries. A few early examples include:

• Providing reading assistance to non-readers and children through natural-sounding, emotive voices representing a wider range of speakers than what's possible with preset voices. Age of Learning , an education technology company dedicated to the academic success of children, has been using this to generate pre-scripted voice-over content. They also use Voice Engine and GPT-4 to create real-time, personalized responses to interact with students. With this technology, Age of Learning has been able to create more content for a wider audience.

1. Reference audio

2. generated audio.

• Translating content , like videos and podcasts, so creators and businesses can reach more people around the world, fluently and in their own voices. One early adopter of this is HeyGen , an AI visual storytelling platform that works with their enterprise customers to create custom, human-like avatars for a variety of content, from product marketing to sales demos. They use Voice Engine for video translation, so they can translate a speaker's voice into multiple languages and reach a global audience. When used for translation, Voice Engine preserves the native accent of the original speaker: for example generating English with an audio sample from a French speaker would produce speech with a French accent.
• Reaching global communities , by improving essential service delivery in remote settings. Dimagi is building tools for community health workers to provide a variety of essential services, such as counseling for breastfeeding mothers. To help these workers develop their skills, Dimagi uses Voice Engine and GPT-4 to give interactive feedback in each worker's primary language including Swahili or more informal languages like Sheng, a code-mixed language popular in Kenya.
• Breastfeeding
• Supporting people who are non-verbal , such as therapeutic applications for individuals with conditions that affect speech and educational enhancements for those with learning needs. Livox , an AI alternative communication app, powers Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) devices that enable people with disabilities to communicate. By using Voice Engine, they are able to offer people who are non-verbal unique and non-robotic voices across many languages. Their users can choose speech that best represents them, and for multilingual users, maintain a consistent voice across each spoken language.
• Helping patients recover their voice , for those suffering from sudden or degenerative speech conditions. The Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute at Lifespan , a not-for-profit health system that serves as the primary teaching affiliate of Brown University's medical school, is exploring uses of AI in clinical contexts. They've been piloting a program offering Voice Engine to individuals with oncologic or neurologic etiologies for speech impairment. Since Voice Engine requires such a short audio sample, doctors Fatima Mirza, Rohaid Ali and Konstantina Svokos were able to restore the voice of a young patient who lost her fluent speech due to a vascular brain tumor, using audio from a video recorded for a school project.

1. Current voice

2. reference audio, 3. generated audio, building voice engine safely.

We recognize that generating speech that resembles people's voices has serious risks, which are especially top of mind in an election year. We are engaging with U.S. and international partners from across government, media, entertainment, education, civil society and beyond to ensure we are incorporating their feedback as we build. 

The partners testing Voice Engine today have agreed to our usage policies , which prohibit the impersonation of another individual or organization without consent or legal right. In addition, our terms with these partners require explicit and informed consent from the original speaker and we don’t allow developers to build ways for individual users to create their own voices. Partners must also clearly disclose to their audience that the voices they're hearing are AI-generated. Finally, we have implemented a set of safety measures, including watermarking to trace the origin of any audio generated by Voice Engine, as well as proactive monitoring of how it's being used. 

We believe that any broad deployment of synthetic voice technology should be accompanied by voice authentication experiences that verify that the original speaker is knowingly adding their voice to the service and a no-go voice list that detects and prevents the creation of voices that are too similar to prominent figures.

Looking ahead

Voice Engine is a continuation of our commitment to understand the technical frontier and openly share what is becoming possible with AI. In line with our approach to AI safety and our voluntary commitments , we are choosing to preview but not widely release this technology at this time. We hope this preview of Voice Engine both underscores its potential and also motivates the need to bolster societal resilience against the challenges brought by ever more convincing generative models. Specifically, we encourage steps like:

• Phasing out voice based authentication as a security measure for accessing bank accounts and other sensitive information
• Exploring policies to protect the use of individuals' voices in AI
• Educating the public in understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI technologies, including the possibility of deceptive AI content
• Accelerating the development and adoption of techniques for tracking the origin of audiovisual content, so it's always clear when you're interacting with a real person or with an AI

It's important that people around the world understand where this technology is headed, whether we ultimately deploy it widely ourselves or not. We look forward to continuing to engage in conversations around the challenges and opportunities of synthetic voices with policymakers, researchers, developers and creatives.