Demo Mastery for the Technology Evangelist

re: Demo Mastery for the Technology Evangelist

Boris Hristov — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 22:00:40 GMT

As both a SQL Server trainer and presenter and someone who is trying to educate people on how to make their presentations better, I do want to add up and make this list even more complete. Here are just a few from me that make me angry every ... single ... time I see them during a presentation or demo:

1. Screensaver just turned on - so unprofessional and such a small and easy thing to fix. Still, I am seeing it very, very often!

2. Power saving options got just turned on - now your queries run slower, because Windows / Mac OS decided that they are not going to go back to Performance mode for some reason. Again - it's just a click away from fixing!

3. Various distractions - you just received an e-mail or your Skype rang. Probably, someone just wrote you on Facebook and a strange sound is coming from somewhere? These are all bad and they are bad, because they distract audience's attention. You don't want that! Believe me...

4. Your demos fail and you do not have a backup - how is it possible for presenters (and I am getting emotional here) to still think that when their demos fail, it is OK to say "ah...I do not know what happened, I will show it to you next time"? Seriously? That is really unprofessional and shows that you do not respect people's time (and that is REALLY BAD!). You always have to have screenshots or even better - a video recording of your demos! Gosh...

5. The audience cannot see what you are doing - this is so common and I have been on presentations where the presenter says: "I know you cannot see it, but I cannot do anything about it" and the whole room goes laughing(yes, they did!), because they know there is a way and it is so strange that you as a presenter don't! Take a step and test tools like ZoomIt, Magnifier, your OS built-in and make sure that the audience does not have to make any effort in order to see what is there on the screen.

One more - bonus :) - never ever (forever ever... :) ) say "as we all know". No, we don't! Noone knows everything, but that does not make us half people! That is why it is better to use "Did you know..." or "How many of you actually knew that...".

Hope these 6 helped. Kevin, what do you think?

re: Demo Mastery for the Technology Evangelist

KKline — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:33:15 GMT

Outstanding comments, Boris! I have a few more comments I should add about demos and presentations as well that are more 'logistical' in nature, like making sure you've got Zoomit installed AND that your fonts are visible to folks in the back of the room.

Again, very good contribution to the discussion. =^)

-Kev

re: Demo Mastery for the Technology Evangelist

Adam Machanic — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:35:54 GMT

Boris: I think many presenters say "as we all know" to try to show respect for the audience. It's interesting to think about. If you say "did you know..?" you might annoy someone who thinks they're above your content. If you say "as we all know" you annoy someone who didn't know. I'm not sure where the happy medium is. I don't say either!

re: Demo Mastery for the Technology Evangelist

Boris Hristov — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:05:28 GMT

@Kevin, I think we can do a pretty good list of NOT DOs and THINK ABOUT THESE here, yes! :)

@Adam, I see it this way - if you say "as we all know..." and I do not know it, I feel uncomfortable. I would never go with the "as we all know" in order to show respect to the audience. I will figure other way out to accomplish this and that is why I also do not use it.

If you say "did you know..." and I don't know it - I feel interested! I am about to learn something new! If, however, I know it, it's OK. Your comment regarding the people "above your content" is valid though, but do you really think that you as a presenter should care that much for people that obviously does not pay any respect to you and your content? I am always, always trying to tell students and people that I help with their presentations, that whatever they do, no matter how good they are, there will be a person - one or two, probably more, that will be dissatisfied with you and your stuff at the end. The question is - how can we make these people less! How can we do our presentations so good that when the moment comes we have just 2 people thinking that "this presentation was not a big deal"... :)

"How many of you actually knew that..." for me is the same as "did you know..." . Again, If I know it - good for me! If I don't - then obviously I will learn something new and I am interested.

These are all so tricky, don't you think? That is why I am also very, very careful of what I say and how I say it and If I can go and do my presentation without even using one of them - then even better. I am a total supporter of yours "I don't say either!" :)