Presenting Tips from Techcrunch

 Jeevan Aug 9, 2008

I usually don’t like to re-hash posts, but after reading what Michael Arrington just wrote for Tech Crunch, I felt like the advice was perfect for this forum. His original article on effective demos can be found here.

Below are observations taken from sitting through hundreds of phone and live demos at Techcruch50.

If you are presenting to a client, investor or partner keep the following in mind.

  • Show your product within the first 60 seconds. If you have to lead in with fluff, your product is incomplete, too complicated or not very useful in the market.
  • The best products take less than five minutes to demo
  • Leave people wanting more. Be minimalistic in your presentations. Let your audience lead the conversation. People are far more likely to remember you if they are make “discoveries,” and not having them forced down their throat.
  • Talk about what you’ve done, not what you’re going to do.
  • Understand your competitive landscape–current and historical. Know who has attempted what you are doing in the past and who is in your space today. If speaking about companies in past tense, know why they succeeded or failed. If speaking about your current competitors, know how you are different.
  • Short answers are best. From my own experience it is tiring hear some drone on and on when trying to answer a question.  Use words sparingly.
  • PowerPoint bullet slides are death. There is enough about this elsewhere.
  • USE A HANDSET ON A LANDLINE!!! I’ve been on calls where I’ve wanted to reach through the phone and strangle entrepreneurs because they decided to call me on skype.   Skype is great, except when there is a lag, or the line is choppy.  Also don’t use a speaker phone. The echo blows!!!
  • Answer questions honestly. If you don’t know the answer say something like “Hmmm… that’s a good question. Let me think about that for a second,” or “I’m not really sure, I’m going to have to think about that for a bit and get back to you,” or “I’m not sure to be honest. What do you think?,” or even that you will cross that bridge when you come to it. Just be honest. You won’t know the answer to everything unless you are a bullshit artist.
  • Always confirm the time of your meeting/call, and always be 15minutes early.
  • Practice. Practice. Practice.

If you have anything else to add to the list feel free to comment below.

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