Many speakers follow up their presentation with a demonstration of their product.  Whether it’s a software application, a piece of mechanical equipment, or a small appliance, the demo is the presenter’s chance to put their words into action, validating the claims they made during their slide deck.

The demo is your chance to put words into action.

Yet, most presenters are so focused on the quality of the presentation itself, they forget to fine-tune the demo.  As a result, they build up audience expectations, then fall flat when it really counts.

Here are some great tips for giving an amazing product demonstration.

1. Differentiate Yourself
Chances are, the prospective customer already has evaluated similar products, or will be speaking to other competitors in the near future, before making a final decision.  Since time will be limited, don’t waste it walking them through all the “me too” features.  Instead, highlight the characteristics of your product that make it unique and/or superior.

2. Customize It
Every product has countless interesting features and functions, but you’ll only have time to demonstrate a fraction of them.  So, it’s best to gather a little intelligence in advance.  Find out what the customer is trying to achieve through the use of your product, and focus on those capabilities that will help them get there.

3. Make It Interactive
Keep your audience engaged at all times, especially if the product you are showing is complex in nature.  Allow them to ask questions, or even select an audience member to participate “hands on”.  This will not only prevent their attention from wandering, it will give you the opportunity to capture valuable information about what they want to see, so you can structure the demonstration accordingly.

4.  Keep It Simple
Always remember that your audience doesn’t have the same level of technical or mechanical savvy that you do.  To avoid confusion, whenever possible, steer clear of technical or engineering jargon, and present the features of your product in layman’s terms.

5.  Be Flexible
Scripting and practicing your demo ahead of time is a wise idea.  However, you need to leave some room for “on the fly” change, based on audience response.  For example, a prospect may request to see a certain feature that you weren’t planning to show.  Or, they may ask a question that requires you to go back and re-explain functions that were already covered.   While preparedness is important, you also need to be able to “go with the flow”, so the audience is satisfied.

6.  You Need a Plan B
You’ve finished delivering your slides, and you’re getting ready to show your product.  But, you discover that it’s broken.  Now what?  Make sure you always have a backup plan in case of such emergencies.  For example, if its equipment you’re demonstrating, bring a second piece, just in case.  Or, keep a brief tutorial video on hand, so you can convey how certain features work.  If you’re showing software, be sure the room has a Web connection.  If your laptop fails, you can simply access the application via the Internet.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery? Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

Every marketer creates company presentations on a regular basis, but do you see slides as a chance to boost branding, drive customer engagement, and increase sales? More likely, you think creating presentations is a chore. Yet when done right, slide decks can be the ultimate weapon in your marketing arsenal.

Whether you’re developing a presentation for your worldwide sales team, putting together a few slides for your CEO’s upcoming presentation at a conference, or presenting a new messaging framework to the company, a set of engaging, brand-consistent slides is one of the strongest assets you have to build your business and boost revenues.

As ever, your slides should be engaging and exciting; boring slides will dampen, even damage, customer interest in your brand. Thankfully for those of us on the hook to create slide presentations, there are several web-based applications available that allow you to incorporate rich media, social features, real-time feeds, video and photos, and other interactive elements into slide decks. The trick is to make presentations interactive using social features so you can invite audience feedback before, during, and after you deliver your message. Social presentations allow you to engage your potential customers in a conversation instead of boring them into a coma. The result is deeper brand engagement — now and over the long term.

What’s more, in today’s share-everything, web-based world, ensuring that every slide deck you create presents a unified message is crucial to maintaining brand integrity. Your slides might get shared far and wide, so make sure your company message is clear, concise, and consistent.

Here are five tips to make your marketing presentations more social, engaging, and interactive:

Set the real (or virtual) stage
You might be creating a slide presentation to deliver in front of a live audience, or you might simply be creating the deck to distribute to potential customers via email or the web. Either way, start by creating anticipation around your presentation. Reach out to your intended audience using social media channels to get them excited about your presentation. Online community tools like MeetUp and Ning, as well Twitter hashtags or a dedicated Facebook page, allow you to spread the word about your upcoming presentation. As the creator of the presentation, make sure to participate in these communities by soliciting feedback on your proposed topic and networking with key contacts before your presentation.

Be social-friendly
The days of pushing marketing messages out to your audiences and hoping they notice are long gone; today’s marketing world is social, two-way, and based on the constant flow of real-time customer feedback. Likewise, your presentations should leverage social tools to create an interactive dialogue between your brand and potential customers. To make presentations “social friendly,” add short sound bites to your slides that your audience can quickly absorb and share with their larger social networks (think 140 characters). Also, include links to Facebook, Twitter, and blog entries that customers or partners have written about your brand. Add widgets from Yahoo or Google that display real-time stock tickers, RSS feeds, and other streamed information. Lastly, don’t forget to list personal and/or company social media links prominently at the beginning and end of your presentation. Inviting people to keep your message alive can be very powerful.

Invite feedback
Whether you’re delivering the presentation live or sending it to your intended audience to view later, make sure your slides include interactive elements that allow people to provide their feedback and opinions. If you won’t be there to deliver the presentation in person, include clickable buttons in your slides that say things like “Click here to share your opinion,” as well as urge people to visit your Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms to share their thoughts.

Backchannel basics
Inviting your live audience (and those watching your presentation from afar via the web or participating through other’s tweets) to comment in real-time on your presentation via a live Twitter feed is a powerful way to turn your presentation into a two-way conversation. Of course, it can also invite disaster if the audience begins posting negative or inappropriate comments while you are speaking. The way to manage the backchannel is to make sure you can see all comments as they come in, and better yet, incorporate these comments into your presentation. This takes a bit of multitasking, but by addressing feedback directly, you’ll avoid the torrential “pile up” of comments that can quickly turn negative. Today, there are tools (like SlideRocket) available to import backchannel comments directly into your presentation, so both you and the audience see them in real-time.

Keep talking
Like any marketing campaign, an interactive presentation is just the start of a longer and deeper conversation with your audience. The social nature of the web today means people who like your presentation will want to comment on it and share it with friends and colleagues. Make sure your presentations include “share this presentation” buttons, and also post the presentation, or parts of it, on the wider social web. You can put the presentation videos on YouTube, post the slides on your company’s Facebook page or intranet, and include a link to your online slide presentation in email campaigns, websites, or other marketing materials. By getting your presentation out there, you’ll invite continued feedback and build a larger social network of interested customers or employees.

If you think like a marketer when creating slides and make them social and interactive, you’re well on your way to attracting new customers and a loyal brand following with every presentation.

While in some presentation scenarios, the subtle approach in the better one to take, many cases call for a very over-the-top delivery, one in which everything – from the speaker’s hand gestures to the tone of his voice – has a theatrical flair to it.

Add some drama and give the audience a presentation they'll never forget.

By taking up the excitement and energy up a notch or two, and sprinkling in a little drama, you can give your audience a presentation experience they’ll never forget.

How can you make your delivery more theatrical and dramatic?  Here are some great ways to breathe life into your presentation:

1. Tell a Story
Nothing adds drama to a presentation more than an action-packed, one-of-a kind tale that demonstrates your key points.  Trying to teach attendees about motivation and perseverance?  Talk about the time your brother finished a triathlon – in first place – while battling the swine flu.  Giving advice on effective interview techniques?  Share the story of when you were put in front of an executive “firing squad”, and how you managed to keep your cool – and get the job.  Interesting, thrilling stories will captivate your audience, and create a sense of excitement around your subject matter.

2. Bigger, Bolder, Louder
At the heart of every dramatic presentation is the strong use of emphasis. Drama is all about exaggeration.  So, everything from your voice inflections to your hand motions and facial expressions, and even the images you use on your slides, should be far “grander” than normal, particularly at times when you want to draw attention to the most important elements within your content.

3.  Act It Out
Speeches can get dry and boring.  The presenter talks, the audience listens.  Yawn.  Whenever possible, jazz it up by acting out the ideas you’re trying to convey.  For example, if you’re training new customer support reps on how to handle angry clients, act out a mock conversation between a caller and an agent.  You can even engage your audience further by asking them to participate in these “acts”.

4. Its All About the Showmanship
When you are delivering a dramatic presentation, keep in mind that you are the host, the ringmaster, the emcee.  It’s up to you to set the tone, and to make your presentation as entertaining as possible.  Put on your showman’s hat, and bring all the charm and charisma you can muster.

5.  Put Yourself in the Audience’s Shoes
Review your presentation from the perspective of your attendees.  Go through it section by section, and analyze it carefully – for both content and delivery.  If it isn’t attention-grabbing, compelling, or high-impact, find a way to make it so – or remove it.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery? Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

You’ve done your research.  You’ve fine-tuned your content.  You’ve created a killer slide deck.  And, you’ve practiced over and over again.  What could possibly go wrong?

Are your presentations online?

The answer is – a lot!  If your slides are stored on your desktop or laptop, you may be leaving yourself open to major problems.  Many experts believe that hosting your presentation on the Web can reduce risks and help ensure a more seamless and trouble-free delivery.

Why do you need to put your presentation on the Web?

1. Computer Crashes
It’s the night before the big presentation, and you’ve decided to do one last dry run.  Halfway through slide number four, you get it – the dreaded “blue screen of death”.  And, to make matters worse, you didn’t make a back up copy of your deck.  You’ve now got a big problem on your hands, and will have to stay up until all hours of the night to re-create your presentation.  But, if you had posted a final copy on the Web, you could simply rent or borrow any Web-enabled PC to gain access your slides.

2. Corrupt Files
Perhaps your security software is out of date, creating major gaps in how completely your desktop or laptop is protected.  What happens if you get a virus (one that corrupts your presentation file)?  You’d be left with no visual aids for the audience – an issue that could seriously impact the effectiveness of your presentation.  But, if your slide set had been stored on the Web, it would be safe, virus-free, and easy to retrieve, regardless of what happens to your PC.

3. Version Control
Like most presenters, as you edit and modify your slide set, you likely end up saving multiple version of it on your PC.  Yet, in the midst of you pre-presentation jitters, you may accidentally open the wrong file on the big day.  Even worse, you probably won’t even realize your mistake until well into your session.  Which means, you’ll have to stop and switch decks mid-way – throwing both you and your audience off track.   But, if the final slide deck is posted to the Web before delivery, version control issues become non-existent.

4. Hyperlinks
Many presenters include hyperlinks within their slides, so they can easily get to Web pages they wish to refer to as they are speaking.  Now, imagine you have an outdated laptop without much processing power.  As the browser is opening, your PC locks up, making for one very awkward moment.  However, if you had been delivering a slide deck that was already on the Web, the browser would already be opened and the Web site would load quickly.

5.  Absentees
What happens if someone important can’t make it to your scheduled session, due to traffic, weather, or some other unexpected event?  In certain scenarios (for example, if you’re a sales rep giving a product pitch, and the missing person is the decision-maker), absences can make it nearly impossible to achieve your goal.  If your slides are on your laptop, there will be no way to share them without using a third-party tool – something that can take time to set up, and may delay the start of your session.  But, if you’ve already got your presentation hosted on the Web, it can be easily accessed from remote locations.  So, all important stakeholders can experience your slides, even if an emergency has prevented them from doing so in person.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery? Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.