Software demo Skills for Business Analysts
- 1. How to Rock a Software Demonstration Heather L. Cole Business Analytics Advisor
- 2. Who Needs to Learn to Demo • Anyone looking to increase their performance in technology • IT Professionals • Functional areas deploying new tools • Agile project teams • Consultants • Anyone looking to get funding for a project
- 4. Why Software Demo Skills are Important • Increases end user adoption • Secure funding for projects • Shows the results of your hard work • Opportunity to personally look like a rock star • Agile methodology requires demonstration at the end of each sprint • Sell ideas internally
- 5. What Do You Fear Most? Top 10 Phobias 1. Public Speaking or Stage Fright – 19% 2. Death and End of Life – 16% 3. Spiders and other Arachnid Creatures – 13% 4. Darkness and Twilight – 12% 5. Heights, Altitudes, and Elevations – 11% 6. People and Social Situations – 10% 7. Flying in Airplanes – 7% 8. Open Spaces and Squares – 5% 9. Natural Thunder and Lightning – 4% 10. Confined Spaces and Small Rooms – 3% 74% of People Suffer from Speech Anxiety
- 6. • Show up and throw up • Feature functionality overload • Monotone voice • Forgetting to include the audience Are you Boring your Audience?
- 7. Framework for Demo Success • Audience • Tell the Story • Foresee the Objections • Practice, Practice, Practice! • Call To Action Demo Story Audience
- 8. • Who’s attending and what do they care about? • Internal pain – No data warehouse • External pain – Report data is wrong • Requirements Discovery is essential • Sticky note exercise • Active listening • Stop solving the problem • Repeat what they told you • Try demonstrating on paper first • Go on camera, if virtual “Is Your Baby Ugly?” 93% of all communication is non-verbal Audience
- 9. • People remember stories • Start with the pain you are solving in the eyes of the audience • Requirements Discovery • Start at the end of the story • Learn to bounce! • Your voice is an instrument • Leverage analogies • Less is more! Tell the Story
- 10. Foresee Objections Person Objections Handling of Objection Bob – CFO I get the reports I need. Why do we need to spend more money? It requires significant hours to compile the current reports leaving no time for analysis. Jenni – IT Manager I don’t know if our end users are ready to handle these advanced tools. I think they will continue to use Excel. The trick to helping people adopt new technology is early involvement and proper training. We have a plan on how to deploy the solution so our teams can advance their skills. Address the conversation in their head!
- 11. Call to Action • What do you want them to do? • When do you want them to do it by? • Who needs to be involved? • Validate next steps.
- 12. Do the Time! Practice, Practice, Practice • Record yourself and score yourself • Go on camera • Do dry runs with colleagues • Don’t forget your wing man Failure to Practice is Practicing to Fail!
- 13. Surviving a Software Demo Disaster • Don’t highlight your mistakes • Cover the screen • Have a wing man • Call a time out • Have a PowerPoint or video • Have video on someone else’s laptop
- 14. • Know your technology • Good microphone with pop filter • Go on camera • Camera angle • Move your image right above or below the camera • Lighting • Background • Screen size matters • Designate moderators at each location The Virtual Demo
- 15. New Demo Training Program COMING SOON!
- 16. Let’s Keep The Momentum Going! Heather L. Cole Executive Analytic Advisor Office: 813-415-2910 [email protected] www.lodestarsolutions.com Delivering Faster Analytic Success Even Where Others Have Failed • IBM Licensing • IBM Support Renewals • IBM Analytics Small Projects • IBM Analytics Training • New Projects…