The Art of Storytelling in Sales: Making Your Demos Memorable

This post is aimed at presales reps who want to make their software demonstrations more memorable.

Storytelling is an aural art as old as humanity itself. It is part of our nature, and as an art, it requires training and practice.  Let’s hone our storytelling skills and apply them to the visual art of performing software demonstrations.

Planning

Most of the effort in making a presentation is in the planning, and demonstrations are no different. I like to use the acronym MAP—craft a bespoke Message to your Audience and their stated business Problems. Don’t go any further without that. For a general audience, you still need to make a MAP—you just need to start the demo with a description of the assumptions that you made.

Now, plot out your story structure.  I borrow a tool from the film and television industries – a storyboard.  Every story needs a beginning, middle, and end. 

1. The beginning sets the stage and introduces the crisis or conflict.

2. The middle is broken down into scenes.  Pick a handful of the audience’s stated business problems and make each into a scene.  Show a tangible benefit for each problem as you go along.  Keep it as simple as possible.  Strip out any frills that don’t directly address one of those problems.  If possible, arrange these scenes in a logical order, with a continuous plot thread.

3. The ending reiterates the crisis or conflict and summarizes the resolution.

Pepper your database with enough customer or industry data to help the audience understand how each scene applies to their business. This should include items, orders, dashboard tiles, inquiries, and report column titles.  The more pre-baked data you prepare, the less typing and processing will be required.

Prepare a simple visual agenda to explain the arc of the demonstration. Your credibility depends on this graphic because it indicates your understanding of the audience’s problems. Avoid using bullet points because they allow the audience to read ahead and stop listening.  A simple pictogram is better because the audience must listen to your explanation of each element.  They can’t rush ahead.

Rehearse, but don’t memorize.

Train someone to be your moderator.  This task is typically assigned to the sales rep.  Their job is not only to watch the demo but also to control the audience and record any parking lot tasks. Have them practice this line in front of a mirror: “This is a demonstration, not a configuration or implementation.” Their moderation helps keep you and the demo on script.

That brings us to Greg’s One Minute Rule.  This is not about dropped candy bars. I typically invite any questions with the caveat that if it will take more than one minute to answer, we will park it and answer at the end of or after the demo.  Choose how you want questions and interruptions handled and have the moderator manage them.

Performance

Most of the work should already be done.  Trust your preparation and follow your script.

Start with the visual demo agenda to confirm your understanding of the audience’s problems and priorities.  It is better to be corrected in the introduction than later in the performance because you have time to adjust. Ask permission to use your assumptions.

Introduce the moderator. Tell the audience the level of interaction that you want.

Keep the visual agenda no more than one click away.  After each scene, refer back to the visual agenda to check progress, request feedback, and get permission to move ahead.

Wrap up with the visual agenda.  Get confirmation that you have addressed all topics to the audience's satisfaction.

Have at it and good luck!