Introduction: What You’ll Learn
Facilitating a product demo means connecting the dots between what the product can do and how it helps meet business goals. This simulation is designed to help you navigate presenting features to both tech and business folks, making sure everyone’s on the same page and we walk away with useful feedback.
You’ll practice:
- Setting up the demo for success
- Balancing tech details with business needs
- Collecting meaningful feedback
- Wrapping up with clear next steps
Step-by-Step Simulation
Scene 1: Preparing the Demo
Facilitator: "Hey everyone, thanks for joining. Today, we're going to demo the new features rolling out soon. The aim is to show you what’s new and get your thoughts on it from both tech and business angles. Let’s kick off with a quick overview."
Facilitator (as a developer): "I’ll walk you through the new reporting dashboard. We’ve added real-time data visualization and more filtering options to help with decision-making and give us a competitive edge."
Facilitator: "Alright, let’s get into it."
Scene 2: Conducting the Demo
Developer (Alex): "Here’s the new dashboard. You’ll notice the real-time data updates on the left. We’ve also got filters on the right, which let users customize their views based on specific metrics."
Business Stakeholder (Priya): "That’s looking good. Can you show us how a user might tweak these filters for quarterly sales data?"
Developer (Alex): "Sure thing. Just select ‘Sales’ from the dropdown, choose ‘Quarter,’ and hit ‘Apply.’ The chart updates to reflect the selected timeframe and category."
Facilitator: "Thanks, Alex. Priya, does this line up with what we’re aiming for on the business side?"
Scene 3: Gathering Feedback
Priya: "It looks promising, but I’m curious about how it performs as we scale up. How does it handle bigger datasets?"
Facilitator: "Great question. Alex, can you shed some light on the performance side?"
Developer (Alex): "We’ve optimized the backend for larger datasets, using asynchronous processing to keep things responsive. It managed up to a million records in testing without any noticeable lag."
Business Analyst (Sara): "I’m impressed with what I see. One thought — could we add a feature to export the filtered data to a CSV? That’d help us share insights easily."
Facilitator: "Good idea, Sara. Let’s look into adding an export option. Any other thoughts?"
Scene 4: Wrapping Up
Facilitator: "Thanks for all the great feedback. Here’s what we’ve got on our action list:"
- Check performance with larger datasets to ensure scalability.
- Look into adding an export to CSV feature for filtered data.
- Go over user feedback in a follow-up meeting next week.
Facilitator: "I’ll coordinate with Alex and the dev team to tackle these points and keep you posted. Feel free to reach out if you have more insights. Thanks, everyone, and I’m looking forward to our next session."
Mini Roleplay Challenges
Challenge 1: A stakeholder asks for a technical explanation that might derail the demo.
- Best Response: “Great question — let’s dive into that in our follow-up tech session to keep today’s focus on the demo.”
Challenge 2: An engineer dives deep into code details.
- Best Response: “Appreciate the insight — let’s bring it back to how this impacts the user experience for our business folks.”
Challenge 3: Feedback becomes contradictory between teams.
- Best Response: “Let’s capture both perspectives and chat about a balanced approach after the demo.”
Optional Curveball Mode
- A critical feature breaks during the demo.
- A stakeholder misunderstands a feature’s purpose.
- The demo runs over time, and you need to wrap up quickly.
Practice handling these without losing focus or momentum.
Reflection Checklist
Demo Flow
- Did I keep the demo engaging and on track?
- Did I balance tech and business perspectives?
Feedback Management
- Did I capture feedback constructively?
- Did I ensure action items were clear and assigned?
Leadership & Tone
- Was I approachable and clear in communication?
- Did I facilitate an inclusive environment for all attendees?
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting tech details take over the demo
- Missing the business value in the presentation
- Not clarifying action items or next steps
- Failing to engage all attendees in the discussion