The Demo Checklist

A demo is a performance, not a code review. Prep it, run it, and recover from live failure — then follow up while it’s hot.

Before

Use their data: Nothing lands like the customer seeing their own records. Load it in advance.
Rehearse the path: Run the exact click-path 3×. Muscle-memory frees you to talk.
Have a fallback: Record a screen-capture of the happy path. If live breaks, cut to it.
Kill the noise: Close Slack/mail, silence notifications, hide bookmarks, full-screen, big font.
Know the audience: Exec → outcome + ROI. Technical → how + integration. Tailor the first 2 minutes.

Open with the problem: Restate their pain in their words before showing anything.
Show, then explain: Do the impressive thing, then say how — not the reverse.
Narrate the "so what": After each step: “which means you save X / catch Y earlier.”
Go slow on the wow: Pause after the key moment. Let it land. Don’t talk over it.
Leave the wow last: End on your strongest capability, not a settings screen.

Stay calm: Don’t apologize five times. “Let me show you this a different way” and move.
Cut to the recording: That’s what it’s for. Keep the momentum.
Never debug live: Note it, move on, follow up. Debugging on stage kills the story.

Confirm the next step: Leave with a concrete “by Friday we’ll…”. A demo with no next step is a dead end.
Send the recap same day: What they saw, the value, next steps — while it’s fresh.
Capture new asks: Every “can it also…” is a scoping input, not a yes.