Show it working before you explain how it works.
- Show the difference. If you fixed slow search, type the same query before and after. Include timings if you’re claiming a speedup.
- Pick one task your audience needs to finish, and explain what’s stopping them. Show the fix and skip unrelated features.
- Use your audience’s language and realistic content. Open a bug titled “Checkout fails after changing my address”, not “Test issue 1”.
- Decide where people should look in each scene. If one line fixes the bug, select it and say why it matters. They can’t see where you’re looking.
- Explain why you made each change while it’s on screen. Finish one thought before starting another. In live demos, check that people are following and take questions.
- Record the window you need at 1080p, without battery or menu bar icons. Increase the font size until you can read the recording. Listen to it to check your microphone.
- Prepare data and a setup you can reuse without rebuilding the environment. Rehearse the full demo with a colleague and use their questions to find missing explanations.
- Explain prototype limitations, but skip “this probably won’t work” before a working demo. It makes people watch for failure instead of the result.
- Watch the whole recording and cut anything that doesn’t help explain the result.
Adapted from Thorsten Ball’s How to Demo.