There is a difference between learning the theoretical and applying what you learn in a business situation. Ensuring a way to bridge the two to converge and support each other has always been a challenge. How do you coach great individuals in a classroom to prepare to deliver a memorable presentation and then follow it with an example from the outside, “real” world.

Whenever I’m afforded the opportunity to be on stage I apply the techniques and tips I teach to Sales and Pre-sales teams. It’s rare I capture those moments in a recording.

Today’s post includes a link to a recent webcast I delivered as part of a series of prospect-facing webinars at Microsoft. Each month, spanning the last nine months, I delivered 30-minute webcasts designed to convert new prospects into leads for partner distribution.

Anyone familiar with delivering demonstrations via webcast is intimately aware of the challenges germane to this environment –

1. Do you sound energetic to the audience?
2. How do you address diverse interests of everyone on the call?
3. How do you keep the remote audience engaged without receiving immediate feedback?

Regardless of delivery – in person or via the web – a persuasive demo scene should always be structured to include:

1. A creative opening to engage your audiences attention
2. A relevant topic that demonstrates a process or a job function
3. A closing statement that offers the audience a reason why you felt this was important to mention.

The embedded video is 25 minutes short. There were techniques I deliberately applied during the webcast to engage my audience every 3-6 minutes. What were they? As you listen to the recording, what did I do well? And, as with any presentation, there were areas for improvement. What suggestions can you offer?