Tips for Making a Dynamite Demonstration Video


When Microsoft released the first version of PowerPoint back in 1990, no one was prepared for the way it came to change how ideas are presented in corporate, non-profit, and academic environments alike. Unfortunately, the tool is really only as good as its wielder, and most PowerPoint presentations you’ll see today are a listless sea of bullet points. Part of this is simply due to the way PowerPoint is constructed. After all, bullet points are astoundingly easy to do; they practically write themselves. One possible refuge from this tedium is a software product that can deliver with “bullet point ease” a series of visual elements that are much more compelling. So, let’s talk about how Camtasia Studio can help you present like a pro.

Why Present with a Video?

Whether done as a critical part of an overall presentation or as a stand-alone kiosk-style demo, using screen video for demonstration offers a number of advantages, including the following:

  • Videos never tire of repetition. In the past, I’ve gone to software trade shows where I had to deliver the same presentations 10 times or more in a single day. A video remains fresh from sunup to sundown, and it never gets laryngitis.

  • Videos don’t require an Internet connection. In demo situations where there’s a risk of having no Internet connection, a video can show off your web application with no net access required. And on a related note…

  • Videos can show off intranet and enterprise-wide software. You can record and demo content that would otherwise require being on-site at your company.

  • Videos can be there when you can’t. Emergencies can occasionally come up. Even if you can’t make that conference due to a death in the family, you can still be there in spirit by creating a video demonstration. Sending off a video is also considerably cheaper and less time-consuming than sending human beings.

  • Videos can react quickly to time-sensitive opportunities. Sometimes a situation will arise where you’ll need to pitch your product to someone who needs to make a decision right away. Rather than flying all over the world to put out these fires, just fire off a customized demo video instead.

  • Videos can be an excellent primer for an in-person visit. By sending your audience a demonstration video just ahead of your actual visit, you can make the time you spend with them much more focused, as opposed to expending a bunch of your allotted “face time” on covering the basics. Lingering questions can then be answered and any open issues clarified.

Of course, if you’re utilizing a demo video to supplant an in-person demonstration, this has the obvious drawback of little or no interaction with the audience. Your audience can’t easily get their questions answered; if it’s not in the video, they’re stuck. But a well-crafted, targeted demo video can greatly enhance or even replace an in-person demonstration. You just need to ask yourself the right questions about the video’s purpose and audience.

Determining the Video’s Purpose

Of the three video types, a demonstration video carries the broadest range of goals. Or so it would appear on the surface. The demo video is actually a cleverly disguised extension of the marketing and training genres, or perhaps some sort of hybrid thereof.

The difference that marks a video as a “demonstration” has to do with its target audience, which is generally narrower. Examples of demo audiences include your company’s shareholders, the attendees of an industry-specific trade show or conference, or a potential client.

Despite all the different reasons people create a demonstration, when boiled down to their essence, there are really only two purposes: training and selling.

“Not my demo,” you may be saying. “Mine is to show the new features of our product to management.”

Nope. Sorry. Wrong. The real purpose goes deeper than that. Let me take an anecdotal moment to tell you why.

It may surprise you to know this, but my original vocational pursuit wasn’t to become a video creation guru. This is pretty typical for multimedia designers. No one ever aspires to become one; we just sort of “fall into it” from other disciplines. I actually had a hankerin’ to become an actor. I got bitten by the theatre bug (nasty little critter) at a young age, and declared my theatre major two weeks into my freshman year of college. I dove right into a variety of theatre-related classes, including acting courses based on the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavsky.

Stanislavsky put forth the notion that in order to create a truly realistic character, actors should study their character’s motivations. You never tell someone a story just for the sake of telling it. The story is nothing without the objective behind it. Are you trying to impress? Flirt? Threaten?

Likewise, you never show features just for the sake of showing them. You’ve got to get at the reasoning behind it. So let’s try this again:

“My demo is to keep management in the loop on all the new features of our product.”

This is a little better. Keeping the folks informed is an admirable goal, but I’m afraid it’s still not specific enough to really shape the construction of your demo. Aside from the fact that they probably determine your salary, why exactly are you keeping them in the loop?

“My demo is to keep management in the loop on all the new features of our product, so that they can get a look at the user interface screens of those features early on. That way, we can get feedback earlier in the process, and won’t have to make major UI changes two weeks before the new version is supposed to ship. Unlike last time.”

Okay, now that’s a workable goal! By asking yourself some honest questions about why this video is being made in the first place, you can do a much more focused demo. In this case, getting management on board about your UI choices is the real objective behind the presentation. I would therefore contend that this is a “selling” video after all. Selling doesn’t necessarily involve hawking a product or service. It’s also possible to sell ideas, such as your design for the user interface of a new software feature. Of course, if you weren’t the one who commissioned this video, then you need to have a chat with the person who did. An objective of “I’m making this demo video because my boss told me to” may be accurate, but it certainly won’t help you refine the video’s content. Find out why they want it made.

Finding Information about Your Audience

As I mentioned, it’s the target audience that really designates your content as a demo video. While this may seem like a superficial distinction, it carries with it a variety of opportunities and obstacles that prompted me to designate the demonstration video as a separate type. Let’s talk about some of these considerations.

Because the audience here is much more specific than that of a stock training/marketing video, this gives you the opportunity (or responsibility, if you’re a pessimist) of really custom-tailoring your video presentation toward those individuals. For that, you’re going to have to do a little homework. Possibly a lot. If this is a sales demonstration, and you’re the fourth in a string of seven potential vendors being seen by this prospect, knowing their specific problems and offering a targeted solution to those problems can make all the difference.

If presenting to a larger audience (such as trade show or conference attendees), you’ll want to gather as much information as possible about what makes these people tick. If you’re not overly familiar with the target industry, then you need to give yourself a crash course. Try to gather some specific demographics on the people who will be in attendance at that event. The show’s organizing body might be able to help you with that. Smaller audiences (such as a sales prospect) are a bit easier, because you’ll probably have the ability to speak to a few of the major decision-makers ahead of time. If possible, pay them a visit. Sit down with them. Learn their story. Learn their needs.

When actually recording your video, do your best to incorporate examples from their world. If you have some sample fields to fill in, don’t use generic data! This applies to both training and sales demos. Instead of talking about “widgets” and “ABC Companies,” you should be speaking their language. You can use appropriate industry-specific terminology if you’re certain everyone who’s viewing your demo will understand it. Just keep in mind that your demo may end up being viewed by multiple departments, from the CEO to the IT manager to the order-takers on the sales floor. If every affected group will get different uses/benefits out of the software, consider doing a separate video for each one. Nobody wants to suffer through a long presentation of material that doesn’t apply to them. The more you know about your viewers and their needs, the better your finished product will be. We’ll talk more about this in the next chapter.




Camtasia Studio 4. The Definitive Guide
Camtasia Studio 4: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library)
ISBN: 1598220373
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 146
Authors: Daniel Park

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