The Five Minutes Before a Live Demo
August 25, 2026
Live demos rarely fail because the product broke. They fail because a notification arrived, a tab was open, the test data said something rude, or the wrong account was logged in.
Five minutes of setup removes almost all of it. This is the routine.
Your machine
- Notifications off. System-wide, not per app. A message preview from a friend is the story they will remember.
- Close every other tab. Titles are readable in a shared window, and one of yours is a competitor.
- Second monitor cleared, if you screen-share a whole display.
- Bookmarks bar hidden. It is a list of your other customers.
Your data
- Log in as the demo account, not your own admin. Real customer names in a shared screen are an incident.
- Check the data reads well. "Test 123" and "asdf" undo the impression the product makes.
- Reset anything the last call broke. Half-finished records from an hour ago look like bugs.
- Load the starting screen before joining, so nothing is loading while they watch.
Your fallback
Have a recorded walkthrough of the same flow open in a tab. If the environment is slow, the login fails, or the wifi degrades, you switch to it and keep talking rather than apologising to a loading spinner.
This is the single most useful item on the list, and almost nobody has one ready.
Your first sixty seconds
Know exactly what you are opening on and what you are saying while it appears. The opening is where a demo either grabs attention or spends it, and improvising it is why so many start with a login screen and an apology.
Everything after that can be responsive. The first minute should not be.
Frequently asked questions
- What should you check before a live demo call?
- Notifications off system-wide, other tabs closed, bookmarks hidden, logged in as the demo account rather than your own, data that reads well, anything the last call broke reset, and the starting screen already loaded.
- What is the most useful thing to have ready?
- A recorded walkthrough of the same flow open in another tab. If the environment is slow or the login fails you switch to it and keep talking, rather than apologising to a loading spinner. Almost nobody has one ready.
- Should you script a demo call?
- Only the first sixty seconds. That is where a demo grabs attention or spends it, and improvising it is why so many open on a login screen and an apology. Everything after can be responsive.
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