Writing Engaging Content for Webinars

𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝟵𝟲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 5 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗹𝘆. I’ve said every single one of these. And lost deals because of it. When I started as an AE, I thought demos were about 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 people. So I’d over-explain. Show too much. Talk way too fast. Now? I treat demos like conversations—not performances. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝟱 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: 𝟭. “𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼…” Why it’s bad: It’s not about 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. It’s about 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. Say this instead: “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 [𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯]—𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” 𝟮. “𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹—𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁.” Why it’s bad: You don’t know that. Focus on value, not hype. Say this instead: “𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 [𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺] 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 [𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦]. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰?” 𝟯. “𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀!” Why it’s bad: Vague. Sounds like a pitch, not a solution. Say this instead: “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 6+ 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴/𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸.” 𝟰. “𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?” Why it’s bad: It puts all the pressure on them. Often leads to silence. Say this instead: “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺?” 𝟱. “𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸.” Why it’s bad: Passive = no next step. Say this instead: “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮?” 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: — More engaged prospects — Clearer business value — Higher conversion to next step 𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: Good demos don’t wow. They align, simplify, and move the deal forward. What’s one demo mistake you’ve stopped making—and what did you say instead? 𝗣𝗦. I share my demo prep in the comment below. #sdr #ae #coldcalling SDRs of Germany

Your demo is the reason you're losing deals And it has nothing to do with your product. After sitting through 200+ sales demos last year, I've identified the pattern that separates winning presentations from forgettable ones. It's not about features. It's not about benefits. It's about sequence. Most demos follow this deadly structure: 1️⃣ Company overview 2️⃣ Product walkthrough 3️⃣ Feature deep-dive 4️⃣ Pricing discussion 5️⃣ Next steps This is exactly backwards. Your prospect doesn't care about your company story. They care about their problem. They don't want to see every feature. They want to see outcomes. Here's the demo structure that actually converts: ↳ Start with their outcome  "Based on our conversation, you mentioned needing to reduce customer churn by 15% this year. Let me show you exactly how this would work for your situation." ↳ Show their scenario Use their data, their use case, their terminology. Make it feel like they're already using your solution. ↳ Focus on 2-3 key capabilities The ones that directly impact their stated priorities. Skip everything else. ↳ Handle objections proactively Address the concerns they mentioned in discovery before they have to ask. ↳ End with clear next steps Not "Do you have any questions?" but "Based on what you've seen, what would need to happen for you to move forward?" The best demos don't feel like demos. They feel like problem-solving sessions where your product happens to be the solution. Subscribe to our Innovative Seller channel where we post bi-weekly videos on sales strategies like this 👇

I was halfway into a demo with a couple of Directors. Their eyes shifted and posture slouched. I'd lost them. But kept going—walking them through one feature after another. Realized they weren't engaged because I hadn’t earned their attention. I was dumping features without connecting them to the problem they were trying to solve. That’s one example, but it's how my demos used to go 👆 Deals stalled. Win rates dropped. ................................................................. That's until I switched to a simple 5-step framework for presenting features on demos, which changed everything. The key difference, leading with the problem: 1. Frame the problem “Linda, you said it’s a pretty tedious process for your team to keep track of all your marketing campaigns for the month. The data is spread across a dozen spreadsheets, google docs, and emails.” • call out the problem • no product jargon • no buzzwords 2. Talk through the use case “So, when the business comes to you for a new product launch, you need to quickly start planning the campaigns. Which can be difficult given everything is scattered. You have to call sporadic team meetings to get updates, leading to product delays and potential lost revenue.” • you've uncover the use case via discovery • talk through how they’re getting the job done today 3. Show the feature “Let me show you how you can see all of this in one place and how you can cut your current process from 10 steps down to 3.” • walk through the feature • be crystal clear about what they’re seeing • it's your prospect’s 1st time seeing it, but your 100th 4. Articulate the outcome “This will help you launch your marketing campaigns 2.5x faster, meeting the business’ product launch dates.” • execs care about business outcomes • clearly state what it could look like with this capability 5. Ask a question “How do you see your team using this capability to solve for [X problem]?” • keep your prospect engaged throughout • lock in those micro-closes ……………………………………....... Have intention and purpose in your demos. Don’t be a feature dumper.

I write a handful of BOFU content, and here’s what I’ve come to understand: 🔖 The end goal isn’t to sell the product. It’s to sell certainty. We often obsess over tweaking headlines, buttons, layout, and bounce rates. But the real reason most deals stall isn’t in your page structure. 💡It’s in your buyer’s psychology. Your buyer has options. They’ve read your blog. They’ve watched the demo. And maybe even joined a webinar. 😵💫 But the final decision doesn't come down to 'best features'; it comes down to ‘what they’re afraid of.' And that fear doesn’t live on your site. It lives in Slack threads, email forwards, and internal conversations you’ll never hear. Here’s what it sounds like: 🧠 “How painful will migration be?” 🧠 “Will this tool make our lives easier, or create more work?” 🧠 “Can I really justify this cost to finance?” You can't solve this with a better H1 or more scroll depth 😏. You solve it by creating content that gives buyers the confidence to move forward. Let’s look at two companies doing this well: 🔹 Navattic (Interactive Demo Platform) They know buyers don’t want a passive video. They want to feel what it’s like to use the tool before they even talk to sales. So Navattic embeds interactive product demos directly into their BOFU pages: No email gate. No click-through. Just “Here, try this for yourself.” 🎯 It’s about giving the buyer control, which lowers friction instantly. 🔹 Ramp (Corporate Spend Management) Ramp understands that finance leaders are naturally skeptical. So instead of just “telling” them it saves money, they show a Savings Calculator and offer side-by-side spending comparisons across competitors. Even better, their BOFU content includes a weekly column called ‘Ask an Accountant’ where SMB customers submit questions and get answers from the company’s resident accountant. 🎯 That’s how you reduce friction: by removing imagination and inserting evidence. Now, how do you actually fix friction in your content? 💡Simple: Stop obsessing over what’s visible on the page. And start addressing what’s invisible in the buyer’s mind. Here’s what that looks like in practice: 1️⃣ Address the unspoken fears, not just the obvious ones 💬 Obvious: “Does your product do X?” 💡 Unspoken: “If I push this, will my team also understand its value?” ✅ Add quotes from customers who had the same fear ✅ Show post-sale support, onboarding timelines, and team-wide adoption stories ✅ Include video clips from internal champions at your customer orgs 2️⃣ Show, don’t say, but be strategic with what you show Don’t just say “seamless integration.” 📸 Show the actual integration interface. 📸 Show what’s required during onboarding. 📸 Show what a real account looks like on day 1, 7, and 30. 🎯 Visual proof calms nervous buyers. 🗣️ Remember, your aim here is simply to give them something they can use to fight for your product internally and win.

Engagement goes beyond information and design. It comes from keeping learners in a consistent learning GROOVE. Think of a great song - it doesn't work if it's all climax or all verse. A good producer knows when to build tension, when to drop it, when to keep you moving. Your course needs that same rhythm. Three things drive engagement: clear content, good design, and easy navigation. But there's a fourth thing most people miss. Groove. It's the pulse underneath everything. The pattern that keeps learners' brains alert and interested—without burning them out. Groove is rhythm. It's switching between different types of mental work. A learner's brain can't stay focused at full intensity for an hour straight. It needs to breathe. Too much relaxation and they zone out. Too much pressure and they crash. Three Rules for Building Groove 1. Switch Between Hard and Easy Hard → Easy → Hard → Easy. After a tough explanation, give a practical example. After the example, ask a question. After the question, a small exercise. After the exercise, time to reflect. This switching keeps the brain active. It doesn't get bored, but it also doesn't overload. 2. Use Repeating Patterns Quick check-ins. Questions to think about. "Pause and think" moments. Fast facts. Repetition isn't boring—it's comforting. The learner starts to expect the rhythm, and that predictability helps their brain stay relaxed but alert. The groove becomes familiar. The groove becomes trustworthy. 3. Use Contrast Don't let the format, speed, or amount of information become the same. Change things on purpose. Video, then text. Long form, then short. Dense, then simple. Lots of visuals, then clean space. Contrast isn't chaos. It's the difference between a groove that works and one that just sits there. A 15-Minute Groove (Example) A smooth 15-minute lesson can look like this: Entry Reflection (30 sec) Why It Matters — Expert Video (2 min) Lesson Goals (30 sec) Core Idea — Short Text (1 min) Concept Explainer — Video (2–3 min) Mini Article / Carousel (2–3 min) Application Cases (2 min) Quiz or Mini Simulation (2 min) Wrap Up (1 min) That's 15 minutes. Not boring. Not rushed. Groove. Build 10–12 lessons with this rhythm, and something shifts. Learners stop fighting the course. They move through it. The rhythm carries them. Ask yourself: Does your course have a pulse? Or does it just exist?

99% of product demos are forgettable or painful, and "Demo" has become a moniker for all things sales. A great demo goes beyond the “feature tour” and can make or break a deal. After thousands of demos as a founder, CEO, and investor, I studied great communicators, demo structures, audience reactions, and tailored messaging for different personas. I did a deep dive into every detail and deconstructed the entire process. Here goes... ✨ A great demo requires understanding how the brain processes information to keep your audience engaged from start to finish. ✨ A great demo is about showing HOW buyers can use your product to solve their specific problems. Simple, but not easy! ✨ There is no longer a one-size-fits-all demo. You need to understand each of the four components of a demo: stage, giver, receiver, and demo type. ✨ I decoded eight different types of demos. The key is to create solid building blocks you can assemble depending on the stage of the buyer’s journey, the giver, and the receiver. In my article, I provide a thorough guide on how to structure a great demo with a downloadable checklist. Creating winning demos requires patience and practice. Train your teams thoroughly and have them practice until they master the technique. As your product evolves and new features are released, continuously adjust the demo and ensure your teams stay proficient. I’d love to hear your thoughts on demo experiences, whether as a giver or receiver. Please comment if I missed something here. But just don’t take my word for it. I interviewed law firms' MPs, EDs, CFOs, CIOs, and legal department decision-makers. In the coming days, you can hear directly from them about what they like and dislike in product demos. Want to dive deeper? 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWNQVsYZ Never miss an update! 👉 https://lnkd.in/ejyes8wy #LegalTech #Enterprise #B2B #ProductDemos #SalesStrategy #DemoTips #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #BUILDLEGALTECH

Spent 40 min with one of the best founders I know yesterday (he’s personally selling all their deals himself right now). Entire convo focused on what to SAY during a demo (most sellers actually have no idea): 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: “we can do this… and we can do this… and we can do this… any questions?... and we can do this…” Great demos use features and functionality as *validation* that the platform can deliver the customer’s desired results (and solve the challenges currently blocking them). You want the customer thinking about buying the result, and the solution to the problem, not the features themselves. To do this effectively, before you talk about any feature, you want to contextualize it with the outcomes and challenges that matter to the customer (that you learned in discovery). For example, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: “so of course the main thing you guys are working towards is [outcome] and one of the biggest issues is that right now [challenge] so what I want to show you is how we [solve challenge] that should directly result in [outcome]” 𝐎𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: “another thing I want to show you as we think about the issue the team is having with [challenge] is how we [solve challenge] which immediately start to free up your reps to be able to do more [whatever] which should then translate directly into more [outcome]” Think of yourself like a teacher. You’re helping the customer learn the relationship between your functionality and the results they want/the challenges they want to solve. Anything you swear by that helps you lead more impactful and engaging demos that I might be interested in?

I'm coming up on three years at Storylane soon. But I still see so many demos that feel like tutorials - "Click here, click that, here's a button, here's a menu" — instead of a product story. Here's how to turn your interactive demo from a walkthrough into a product story that actually converts way better: 1/ Use an intro card. Most demos throw visitors straight into the product with no context. A lot of buyers have never seen an interactive demo before — they don't know what they're supposed to do. An intro card fixes that. Tell them who it's for, what they'll see, and why it matters. Use an image or GIF, not just text. Change the button from "Start Demo" to something like "See how [persona] solves [problem]." 2/ Give it a three-act structure. Act 1: Frame the problem and persona. Act 2: Walk through a real workflow - not a feature list, but how someone actually uses the product to get a result. Act 3: Close with an outcome and a clear next step. Without this shape, a demo feels like opening a book to a random chapter. 3/ Make transitions feel real. Don't jump straight from an action to a result - it feels staged. Show the in-between: a loading state, a one-liner like "Generating your report..." That small detail - user did something → system responded → result appeared - is what makes the product feel real. 4/ Break long demos into chapters. More than 12 steps in a single flow and you're losing people. Break it into chapters by use case or persona, 5–10 steps each. Better yet, let buyers pick which chapters matter to them upfront - someone who only cares about reporting shouldn't have to sit through your onboarding flow. 5/ Add pattern interrupts every 3–4 steps. A demo that's just screenshots for 10–15 minutes will lose people no matter how good the product is. Break the pattern - a short voiceover, a zoom-in, a GIF, or a text field they fill in before moving forward. Small interrupts reset attention and show up directly in completion rates. 6/ Write conversationally. Your tooltip copy shouldn't read like a user manual. Not: "Click the Reports tab to access the reporting module." But: "Let's pull up your team's performance - you'll see exactly who's on track and who needs help." A CMO cares about outcomes. An engineer cares about how it works. Write for the persona, not the product. 7/ Gate at the aha moment, not the front door. Putting a lead form on Step 1 is like asking for someone's number before you've said hello. Move it to right after the moment they think "I want to see where this goes" - usually steps 4–6 or chapter 2. People who fill it out there have already seen real value. Lead quality goes up, drop-off goes down. Less tutorial. More product story.

When you’re demoing your product, put yourself in the shoes of the user. Even if it means showing something that isn’t your product. Demos are one of those things that followed me from the world of product to venture. I went from being the one demoing to watching hundreds of other people demo to me. I see people make the same mistake every day: walking through every screen of the product to show what each button does. Personally, I think that’s a missed opportunity, whether you’re demoing to a potential customer or an investor. Here’s how I think about demoing: - Set the stage by describing who the user is, and what their main goals and problems are. Start with a specific task the user is trying to accomplish. - Then walk through their workflow today: you want to illustrate the point of friction in a way that either feels relatable (to a customer) or shocking (to an investor). This works well even when you do a clearly abridged version. - Enter: your product. You show how much time, money, and effort users save. This is a good time to mention how much it helps the overall company’s initiatives too. If you go in with this approach, you get to say things like: - “You might be wondering…” which answers questions before people ask them. - “You know when [XYZ annoying things happen]...” which shows you know their struggle. - “This was my least favorite thing to do when I was a …” shows you have real, hard-fought user empathy. Refocus your demos around the user, and you’ll see a better reaction from everyone you show it to.

Sellers - stop giving webinars and start running Demos. So many AEs run demos like webinars. One-sided, feature dumps that lose the prospect fast. Great demos aren’t a presentation; they’re a conversation. It makes the prospect feel like they’re already solving their problem. Here’s how to use psychology to make that happen: 1️⃣ Spark Curiosity – People pay attention when there’s a knowledge gap. Instead of jumping into features, start with a question: “How are you handling [pain point] today?” or “What happens when [problem] breaks?” This gets them thinking and wanting a solution. I call this “setting the table”. Start with a pain recap, dig deeper, then tell them what you’re going to show them to solve it. 2️⃣ Make Them Own It – The endowment effect says people value things more when they feel ownership. Instead of just clicking through, ask: “If this were your dashboard, what’s the first thing you’d check?” Now they’re imagining using it before they even buy. These are 🥷 3️⃣ Pain First, Solution Second – Loss aversion is real. Reinforce the pain before showing the fix: “This takes your team 3 hours right now. What if it took 3 minutes?” That contrast hits harder than any feature list. 4️⃣ Drive Engagement & Validate Value – Demos shouldn’t be passive. Ask questions that make them process the impact: “How would this fit into your workflow?” “On a scale of 1-10, how valuable is this for your team?” “What’s the biggest impact you see?” If they say it, they believe it. 5️⃣Social Proof Wins – Nobody wants to be the only one taking a risk. Drop in proof: “[Big name company] had this exact problem. Now they [outcome].” Makes buying feel inevitable. 6️⃣ Themes – People won’t remember every feature, integration, or workflow you show. In fact they’ll probably forget more than 70% of the whole demo. That’s why you need to reinforce themes. Bring up 10+ times how this will save them time. They’ll remember that. A great demo isn’t a lecture. It’s a two-way engaging conversation that makes the prospect feel like they’re already using your product. Do that, and you’ll close more deals.