Congratulations on some amazing demos! We are truly blown away by what you guys have built in just three and a half weeks of coding, and believe you have every reason to be proud. The demo is the culmination of your hard work, and we want to make sure every group best showcases the thought, effort, and brute-force-hard-work they've put in.
Tell a Story
All good demos tell a story that relates to the audience. Make the demo about them, not you.
You'll have 5 minutes or less only. You must not go over 5 minutes!
- 15 seconds: Introduce yourselves—you guys are characters in the story, too.
- ~1 minute: Introduce the problem that you guys are tackling. Why should the audience care? How does it effect them?
- Recount some challenges from your user stories!
- ~1 minute: Describe your solution at a high level, and why it solves the problem for the user, NOT why you thought of it.
- ~3-4 minutes: Get to the demo quickly—it's what you've spent the most time on.
- Walk through the user's workflow, not a laundry list of features
- Pick features unique to your app to show off. Just because you spent hours on it doesn't mean it makes it into the demo! Focus on the features of your app, not the cool widgets you made.
- Don't change screens quickly. Audience members need some time to process what they're seeing. If you can avoid logging in users, all the better. Be a narrator!
- Show it fully, or don't show it at all. If you show something, give the audience time to process it and understand it.
- Keep in mind that some features (like login) don't have to be explained—respect their intelligence and let your app speak for itself.
- Highlight the critical features, even if you think they're obvious.
- ~30-60 seconds: (Optional) briefly mention future plans for your app.
- (Not optional) End clearly, preferably with a bang and/or a simple "Thank you".
Be Legit
Take yourselves and your app seriously.
- In your demo, use real data if you can. If you're using sample data, make it look as real as possible.
- Don't have placeholder images, cat images, or other distracting images/videos.
- All text should be legible!
- Clean up your UI, and MAKE SURE IT LOOKS GOOD ON THE PROJECTOR!!
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
Practice perfect makes perfect. You only have 1 shot.
- Write an ACTUAL script for who will be saying what at what time, and what will be on the screen as they're talking.
- Practice and coordinate with each other. Look at the audience. Speak slowly. Stand still. Project your voice.
- Schedule a time with Aaron, Ian, Brian, and Erica to practice. Do it with two different people.
PROTIPS
- Speak slowly and clearly!
- Don't change web pages quickly!
- It's better to have a shorter, more impactful presentation than a longer, less impactful one.
Sieze the Moment
This is your chance to show off your hard work, and you don't get a stage to yourself often. Be enthusiastic, be proud, and take advantage of the opportunity!
On the same token, make sure to support your friends with the same enthusiasm you'd want them to show you :)
Good luck!
♥ Brian, Erica, Ian
