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Stakeholder Demo

product owner

What Is It?

A stakeholder demo may sound self-explanatory - show your product or feature set to a stakeholder or group of stakeholders. Despite their simple sounding nature, however, stakeholder demos can sometimes make or break your product so they are not to be approached too lightly.

Why Do It?

Stakeholder demos are important for keeping key stakeholders informed about your product’s capabilities and keep them engaged and interested in the work you are doing. If stakeholders feel disconnected from a product and do not fully understand its purpose/value, they are more likely to cut it or reduce its resources

When To Do It?

Cadence can vary greatly on the level of engagement and workload of your stakeholders, but we recommend starting by doing them monthly and adjust from there

Who’s Involved?

Product Managers, Product Designers, Stakeholders, and Engineers if desired

Tools You Might Need

  • A script
  • Stable application environment to demo
  • Screen sharing capabilities if doing remotely

How To Do It (Steps)

  1. Set up a demo schedule with your key stakeholders

    • When doing initial stakeholder interviews we recommend setting up a meeting schedule with your key stakeholders who are influential and engaged.

  2. Decide which features to demo

    • Think of high impact features that, ideally, you have collected metrics on so you can demonstrate direct operational value
    • Which areas of the product/mission does your stakeholder care most about?

  3. Write a script and practice

    • We have all been in a demo where we went in planning to wing it and things didn’t go as planned. Scripts almost completely avoid this situation and help you create a cohesive narrative.
    • Structure your demo as a story: what is the overall scenario?, what are the users trying to accomplish?, why were they unable to do what they needed to prior to this feature?, how does your feature solve the problem/pain?, and how have you validated its impact?
    • Walk through your script while giving a demo in whichever environment you plan to use. Record yourself for extra scrutiny.

  4. Ensure the demo environment is stable

    • Check the environment to make sure it is not down or buggy for any reason
    • Notify your engineers of the upcoming demo and ensure they don’t push any breaking changes until the demo is complete

  5. Set up early

    • Technical issues always seem to happen in the most high visibility moments. Get to the room or meeting early and make sure you can properly project/share screen.
    • Keep the environment refreshed to avoid having to log back into anything when you start.
    • Find a way to read your script while giving the demo. Have a teammate navigate the demo if needed.

  6. Start on time

    • Jump right into it and save questions for the end
    • Demonstrate punctuality and professionalism

  7. Q & A

    • Open the floor for questions after the demo is done
    • Take notes and capture action items to demonstrate engaged listening
    • Be honest and transparent about things you don’t know the answer to or had not considered. This builds trust between you and your stakeholders and allows you to have more candid conversations moving forward

Why Product Demos Are So Valuable