English Phrases for Client Demos and Meetings

Posted On: July 21, 2019

English Phrases to use in Client Demos and Meetings

Using conversational connectors and phrases for client demos makes them more interesting to your clients and participants (and yourself!). While it’s important to showcase your technical expertise, sticking only to the technical aspects can be dry and boring to your listeners, especially if they aren’t technical (like me!), but, even if they are technical.

Benefits of using Phrases for Client Demos:

- - Makes the presentation more interactional, conversational and “alive”
  - If you are a fast speaker, these phrases will naturally help the conversation “slow down”
  - Improve rapport with clients
  - Boosts your confidence
  - Boosts client’s confidence in you, your team, your company
  - Increases customer service and makes the client feel good, too

Places to use phrases:

1. 1. At the beginning (introduce yourself and/or the topic, reason for demo)
  2. At the beginning and end of each section of the demo
  3. During each section – aiding the listeners to understand your navigation on the screen
  4. To summarize/wrap up
  5. Questions and Feedback
  6. Small Talk/End of the demo

Examples of Phrases to use in Client Software Demos

This list is meant to be the start of creating your own list. It is not exhaustive. Note, I have tried to adapt the phrases into a technical discussion. I am not technical, so excuse the mistakes in the technical parts. Please feel free to adapt those terms accordingly.

Beginning of a Demo

- - Hello, (name), we are on the call today to discuss the updated features of the app as discussed in our last stand up meeting.
  - Good morning. As we get closer to deployment, we want to demo a few features we have made easier to use after we fixed a few bugs recently.

Beginning or End of a Section

- - Let’s now take a look at the log in feature of this app….. here you can see where we log in, enter the passwords and find the lost password link. I’ll walk you through how this works, and the security features we have installed based on your inputs.
  - As we wrap up this section on the payment gateway, I know your team had some concerns about security. With the update(s) we have installed, we trust you would feel more comfortable. What are some of the thoughts or feedback you have after seeing these new features?

Note: When asking a question to the group or asking for feedback, wait for about 20-30 seconds for an answer. These 20-30 seconds will feel like an eternity. After this 20-30 seconds, you could say, “I know there’s a lot to think of here.. I’ll wait a few more seconds to see if anyone would like to add or ask anything before going on to the next section.”

Assure you start a log of commonly asked questions and answers you can refer to, especially useful for topics you frequently demo.

During Each Section

While many of your meeting participants may be seeing the screen as you navigate it, some may not, or some may find it hard to see the mouse/cursor depending on their age/eyesight and how the cursor shows up on the screen. Try to narrate in such a way that even those that may be only listening to the demo on the run (on the way to work, or in a place they can’t watch the screen or are using a mobile to participate in the meeting and not a laptop), they can follow without seeing the screen.

- - As I mouse over each of the menu options, you will be able to see how the color changes from green to blue. These colors were chosen based on your inputs in our last meeting. Looking at the options in the tracker section of the app, when we click on the tracker for X feature, there will be a popup that will show the information the student will need to pay their tuition for the current semester. They can touch anywhere outside of the popup on the screen to close that pop up. (Note, instead of saying ‘user’ try to use the title of the type of person using the app- such as ‘student,’ ‘customer,’ ‘guest,’ or any other term as identified by your client and their business. Try always to talk in the client’s language wherever and whenever you can.

To summarize/wrap up

- - “We have now reviewed all the updates for this demo, which include….”
  - “While this has been a short demo, we have covered a lot of ground today, including….”
  - As a high-level review….
  - To refresh our memory of the salient points…

Questions and Feedback

- - “Now that we’ve gone through all the updates and summaries of today’s discussions, does anyone have anything to add or ask as we come to a close today?”
  - “While today’s demo was pretty straightforward, I just wanted to assure if anyone has anything else to add or if anyone has any questions that I could address as we wrap up today…”

Small Talk/End of the demo

- - Thank you everyone for attending the demo today. I know it’s a busy time of the year for your team. This project is just as important for us as it is for you to get it out on time. We appreciate your time today. (Note: One can never say “thank you” enough to a US American.)
  - Let’s wrap up today! I know our next demo will be in about three weeks, I see it on the calendar for (date…). Until then, what is everyone up to for this weekend?

The English phrases shared in this post should be a good start to helping you make your demos more interactive with your clients. Of course, many of these phrases would require some adapting depending on your particular situation. Are you looking for a coach to help you or your team with preparing for and holding demos? Check out our program Wow Your US Client at the Demo. Or, better yet, let’s talk and see how our programs can help you retain high paying US clients.