Demo Solutions has created a number of workshops to help your team gain specific skills in a number of areas. These workshops can be delivered either standalone, or as part of a monthly package.
The workshops in the Demo Solutions Course Catalog are developed with a foundation of evidence-based psychology and behavioral economics, combined with real-world experience. Our founder and lead consultant has served on the faculty of the Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University, and incorporates best-practices from academia when designing workshops. These aren’t “show up and some guy will talk at you for 3 hours.” Instead, our workshops are designed to be interactive and engaging, so participants can develop and practice new skills.
“You. Are. Awesome. Your session was fun, informative, and hit the nail on the head. I know that a session like this takes a lot of thought, and time, and it means the world that you delivered and made us look so good! Thanks again, and can’t wait to have you back!“
-Christina Brady, President, Sales Assembly
Demo Solutions Course Catalog
Demo Skills 101: Positive Presentation Psychology
Positive Presentation Psychology is our foundational workshop.
This workshop is for: SDR/BDR, AE, Presales, Managers
Topics covered: Basic neuroscience; theory of mind; behavioral economics and cognitive biases; sales linguistics.
Skills you’ll gain: How to read audiences; how to identify your own cognitive biases; how to pick up on the language that your customers and prospects are using.
Interactive elements: Discussions
Why select this workshop: This workshop gives you the foundations for everything else we do. It can be offered standalone, but it is not a hands-on workshop like many of our others.
Demo Skills 102: Visual content
What will you show? How will you build the right deck? What words should go on slides, and how can you take words off of the slides
This workshop is for: SDR/BDR, AE, Presales, Enablement, Managers
Topics covered: Basic neuroscience; scripts vs notes; language complexity
Skills you’ll gain: How to create more impactul content; how to change your talk track to adapt to different audiences, while keeping the slide the same; alternative visuals to decks
Interactive elements: Discussions, content review
Why select this workshop: Every presentation has a deck, but many decks hurt presenters. And some presenters don’t even need a deck! If you need better content, this workshop is for you
Audience Engagement 201: Opening and Closing
Opening and closing your presentation are the areas when you have the most impact. Itâ€
This workshop is for: SDR/BDR, AE, Presales, Managers
Topics covered: Psychology to get and keep the audience’s attention, language to help frame benefits and close the deal
Skills you’ll gain: How to create a unique introduction that engages the audience’s limbic system, how to secure next steps at the end of your demo
Interactive elements: Discussions, practice
Why select this workshop: Opening and closing are some of the areas that we’re asked about most – this workshop ensures your team has the skills to bookend their next demo or presentation
Audience Engagement 202: Storytelling
“The confidence that individuals have in their beliefs depends mostly on the quality of the story they can tell about what they see, even if they see little.†– Daniel Khaneman
Since the beginning of recorded history (and probably before it), humans have used stories to share ideas and pass information to others. We remember stories far more than facts, because the human brain attaches to stories. And if we donâ€
This workshop is for: AE, Presales, Enablement, Marketing
Topics covered: The elements that make a great story; how to construct a strong narrative; what elements of storytelling are universal
Skills you’ll gain: How to embed stories throughout your presentations; how to “get to the point” and reduce fluff; how to close your stories so the message/reason for the story is clear
Interactive elements: Discussions, practice
Why select this workshop: Storytelling is universal – it’s something that everyone can do, but few have mastered it. If you want to truly engage your audience, these skills are a must!
Audience Engagement 203: #Fail watch
Ever bomb in front of an audience? We have, and it always feels terrible. But what if you’re bombing and the audience doesn’t tell you? This happens more often than you think, and audiences will almost never tell you.
This workshop is for: SDR/BDRs, AEs, Presales, Enablement
Topics covered: The 6 types of demo fails; how to know if the audience isn’t connecting with you
Skills you’ll gain: Knowledge of the demo fails that are hurting your presentations; tactics to avoid demo fails in the future
Interactive elements: Discussions, mock demos, group feedback
Why select this workshop: Participants are always surprised when they find out the things they’re doing that hurt presentations – as minor as saying “right” over again or asking too many rhetorical questions, and as major as offending the audience
Psychology 301: Run discovery like a therapist
Great therapists create safe environments where clients can open up, not feel judged, and come to their own conclusions. These therapists use techniques like active listening, empathy, and motivational interviewing to help clients make a change in a way that works for them.
Sometimes, being a SaaS salesperson can feel a bit like being a therapist. Clients have a problem youâ€
This workshop is for: SDR/BDRs, AEs, Presales
Topics covered: Neuroscience; motivational interviewing; transtheoretical (what a great word) model of behavioral change; potential outcomes of discovery; the difference between discovery and qualification
Skills you’ll gain: New discovery questions that can be used right away; techniques to create more impactful discovery questions moving forward; the ability to conduct discovery in the same meeting as a demo (if necessary) and still be successful
Interactive elements: Discussions, mock discovery, group feedback
Why select this workshop: Discovery is often a “thing that happens” in a sales cycle, but, when done right, can be truly transformational for your deal
You. Are. Awesome. Your session was fun, informative, and hit the nail on the head. I know that a session like this takes a lot of thought, and time, and it means the world that you delivered and made us look so good! Thanks again, and can’t wait to have you back! – Christina Brady, President, Sales Assembly
Psychology 302: Sales linguistics
Honestly, this is the best choice in our catalogue. Believe us.
Do you believe us? Probably not, which is why Sales Linguistics matters. From the way you are running discovery to how you present, the words you use are absolutely critical.
This workshop is for: SDR/BDRs, AEs, Presales
Topics covered: Normative language; language complexity – how to go from “leverage our expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver actionable insights†(18th grade, or 2nd year of grad school level) to “save time by focusing on what matters†(6th grade, and can be understood by 11-12 year olds)
Skills you’ll gain: The ability to simply language for your next presentation
Interactive elements: Discussions, mock discovery and/or presentations, group feedback
Why select this workshop: Language can make or break a deal, and you probably want to use language that closes deals
Leadership 401: Coaching and feedback
We work with leaders to reframe metrics and work new methods of evaluation into existing processes. Our techniques are unorthodox drawing from a number of disciplines including anthropology, psychology, and political theory, but they inspire sustained, creative, self-driven change. Primarily, they help coaches drive change without making people feel bad about themselves, even when needing to say “that was terribleâ€.
This workshop is for: Managers, leaders
Topics covered: Motivational interviewing; foundational psychology
Skills you’ll gain: How to give bad news in a positive way; avoiding the “crap sandwich” method of feedback
Interactive elements: Discussions
Why select this workshop: Feedback is hard, but necessary to make people better. However, not every piece of feedback is a “gift.” Is yours?
Want a workshop on a sales or presentation topic that you don’t see here? Just ask. We’re nerds, so we love researching new ideas and creating new content.