RSAC Survival Guide – Part 2: Demos and Theater Talks

During my Force Management training years ago, I remember listening to Brian Walsh on stage say that all people in sales need to be ready to "call an audible". This means that wherever the audience or customer wants to pivot to the direction that you need to be ready to go there. And this is how I like to approach my demo preparation at these events. There's always a canned script you can build and follow, but you never will follow it exactly. Cyber PMMs need to be audible-ready.

Especially at the larger scale events like RSAC, you will be in front of a wide variety of users or just curious spectators. One year I remember finishing a lengthy demo and the listener was taking notes, asking all kinds of questions and only at the end did I learn he was from a competitor! This happens all the time. Don't be that PMM.

This is why you need to ask your audience who they are and what they're interested in learning about first. Never just dive in. I've seen way too much energy wasted by subject matter experts (SMEs) diving into the depths of our products without first even asking the basic questions such as:

• Tell me more about you – what's your role and what are you looking to learn here today.
• Explain a little about your role at said company.
• Describe what problem or challenge are you trying to resolve.