Demo Storyboard Template
A scene-by-scene planning template that forces you to storyboard the narrative, proof points, and stakeholder targeting of a demo before you ever open the product.
What's inside
- Header block (account, attendees, deal stage/size, time allotted)
- Discovery recap fields (business outcome, ranked pains, success metric, political landscape)
- One-sentence demo theme prompt
- Scene-by-scene table (screen, narrative beat, proof point, stakeholder, transition line)
- Objection landmines table with planned responses
- Word-for-word close scene script
Storyboard the demo scene-by-scene before you ever open the product. If you can't fill this out, you're not ready to open the screen share.
Header
``` Prospect / Account: ______________________ Demo date & time: ______________________ Presenter: ______________________ Attendees (name — role — champion/blocker/economic buyer/unknown):
- ______________________
- ______________________
- ______________________
Deal stage: ☐ Discovery demo ☐ Deep-dive ☐ Final/executive ☐ POC/technical validation Deal size (est. ACV): ______________________ Time allotted: _____ minutes ```
Discovery Recap (fill from your notes before storyboarding a single scene)
``` Stated business outcome (their words, not yours): ______________________ Top 3 pains, ranked:
- ______________________
- ______________________
- ______________________
Success metric they said they'd measure this against: ______________________ Political landscape: Champion: ______________________ Likely skeptic/blocker: ______________________ Economic buyer (if in room): ______________________ ```
One-Sentence Demo Theme
Write the single throughline the whole demo has to prove. If you can't compress it to one sentence, you don't have a demo yet — you have a feature list.
`` Theme: "By the end of this demo, [stakeholder] should believe that ______________________" ``
Scene-by-Scene Storyboard
| Scene # | Time (min) | Screen / Feature shown | Narrative beat — what you SAY | Proof point to drop in | Aimed at (which stakeholder) | Transition line into next scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 |
Rule of thumb: every scene should map to one of the top-3 ranked pains above. If a scene doesn't map to a pain or the theme, cut it — it's a feature tour in disguise.
Objection Landmines
List anything you expect to get pushback on, and how you'll handle it without derailing pacing.
| Anticipated objection/question | Planned response | Where in the storyboard you'll address it (proactively vs. wait for it) |
|---|---|---|
Close Scene (script this word-for-word, don't wing it)
``` Recap line (echo their pain in their words): "______________________"
Next-step ask (specific, dated, owned): "______________________"
Fallback if they hesitate on the next step: "______________________" ```
How to use it
Fill this out scene-by-scene before opening the product for any demo above a first-call intro, and use it as your on-screen script and pacing guide during the call itself.