I wanted to say/write this for a while, and now I can no longer keep it to myself. I delivered many speeches and sessions at conferences, and I have attended way more sessions. In the last few years, live demos seemed like a dying breed. Replaced by "play recorded video button." No more BSOD (blue screen of death). No more "wi-fi not working with thousands of attendees." No more "the latest release broke something." No more surprises. No more fear on the speaker's face. No thrill, none of the sadistic emotion typical of spectators watching whether a demonstration will work, a bit like when they watch the start of an F1 GP, fearing a possible accident. Because the connection could not work, and the AI is non-deterministic, and we cannot be late, and we do not want to risk, and on, and on... Yesterday, I received the call: I'm a live demo purist. I know pre-recording is safer, but I’m coming out against the "play button" trend. For me, the magic of a tech conference is the authenticity of seeing things happen in real-time: bugs and all. I sat front row at a 60-minute session led by Fabio Santini where his agents swarm worked to write an app for the second half of the session, barely managing to complete the deployment in time. Finally, a real live demo. As an attendee, I want it. As a speaker, I promise I'll deliver that. I know that I'm not alone. I'm just the (first?) one to say it loud. I'd like to use (and read) this hashtag in sessions' descriptions from now on: #livedemo PS: Thank you, Alberto Jacomuzzi, for organizing Azure Global Torino, and Andrea Benedetti for the inspiring keynote.
Marco, I completely agree. To me the only place that recordings belong is in a keynote or something else were timing is critical down to the second. Otherwise, I think there is a human element and practiced skill that shows when you can do something live. Plus, shows that a product is tangible and real when it hasn’t been perfected and edited in a mixing studio. Happy to start using that hashtag. In fact, the workshop that Steve and I are delivering on Wednesday at SQLBITS is mostly live demo 🙂
I don't think it's that simple. I would argue that from a pedagogic perspective, a live demo accomplishes nothing that a well-executed recording with live commentary cannot. A recording can (and should) be edited to add things like zoom and highlights to clearly point out important aspects of what is being taught. This is more difficult to do live (just look at the majority of poorly executed live demos). I'm not saying it is impossible, but for many speakers who keep doing live demos, it seems that way. A live demo is a tool, and as such, it can be used to great (or not so great) effect when the situation calls for it. I cannot argue with the show factor of a live demo. It is exciting, sometimes surprising (for everyone involved), and will often play havoc with timing - which is why I typically avoid it. For the vast majority of my sessions, I'm trying to teach something. A live demo introduces uncertainty without improving clarity.. If I want to put on a show, and the show is the point: live demo all the way. If I'm trying to teach a complex topic: recording all the way. I mix them if it makes sense to do so. It's not an either/or proposition.
I couldn’t agree more, Marco Russo. I’ve done many speeches in my life, and I’ve almost always chosen live demos. For me, it depends on the goal of being on stage: helping people truly understand what you want to share. Slides are useful, but they have no life. A live demo creates emotional involvement, and that tension is not a problem — it helps people remember. Live demos also make every session unique. Questions from the audience or something happening in the room can change the direction, and if the demo allows it, you can follow that path. That makes the session real, not just repeated. And failure is not always the enemy. If something goes wrong, people in the room usually understand exactly what is happening. A good speaker can turn that moment into reflection, learning, and sometimes even fun. Most importantly, I do not build demos just to perform them. I show things I know, have used, tested, and struggled with myself, so people in the room can skip part of that struggle. #livedemo.
Can’t agree more! Live demos are much better and in my opinion a demo is even more valuable when something goes wrong, and the speaker manages to fix it (if possible) and explain what happened and why. That’s where the real learning is. Not in an overly prepared and scripted demo of even worse - recording!
I am team #livedemo here. Ai doesn't make it easy with its unreliable prompt processing speed though... What you tested as 10 seconds can easily be 1 minute...
Yes, live demos—but only when they’re really meaningful. Ones that are useless or full of obvious details are too boring and a waste of time. Sometimes demo time can be cut by 80%.
Thank you for this post Marco! I teach powerbi advanced online, 6x2 hour modules where they follow my steps while developing live. and last wednesday, we did not complete in time. Technically issues, M-code debugging, and I messed my transformation order, so my preprepared code didn’t match 100%. Real failure, real learning.
Marco Russo I think there is a middle ground between live and pre-recorded. Even a mix between the two can be good. Where the disconnect happens for me is when things are "too rehearsed", "too polished" and "too canned". The real world is messy and it's okay - even preferred - to see that come through when discussing complex topics. But there isn't just a single road to being authentic
It’s only during live coding that I, as a speaker, have the chance to respond directly to participants’ questions and adapt my code accordingly to show the effect of the requested change. This is the only way to build genuine trust, as it makes cheating impossible. Pre-recorded videos always leave a slightly off-putting aftertaste – even though this is, of course, unwarranted in 99% of cases. Why do I value talks with live demos, such as those by Uwe Ricken, so highly? Because it is precisely the minor hiccups that the speaker has absolutely no control over (such as an internet connection dropping out) and how they handle them that show just how proficient someone really is in the subject matter. Of course, I’m happy to show source code and prepared explanatory slides – but as a speaker, I should always be able to continue my talk effectively even without these aids. That immediately instils confidence that I really do have a deep understanding of the subject.