We like to do demos to evaluate our products as we work on them. The goal of the demo is for developers, product and stakeholders alike to come together and share in the work that's been accomplished. The team demonstrates fixed bugs, new features, and infrastructure necessary for future work. End-of-cycle demos are their best when performed by the team as a whole.
This is a checklist for those.
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Appoint a team in charge of making this demo session happen
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Announce a time, place and duration and respect it (so we don't waste anyone's time)
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Invite stakeholders, or anyone who interested in the product can participate in the demo
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Review the cycle goals
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Plan the specific scenarios we want to run through
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Prepare all the data you need for the demo
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Do a dry run with only developers in order to catch those bugs and things that aren’t interesting for stakeholders
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The developer who worked on the software starts by demonstrating some new feature they've completed during the cycle
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Then, once a developer has provided a quick walk-through of all the user-facing parts of their work, stakeholders ask questions. These questions are an opportunity for stakeholders to identify the next development steps for the project
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Emphasize getting stakeholders involved in realistic scenarios to discover real issues insted of revisiting long-winded technical details
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Discuss work not completed and why
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Take notes, make tickets
Demo sessions are a powerful tool that facilitates the co-effort between developers, product and stakeholders in building the best software possible. They should never be treated as "just another meeting" but like a celebration of the work accomplished.