Demo Crime_Camping Out

The Hidden Cost of Visual-Verbal Misalignment

In a sales and presales function, certain demo crimes are considered especially heinous. The dedicated demo detectives who investigate these presentation felonies are an elite squad of facilitators, executives, and presales leaders. These are their stories. 

The Setup: You’re making a key point in the demo. The conversation is flowing, but your screen is still showing the dashboard from two clicks ago. Or worse, an admin settings page that has nothing to do with what you’re saying.

Welcome to Camping Out, a classic but modern demo crime.

What Is “Camping Out”?

Camping out means leaving an irrelevant screen up while talking about something else. Your visuals are in one place. Your story is in another. And that disconnect is killing your credibility.

This happens more often than you think:

• Discussing customer insights while stuck on a login screen

• Pitching data storytelling with a blank analytics dashboard

• Explaining user experience while showing backend configuration tools

Why does this matter? People can't concentrate on two different things at once. When your words and visuals don't match, you lose your audience.

Why Smart People Make This Mistake

Camping out isn't about competence, it's about cognitive load. Here's what's really happening:

You lose track mid-discussion. Your demo sequence gets derailed, and you forget to navigate along with your talk track.

Nerves take over. When you're focused on delivering your message, visual awareness becomes secondary.

Virtual demos amplify the problem. Without face-to-face nonverbal cues, you miss when your audience is confused by the visual-verbal disconnect.

The good news: these aren't character flaws. They're human reactions to complex situations. But they can derail even your strongest demos.

Undermining the Experience

When buyers hear one thing and see another, their brains go into overdrive trying to process conflicting information. This cognitive dissonance reduces comprehension and engagement; exactly the opposite of what you want in a demo.

Meanwhile, your strongest points lose their power. Visuals anchor attention, so without supporting visuals, your key messages simply float away. Even worse, the disconnect makes you appear unprepared, especially in recorded or asynchronous demos where visual disconnects signal lack of expertise.

The result? Buyers tune out, lose confidence, or worse, choose a competitor who seems more organized.

How to Fix Camping Out

Preventing camping out requires intentional visual control. Here's your action plan:

1. Control Your Environment: Set up your screens like a director sets a stage. Know what's coming next and prep smooth transitions. Before any demo, double-check all settings and ensure no updates or pop-ups will disrupt your flow.
2. Align Talk Track to Screen: If what you're saying doesn't match what you're showing, either change the screen or change the subject. Every visual should reinforce your current message.
3. Use "Anchor" Visuals: Your screen should always support your main point. If you're discussing multiple topics, transition between relevant screens that anchor each message visually.
4. Practice Transitions: Smooth navigation is rehearsed, not improvised. Practice moving between modules and use bookmarks to avoid awkward clicking around during live demos.
5. Master the Recovery: When you catch yourself camping out, don't panic. Pause, smile, and pivot with confidence: "Let me actually show you what I'm describing. This screen will make it clearer."

Everyone makes mistakes. How you handle them shows professionalism and keeps you in control.

Build Visual Fluency

Camping out is ultimately a crime of inexperience, not incompetence. As you develop fluency with your platform, maintaining visual-verbal alignment becomes second nature.

The best demo professionals understand that buyers need a cohesive experience where words and visuals work in harmony. Your message is only as strong as your ability to support it visually.

Great demos require structure and spontaneity. But that flexibility starts with building a strong base, developing fluency, and rehearsing for real moments when stakes are high.

Your Next Step

At Demo2Win, we train teams to lead with intention, control their screens, and command their messaging. Because in technical selling, your demo isn't just a presentation—it's your competitive advantage.

Ready to master modern demoing and eliminate crimes like camping out from your team's toolkit? Get in touch with us to learn how our proven frameworks can transform your demos from presentations into powerful persuasion tools.