Aesthetic details matter.  WebEx screws them up on a PC.  Nothing bad ever happens on a Mac so this article is only about PCs.  Don't let it happen to you on your next demo.

Two things happen when you share your screen on WebEx:

1. Window Color changes to "Windows 7 Basic"
2. ClearType is turned off

Mobility is king.  Every prospect will inevitably ask "Do you have a mobile application?"  If your software has a mobile app or even a mobile interface, you'd be doing your product a disservice by showing PowerPoints with screen shots.

PowerPoints are great backups, but that's just it -- they're backups.  Imagine if you mailed in your software demo by showing screen shots?  You really should be working mobile applications into your demonstration.  When I joined NetSuite, I sat in on a number of demos as part of my ramp and mobile was an afterthought and not positioned as a differentiator.  As part of my checkpoints, I demo-ed via WebEx our mobile app directly from my iPhone.  We quickly worked it into our golden demo flow and impressed our panelists.  Technology sells -- Everyone wants to know how you did that.

I will be outlining my preferences for mirroring your mobile screen -- both for iOS and for Android -- on both Macs and PCs.

Oftentimes, a dashboard or a form can be very busy.  This can be our doing (we want to demonstrate our powerful dashboarding capabilities) or it can be the prospect's doing ("I'd like to see the following KPIs...").  The best way to approach this is still to simplify and remember that less is ALWAYS more.

There will still be times we want to draw the viewer's attention to particular parts of the screen.  What we DON'T WANT to do is move the mouse excessively to bring a viewer's eyes to a section of the screen.  What we WANT to do is to create a theater mode by darkening non-critical (i.e. not part of your story) areas:

I use an application called Target (by Nullmass).  It's a portable application that hasn't been updated since 2009 for Windows XP, 7, and 8+.  I have yet to find anything like it for the Mac.

There is no installer.  Simply double click and you'll see the application active in your taskbar.  Now whenever you want to highlight the screen, hit Alt-1 and you'll get cross hairs to draw your rectangle.  There are additional features, but I have found them rather useless -- I do not need to show each click with a ripple so that the viewer counts the number of mouse clicks, outline what I am typing (so when I create some Ctrl-Tab magic instead of a mouse click the viewer won't call me out), or set a countdown timer till the presentation starts (the demo never starts on time, right? -- and if you have time leave the screen on a self-explanatory report instead of the agenda!).

I've checked the Chrome store for an extension that does something similar, but to no avail.  What are some ways you bring focus to a portion of the screen?

The extension will add a new icon to your toolbar.  Clicking on that icon (in red above), will add a new tab with a number in front of it.  It is a complete separate session like Incognito and the cache is not stored.  In the example above, I have 3 separate sessions for NetSuite.  I have never had issues with caching or data corruption.  The 4.5/5 star rating speaks for itself.

In everyday life, this is useful too -- have 2 Google accounts?

- Update -
The extension is no longer available on the Chrome store.  I have made a backup of the extension.  It is available here.  Other sites have made alternative suggestions, however, there seems to be some risk (read comments here).  To install it:

1. Unzip the file onto your computer
2. In Chrome, go to - chrome://settings/extensions
   
3. Check the developer mode if it's not checked yet.
   
4. Then click "Load unpacked extension" and choose the extension directory you just unzipped.
   
5. You may have to allow Developer extensions, but you should be good to go!