What do Start Me Up, A Hard Day’s Night, and Stairway to Heaven have in common beside being big hit records?
More importantly, what do the first 1000 milliseconds — 1 second — of these songs have in common?
The first couple of notes/chords are instantly recognizable, even to those without any musical training. Okay, there’s an age thing in there — these are more recognizable if you’re 60 than if you’re 20, although both my kids listen to the Beatles and recognize that first chord of A Hard Day’s Night immediately.
A Hard Day’s Night begins with a simple, single electric guitar chord*. That’s it. One strum, a pause in which the notes reverberate, and then the vocals begin. It’s a common enough chord, yet it affords instant recognition. Stairway to Heaven begins with some slow, simple guitar picking, yet that pattern, too, makes an instant connection. Start Me Up has a series of three short chords and a brief pause — but by the time you hear that third chord, there’s no question as to what the song will be.
None of these are complicated beginnings. But they’re unique, easily remembered, and somehow fit the song perfectly.
What’s that have to do with software demos?
Keep the image of these three openings in mind as you begin your demo. You need to strive for the same effect, albeit in a far more quotidian context.
Do you want to deliver a jolt to your customers, evoke a sudden “Aha, this is what we’ve been looking for”? You can Start Me Up and never stop. Want to build a sense of anticipation? It’ll be A Hard Day’s Night. Hook them without their realizing they’re caught up in it? Climb the Stairway to Heaven.
Whichever you choose, you need to make your opening count. You’ve got 60 seconds, maybe less. (Pop songs may get 10-15 seconds of a music director’s time sampling the track; at least the demo opening isn’t that short.)
Don’t waste that time. Or the audience will tune out and mentally change the station.
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*The opening of A Hard Day’s Night is not really a single guitar chord, though it sounds that way. It’s a combination of an electric 12-string chord, the same chord on an acoustic guitar, a high bass note, a shimmer of snare and cymbal, and a background piano overdub — George, John, Paul, Ringo, and George Martin, respectively. See here and here.
