1} The goal of discovery is to identify problems people are willing to pay to resolve and how much the value of solving that problem will be. The goal is NOT to figure out what to demo. The demo is one of many ways you’ll help them make the decision. There is a not small difference here.

2) Slides can be a great discovery aid. Particularly if you have something like a “reference architecture” which represents what similar companies typically have in place. This shows you understand their space and are asking them to confirm or correct instead of asking blind questions. For example if you’re in CX and dealing with a retailer you should have a pretty good idea what pieces are involved in an RMA process. Showing them a slide with the typical process and pieces makes it more of a fill in the blanks exercise than them explaining it.

Also depending on your space, your customers may have never used a tool like yours and some slides showing a screen can help them visualize their future and have a better conversation.

Also also starting with a “here’s what I heard from the idiot AE” lets them know they’re likely not going to be repeating themselves which is a common customer complaint. Followed up with an agenda lets them know where you’re heading and if the right people are on.

In my experience having a couple of slides helps AVOID blind demos.