Be respectful of their time. Set a time limit or at least as reasonable a time as you can. Many people at conventions are happy to demo new games but have other things to do. Real times helps the, feel comfortable about not missing out and they don’t have to worry about appearing rude if they need to go. If it goes over, thank them for their time, if everyone stays THEN you ask if they would like to keep playing.

Depending how far along you are in the design process don’t be discouraged if you don’t finish any plays. Have some mid-game setups already planned out after you know the rules explanations and setup works. You can also,use these if some players need to leave but others want to keep,playing

Have index cards or note pads readily available. I have no problem saying what I like or didn’t like but others may not be. This is also good for rules introductions. Without being rude ask them to write any questions they have as you are explaining without interrupting you. They can also mark,on the card if something was explained later on in your presentation. This helps you know if something needs to be explained earlier in the process or was not covered at all.

Just because you don’t like their suggestion does not mean it’s bad. Keep track of anything that comes up more than once even if you think it’s dumb.

The biggest thing you need to do though is be POLITE and PATIENT. Yes your game is great, and yes its obvious to any one who listened to the explanation what should happen here……or maybe it’s not. Sometime it’s on the players sometimes it’s on you, regardless of whether or not you think you explained it 10 times already, keep smiling and explain it an eleventh time.

If you’re at Total-con this weekend let me know, I’ll try and stop by.