Demo Day / Sprint Review Order
Random presentation order with a timer.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last checked
The Demo Day / Sprint Review Order tool shuffles your presenters into a random running order and builds a rough schedule with a countdown for each one. It's made for sprint reviews, demo days, and stand-up showcases where you want a fair order and want to keep each slot on time. Set the per-presenter length and you've got an instant agenda.
Enter. List the presenters who'll be demoing.
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Click Order presenters to see a result.
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How it works
- Enter. List the presenters who'll be demoing.
- Set. Set the time allowed per presenter in the Options.
- Order. Click Order presenters to shuffle the lineup and build the schedule.
- Re-roll. Re-order any time someone is added or drops out.
About the Demo Day / Sprint Review Order
A schedule, not just an order
Set Minutes each and every presenter gets a slot rather than a position: nought to five, five to ten, ten to fifteen. That is deliberately different from a plain running order, because a demo session usually has a hard end and people who want to know when to be in the room.
The slots are calculated by multiplying the interval, so they assume every demo takes exactly as long as every other and that changeovers are free. Neither is true. If your session has ever overrun, add a minute or two to the per-demo figure rather than trusting the arithmetic — the schedule is a plan, and the tool has no way to know that the third demo always needs a laptop swap.
Why the last slot is worth randomising
Demo order is not neutral. Going first means presenting to a fresh room and setting the standard everyone else is measured against; going last means presenting to people watching the clock, often after the session has already overrun. Teams that let the order form organically tend to give the same people the same slot repeatedly, usually with the most confident presenters at the front.
Each run is an independent shuffle, so nothing is remembered between sessions and every ordering is equally likely. That will occasionally put the same person last twice, which is a fair coin landing the same way twice rather than a fault.
Announcing the slots
- Randomise before people prepare, not after. An order announced at the start of the session is a fairness mechanism; one announced at the end of the week is a scheduling tool.
- Include only people who are definitely presenting — a slot for a demo that does not happen shifts everything after it.
- Copy the result into the calendar invite. The tool keeps only your ten most recent runs, in this browser.
- For a longer session, consider a deliberate break rather than letting the schedule run twelve demos deep.
Frequently asked questions
How long should each demo be?
The default is 5 minutes, which you can change in the Options. The result auto-computes a rough schedule from that length.
How do I skip a demo on the day?
Remove that person's name from the list and re-randomize to get an updated order and schedule.
Is the order genuinely fair?
Yes. Presenters are shuffled with the Web Crypto API, so everyone has an equal chance of any slot.
Are my presenters' names stored online?
No. The ordering and timing run entirely in your browser, so names are never uploaded and the tool works offline.
Related randomizers
Further reading
- Which retro format fits the sprint you actually had
Rotating retro formats keeps them fresh, but some sprints call for a specific shape. Here's a facilitator's guide to matching the format to what really happened — a rough sprint, a smooth one, a big milestone, or a team that's gone quiet.
- Format fatigue is why your retros are getting quieter
Start/Stop/Continue was great for the first ten sprints. Now the board fills up in silence and half the team says 'same as last time.' Here's the real failure mode behind quiet retros — and how rotating formats fixes it.
- Run a demo day that actually ends on time
Sprint reviews fail two ways: the order argument at the start and the overrun at the end. A random demo order with a built-in schedule — every team slotted into minuted time boxes — fixes both in one click.
- Randomizing your presentation order (and giving every slot a clock)
Whoever goes first at a demo day, sales pitch, or classroom presentation gets an unfair edge — or an unfair disadvantage. Here's how a random presentation order generator settles the lineup and keeps every speaker on time.
- Why your standup always starts with the same person (and how to fix it)
The daily standup has a quiet bias: whoever's at the top of the list goes first every day. Here's why fixed order hurts your standup, and how a thirty-second shuffle changes the whole meeting.