I have a demo in front of 80 - 100 people on Friday morning that are all Certified Dietary Managers. The Chef at the facility I work at is the president of the local chapter so he signed me up. (OH JOY! 
) I decided to demo a Traditional French Chocolate Torte with a raspberry liquor sauce.
Just realized that I have from 9am - 10:45 am for my demo. AAHHHHH. That's just under 2 hours. What the heck?!!! That's too long. I think the Chef is trying to kill me from fear.
What in the world am I going to talk about that long? Not everyone there, just a few actually, work in a kitchen. I was told to try to keep it simple but impress. 
That doesn't really compute with me.
Any ideas for how to make this good without sounding like an idiot, or should I just call in dead?
Well, you can be sure it won't start on time - people are ALWAYYYYS late, so you can just look at your watch and say "We'll wait a few more minutes" to stretch is out a bit!
LOVE the idea of getting a 'helper' - make sure it's someone who will be a bit bumbling and make you look really good!! Also, definitely samples. And if you;re done before the end, you can open it up for questions.
Good luck!!!
Don't be nervous. You must be capable, and very caable at that, if your boss signed you up for the demo. Not only is he the president, he is a chef. They are particular and wouldn't pick just anyone. Congratulations and let us know how the demo goes! 
Asking if anyone has any questions through out it will eat up time as well.
My DH presents in front of large groups regularly. He does woodturning. I notice that he takes lots of tools to talk about. He tells why he recommends what he is using etc. He will also talk about safety. He sometimes will say I am doing it this way to get this result, if I did not do it this way this is what would happen. This all takes up lots of time.
He also takes questions during the presentation (while he is turning). He also repeats the question before answering it to be sure that everyone hears it.
He also makes up a list of talking points in case he needs them.
Hope this helps. I'm sure you will do great!!
Thanks everyone. Still freaking out a little, but doing better. I actually think it should go alright. I just found out that the Chef will be there doing a demo of an ice carving, hopefully, at the same time. I think most people will be interested in that.
I found out the people get to move around and mingle during the demo, so now I'm more at ease. I made samples and am currently working on the raspberry rum sauce.
I'll be doing questions and answers throughout the demo as well as asking for help from the audience.
I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow night.
Thanks CC. --got to go load up the van now.
Alright, I survived. I ended up doing the demo in the room by myself. The ice carving demo was outside and started after and finished before mine was over. I had a big crowd at all times. All but 3 pieces of the torte was gone and I cut more than needed. The raspberry sauce was all gone too.
It went very well. I was nervous but did alright I guess. I was asked questions about pastry and then soup, grilling and such as well as more personal questions, like my schooling and what made me want to do this field.
I had some people come and help me also. I made sure to crack a few jokes and try to have a good time. The time went by faster than I thought it would, which was a good thing.
Glad it's over, until the next time 
"Until next time" would indicate that you enjoyed it. That's great, so glad all went well for you. I was going to suggest that you timed yourself in front of a mirror, and then you would know exactly how much time you'd have to "wing it". But I got here to late, you were already finished.
Thanks everyone. I did use a lot of the tips posted here too, which helped.
I might have to be doing some more demos for the Chef again in the next few months. Now that I know what to expect I feel I might be able to. Don't get me wrong though, I'll probably sick to my stomach once again with fear.
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