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I will use this page to talk about Martial Arts demonstrations:-

What I have my class doing

I have all the class performing as a group to start with, this sets the scene, and lets them know who we are, we do some basic kicks, strikes, patterns, seven counts, and some light free sparring. If people are available we demo the WTF full contact in full body armour and mention the Olympics, this is seemingly violent enough to keep anybody's interest. I have my own students set up and perform their own set-pieces, so the crowd can see them using their own initiative.

We are not allowed to let under 16's break wood, but I usually have some set aside so they can join in with the destruction techniques, I make a point of mentioning this fact as it makes it slightly more interesting. To fill in time we sometimes do a little pad work, this is where you can fit some volunteers in (if it is that kind of event), but pad work in lines can be a little dull, so it needs to be spiced up a little, with two diagonal rows crossing each other, or jumping kicks over other students.

Cheap crowd-pleaser tricks I perform myself

When you get to be a Dan grade, people expect a little bit more from you, and you expect more from yourself, when a demo rears its ugly head people may not be satisfied to see you do more destruction than anyone else, or beat up all your students, you need to have some special tricks. I play a bad guy in one of our set pieces, it gives me a chance to roll around a lot, use some weapons, and overact terribly. One of my other objectives in this set piece is to make my partner laugh at some in joke or other.
My favourite trick is very dangerous-looking but has so far been quite safe (I just know they will put that in my obituary!), I set up several targets on bricks on the floor, preferably tiles, but sometimes wood if that's all I have, a square of cotton is placed on each and soaked liberally in paraffin. I then light my torch which is more cotton wired onto a broom handle, very Indiana Jones, then in a ceremonial fashion I light the targets each in turn. With lots of noise, I break all the targets, it looks and sounds dangerous but I usually just burn the hairs off my hands and feet (apart from the first time I tried it, when I bowed out with my suit on fire!). It's just a crowd pleaser, and it stems from a lack of confidence in my techniques on the day of a demo.
I also have developed a half decent flying side kick, and I can now clear five students, this always goes down well.
As for future techniques, I would like to be able to pull off a flying back side kick over students in a reliable manner, this is a bit tricky so far, and I hope to take delivery of a big shiny sword soon so I can reverse turning kick some fruit off the end.

What we gain as martial artists from demos

We perform demos primarily to publicise our club, and encourage new members to join. It is the task of all Dan grades to encourage the expansion of their particular art. This has many benefits to a club, more members means more income for the club which can be of benefit to both professional and amateur instructors, and their students. I.e. more equipment to use, more funding for competition expenses. More students also means greater variety of training partners for existing students, opportunities for practising their teaching skills and a better club spirit.

What the public want to see

The audience expects to be both informed and entertained, but they don't mind missing out on the former. They enjoy watching rows and rows of uniformed clones performing the same actions, and looking like something out a martial arts action movie, but they will get bored if this is all you offer them. They like to see scripted set pieces, ie self defence routines, destruction, lots of kiyaps, and cute kids. They seem to be especially fond of the bits that go wrong, it gives them a small insight into how hard the techniques are.

Why we should use demos as another part of our training, for both instructors and students

All martial artists should perform demos for their own benefit, it puts what you have learned into context, and makes you feel special or different, and part of a team. It gives you an excuse to practise the techniques you've always fancied doing, and take part in your own mini action movies. When the audience see you out on the floor in a uniform, their belief in you rubs off, and you start to believe in yourself a little bit more. It gives you a personal mini objective, and a small chance to show off to your friends and family if necessary. It is a great confidence builder for younger students and the parents enjoy seeing them perform in public.