Presentation Creator

Presentation Creator

Bold, minimal slide decks with a story underneath: spine to final QA.

• IS: slide decks end to end: story spine, slide sequence, slide copy, visual system, speaker notes, investor pitch decks, and decks built as a web app; output as Marp markdown (default), Slidev or reveal.js markdown, or a Next.js deck app.
• IS NOT: producing or editing the .pptx/.potx file itself (available presentation/PPTX skill or tool; hand it the finished outline, copy, and notes from this skill), charts inside a slide (external dataviz where installed), long-form prose, marketing copy, or a spoken talk script outside slides (ghostwriter), or product UI (ui-design).

Workflow

Track this checklist:

Presentation progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Gather context (audience, setting, venue, three messages, output format)
- [ ] Step 2: Write the story spine and the ending (references/story-structure.md)
- [ ] Step 3: Outline the slide sequence (references/outline-structure.md)
- [ ] Step 4: Write slide copy (references/writing-slides.md; pitch decks: references/pitch-decks.md instead)
- [ ] Step 5: Design colour, type, and layout (references/visual-design.md)
- [ ] Step 6: Write speaker notes (references/speaker-notes.md); skip for a deck sent without a presenter
- [ ] Step 7: Emit the deck in the chosen format (references/output-formats.md or references/web-deck.md)
- [ ] Step 8: QA pass, output the slide-by-slide review table

Step 1: Gather context

Establish these, asking only for what the brief does not answer:

• Audience: internal (shared context, be direct) vs. external (build credibility, define terms).
• Setting: live talk, recorded/async, or a pitch deck sent to investors and read without you.
• Venue: a dark room or a large hall takes the dark system; a bright meeting room, daylight, or a deck that doubles as a handout takes a light palette. Ask when unknown, because it decides Step 5.
• The three messages: what the audience must remember after the deck.
• Output format: Marp markdown unless there is a reason otherwise. A web app when the deck should run a live demo or live at a URL. A .pptx when the user names the file or a house template, produced by the external pptx skill from this skill's outline, copy, and notes. Decide now, not at Step 7: the format sets the type and notes mechanics in Steps 5 and 6.

Route by setting:

• Live talk, internal, or recorded deck → Steps 2-8 in order.
• Investor pitch deck sent to be read → references/pitch-decks.md first. Its 10-slide framework replaces Step 3's outline, and its async copy rules replace writing-slides.md at Step 4 (do not load both: their density rules contradict). Step 2 still applies in compressed form; the spine is what stops a pitch reading as a feature list. Skip Step 6. The same company pitching live on a demo-day stage is a presented deck: use the standard path with the pitch framework as its outline.

Steps 2-7: Build the deck

Read each step's reference when you reach it:

Read web-deck.md only after the copy exists. Primitives designed before the outline get shaped around slide 3 and fight every slide after it.

Step 8: QA pass (produces evidence)

Render the delivered format and inspect every slide. Record layout defects and measured contrast; a self-assigned glance score is editorial judgement. Keep the detailed table with the artifact when useful, and summarize material results in chat:

| # | Slide | 3-sec test | One message | Spine beat | Layout | Colour | Contrast |
|---|-------|-----------|-------------|------------|--------|--------|----------|
| 1 | Title | pass | pass | once upon a time | full statement | teal | 12.6:1 |

• 3-sec test: parseable in three seconds at arm's length (Duarte's glance test). Cut copy on any failure until it passes. Pitch decks are read, not glanced: substitute "makes sense forwarded with no context".
• One message: exactly one idea per slide; split slides carrying two.
• Spine beat: which beat of the Step 2 spine this slide serves. A slide serving none is a fact you found interesting; cut it.
• Layout: the layout should change when the slide's job changes. Flag a run of three or more identical layouts and keep it only when the section is deliberately a list.
• Colour: the section accent, or the full-bleed palette, matching what Step 5 assigned.
• Contrast: the smallest text on the slide against its background. 4.5:1 for body and captions, 3:1 only for text at 24px (18pt) or larger. Record the ratio, not "ok".

Deck-level checks below the table:

• Every spine beat has at least one slide, and the ending matches the one written first
• The deck states a position a reasonable person could disagree with
• One colour system throughout: accents per section, or full-bleed palettes, never both
• Recap slide has exactly one line per core section
• Speaker notes sit where the output format reads them (Marp and Slidev: an HTML comment at the end of the slide; reveal.js: a Note: line; .pptx: the notes pane)
• Pitch decks only: 10 slides plus an appendix at most, explicit ask slide (amount and use of funds), headlines pass the forwardable test

Fix observed defects and inspect affected slides again. If rendering is unavailable, label visual verification unrun.