Beamer

Beamer Slide Workflow

Universal skill for academic Beamer presentations. Full lifecycle: create → compile → review → polish → verify.

0. REFERENCE PREAMBLE

When creating new slides, use this as the default preamble unless the user has a custom template.

\documentclass[aspectratio=169,10pt]{beamer}

\usetheme{Madrid}
\usecolortheme{default}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{footline}[frame number]

\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm,booktabs,mathtools}
\usepackage{stmaryrd}  % for \llbracket, \rrbracket
\usepackage{graphicx}  % for \includegraphics (extracted figures)
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,positioning,decorations.pathreplacing}

% Semantic colors — use in BOTH text and TikZ for global consistency
\definecolor{positive}{HTML}{0173B2}       % blue (correct, advantage)
\definecolor{negative}{HTML}{DE8F05}       % orange (limitation, drawback)
\definecolor{emphasis}{HTML}{029E73}        % green (highlight, key finding)
\definecolor{neutral}{gray}{0.55}          % muted context
\definecolor{cbPurple}{HTML}{CC78BC}        % additional accent
\newcommand{\pos}[1]{\textcolor{positive}{#1}}
\newcommand{\con}[1]{\textcolor{negative}{#1}}
\newcommand{\HL}[1]{\textcolor{emphasis}{#1}}

Rules:

• Always 10pt — 11pt or 12pt produces oversized, sparse slides.
• Always aspectratio=169 — modern projectors are 16:9.
• Default presenter: \author{Presenter: [name]} and \institute{Shanghai Jiao Tong University}. Override only if user specifies otherwise.
• If user provides a custom preamble, header file, or theme: use theirs.
• Add domain-specific macros (e.g. \newcommand{\F}{\mathbb{F}}) as needed.
• Algorithm/code packages (add only when needed):
  • Algorithms: \usepackage[ruled,lined]{algorithm2e} — set \SetAlgoLined, \DontPrintSemicolon
  • Code listings: \usepackage{listings} — set basicstyle=\ttfamily\small, keywordstyle=\bfseries\color{positive}, commentstyle=\color{neutral}. Max 10 lines of code per slide; highlight key lines with escapeinside={(*@}{@*)} and \colorbox.
  • Pseudocode: \usepackage{algorithmic} — simpler than algorithm2e, suitable for short procedures.
• Data plotting (add only when needed):
  • \usepackage{pgfplots} + \pgfplotsset{compat=1.18} — data-driven plots (bar, scatter, error bars, histograms). Far more efficient than manual TikZ coordinate plots for data visualization.
  • \usepackage{subcaption} — multiple subfigures in one frame via \begin{subfigure}{0.48\textwidth}.
• Theorem environments: Beamer provides theorem, lemma, corollary, definition, example, proof out of the box (styled by the theme). Use them for formal statements — they get automatic numbering and consistent styling. Customize with \setbeamertemplate{theorems}[numbered] or [ams style].

1. HARD RULES (Non-Negotiable)

1. No overlays — never use \pause, \onslide, \only, \uncover. Use multiple slides for progressive builds, color emphasis for attention. Common replacement patterns:
   • Progressive formula build-up: slide A shows the base equation, slide B copies it and adds the next term (grayed-out terms from slide A stay as context). Copy-paste the full frame and extend.
   • Step-by-step list reveal: slide A shows items 1-2, slide B shows 1-4 (items 1-2 repeated). Use \textcolor{neutral}{} on previously-shown items to mute them.
   • Diagram incremental build: slide A shows the base structure, slide B adds annotations/edges. Duplicate the tikzpicture and append new elements — never delete prior elements.
2. Max 2 colored boxes per slide — more dilutes emphasis. Demote transitional remarks to plain italic.
3. Motivation before formalism — every concept starts with "Why?" before "What?".
4. Worked example within 2 slides of every definition.
5. XeLaTeX only — never pdflatex.
6. Beamer .tex is the single source of truth — TikZ diagrams, content, notation all originate here.
7. Verify after every task — compile, check warnings, open PDF.
8. Telegraphic style — keyword phrases, not full sentences. Slides are speaker prompts, not manuscripts. Exception: framing sentences that set up a definition or transition. Each bullet item should be ≤2 lines (~15 words) — if longer, split into sub-items or rewrite more concisely.
9. Every slide earns its place — each slide must contain at least one substantive element (formula, diagram, table, theorem, or algorithm). A slide with only 3 short bullets and nothing else must be merged or enriched.
10. Box-interior overflow guard — alertblock, exampleblock, and block environments add internal padding (~15% less width, ~12-16pt extra height for title bar + vertical padding). Content that fits on a bare slide can overflow inside a box in both directions. Rules:
    • Vertical overflow (most common, hardest to detect): display math (\[ \]) + text below it inside a single box easily exceeds vertical capacity. Limit box content to one display equation OR 2-3 short bullet items — not both. Never use aggressive \vspace{-Xpt} inside a box; it pulls bottom content past the border.
    • Horizontal overflow: never use \qquad inside a box; use \quad or ,. If a display equation is wider than ~70% of \textwidth on a bare slide, reformat before placing inside a box.
    • Beamer suppresses overfull warnings inside blocks — zero compile warnings does NOT guarantee no visual overflow. Always visually verify every box in the PDF.
11. Reference slide — the second-to-last slide (before Thank You) must be a References slide listing key cited works. Use \begin{thebibliography}{9} with \small. Include the primary paper and 3-5 most relevant references.
12. Color and contrast standards — text-background contrast ratio ≥ 4.5:1 (WCAG AA). Never use red+green for binary contrasts (color blindness affects ~8% of men). Prefer blue+orange. Semantic color commands defined in preamble: \pos{} = positive/correct (blue), \con{} = negative/limitation (orange), \HL{} = emphasis/key finding (green), \textcolor{neutral}{} = de-emphasized. These are color-blind safe. Limit total palette to 3-5 colors.
13. Visual hierarchy in font sizes — slide title: 20-24pt (beamer default), key findings/theorems: normal size with \textbf, supporting text: normal, labels/captions: \small minimum. Never use \tiny for any user-facing content.
14. Backup slides — after the Thank You slide, include 3-5 backup slides for anticipated questions. Use \appendix before backup section. Separate from main deck with a \begin{frame}{Backup Slides}\end{frame} divider. Backup slides should NOT count toward the timing allocation. Content to include (derive from Phase 0 material analysis):
    • Full proof of the main theorem (if only a sketch was shown in the main deck)
    • Parameter choices / security analysis details (for crypto/protocol papers)
    • Extended comparison table with additional baselines
    • Experimental setup details (hardware, hyperparameters, datasets)
    • Definitions of prerequisites that were assumed known (in case someone asks)
15. Columns layout — use \begin{columns}[T] + \column{W\textwidth} for side-by-side content. Rules:
    • Comparison / parallel content: two columns at 0.48\textwidth each (leave 0.04 gap).
    • Figure + text: figure column 0.45-0.55, text column 0.40-0.50, gap 0.05.
    • Three columns maximum: each ≤ 0.30\textwidth, only for short items (icons, stats, one-liners).
    • Never nest columns inside columns.
    • Always use [T] (top-align) unless deliberately centering.
    • Columns content follows the same density constraints as regular slides.

2. ACTIONS

Parse $ARGUMENTS to determine which action to run. If no action specified, ask.

2.1 compile [file]

3-pass XeLaTeX + bibtex for full citation resolution.

# Adapt TEXINPUTS/BIBINPUTS to your project's preamble/bib locations
xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex
bibtex FILE
xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex
xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode FILE.tex

Post-compile checks:

• Grep log for Overfull \\hbox warnings (count and locations)
• Grep for Undefined control sequence or undefined citations
• Grep for Label(s) may have changed
• Open PDF for visual verification
• Report: success/failure, overfull count, undefined items, page count

2.2 create [topic]

Collaborative, iterative lecture creation. Strict phase gates — never skip ahead.

Phase 0: Material Analysis (if papers/materials provided)

Read first, ask later. Must understand the content before asking meaningful questions.

• Accept .pdf, .md, or mixed paper/material inputs.
• If Markdown is provided, use it as the primary semantic source for section hierarchy, equations, theorem statements, captions, references, and notation.
• If both Markdown and PDF are provided, use Markdown for structure/text understanding and use the PDF for figures, page context, visual reference, and extraction.
• If only a PDF is provided and parsing loses structure, ask whether the user can provide a Markdown conversion. Do not require or run a specific PDF-to-Markdown converter.
• Read the full paper/materials thoroughly
• Extract: core contribution, key techniques, main theorems, comparison with prior work
• Map notation conventions
• Identify the paper's logical structure and which parts are slide-worthy
• Internally note: prerequisite knowledge, natural section boundaries, what could be skipped or expanded

Do NOT present results or ask questions yet — proceed directly to Phase 1.

Phase 1: Needs Interview (MANDATORY — informed by Phase 0)

Conduct a content-driven interview via AskUserQuestion. The questions below are the minimum required set — you MUST also add paper-specific questions derived from Phase 0.

Minimum required questions (always ask):

1. Duration: How long is the presentation?
2. Audience level: Who are the listeners?

Optional question (ask when the talk is a journal club, defense, or user seems to want rehearsal support): 3. Speaker notes: Would you like speaker notes in the Presenter View? If yes, \note{} blocks will be added per frame with telegraphic talking points (key message, transition cue, anticipated questions). Requires adding \setbeameroption{show notes on second screen=right} to the preamble for dual-screen display.

Content-driven questions (derive from Phase 0, ask as many as needed):

• Prerequisite knowledge: List concrete technical dependencies identified in Phase 0. Ask which ones the audience knows. E.g., "The paper builds on sumcheck and polynomial commitments. Should I review these?" — not "familiar with basic algebra?".
• Content scope: Offer the paper's actual components as options. Ask which to emphasize, skip, or briefly mention.
• Depth vs. breadth: If the paper has both intuitive overview and detailed constructions, ask which the user prefers.
• Paper-specific decisions: E.g., if the paper compares two constructions, ask whether to present both equally or focus on one.

Guidelines:

• Options should come from the paper's actual content, not generic templates.
• 3-6 questions total; don't over-ask, don't under-ask.
• If something is obvious from context (e.g., user said "讨论班"), infer rather than ask.

Slide count heuristic: ~1 slide per 1.5-2 minutes.

Timing allocation table:

Talk-type specific tips:

Time distribution principle: Spend 40-50% of time on core content (results/techniques). Max 3-4 consecutive theory-heavy slides before a worked example or visual break.

Phase 2: Structure Plan (GATE — user must approve before drafting)

Produce a detailed outline. For each section:

• Section title
• Number of slides allocated
• Key content points per slide (1-2 lines each)
• TikZ diagrams or figures planned (brief description)
• Notation to introduce

Present the plan to the user. Ask: structure OK? Expand/shrink/cut anything?

Do NOT proceed to drafting until user approves.

Phase 3: Draft (iterative, batched)

This phase is the most critical. Follow all sub-rules strictly.

3a. Writing Style

• Telegraphic keywords, not full sentences. Exception: one framing sentence per slide to set context.
• Formulas and analysis interleave tightly — define a quantity, then immediately state its cost/property/implication on the same slide. Never isolate a formula on one slide and its analysis on the next.
• No conversational hedging — never write "wait, not exactly", "actually, let me clarify", or similar. If a point needs qualification, state it precisely from the start.
• Use \textbf{} for key terms on first introduction; use \pos{...} for positive properties, \con{...} for drawbacks/limitations, \HL{...} for key findings (defined in preamble).

3a-2. Opening and Closing Strategies

Opening slide (pick one strategy):

• Surprising statistic — a counter-intuitive number that challenges assumptions
• Provocative question — something the audience cannot immediately answer
• Real-world failure/problem — "System X failed because..." → "How do we prevent this?"
• Visual demonstration — show the phenomenon before explaining it

The opening should create tension or curiosity that the rest of the talk resolves.

Closing strategies:

• Call-back to opening — revisit the opening question/problem, now answered (circular narrative)
• 3 key takeaways — numbered, telegraphic, one slide. The audience remembers the last thing they see.
• Open question / future direction — leave the audience thinking, naturally invites Q&A
• Never end on a bare "Thank You" — the second-to-last content slide should deliver the lasting impression. The Thank You slide is a courtesy, not the conclusion.

3b. Mathematical Slide Patterns

Each math-heavy slide should follow one of these patterns:

Definition slide:

[Framing sentence: why this definition matters]
[Formal definition in display math]
[Key properties / immediate consequences as 2-3 bullet items]

Construction/Algorithm slide:

[One-line goal statement]
[Core equation / algorithm steps]
[Complexity analysis: prover cost, verifier cost, soundness]

Comparison slide:

[Side-by-side table: prior work vs this work]
[1-2 lines highlighting the key difference]

Insight/Remark slide (adds value beyond the paper):

[Observation the paper doesn't emphasize, or a comparison with related work]
[Why this matters / what it implies]

Every slide must have a clear takeaway — the one thing the audience should remember.

Theorem/Proof slide (for formal mathematical statements):

[Framing sentence: informal statement of the result]
\begin{theorem}[Optional name]
  [Formal statement in display math]
\end{theorem}
[Key implication or "why this matters" as 1-2 bullets]

• Proof on the next slide (never cramming theorem + proof on one slide).
• For long proofs: show proof sketch (key steps only), put full proof in backup slides.
• Use \begin{proof}[Proof sketch] to signal abbreviated proofs.

Cross-referencing between slides:

• Label key slides with \label{slide:construction} inside the frame.
• Reference from other slides: see Slide~\ref{slide:construction} or clickable \hyperlink{slide:construction}{\beamerbutton{Back to Construction}}.
• Especially useful for Q&A — quickly jump back to a referenced result.
• In backup slides, always hyperlink back to the main slide that motivates them.

3c. Content Density Constraints

Upper bounds (per slide):

• ≤ 7 bullet points or items
• ≤ 2 displayed equations (more → split)
• ≤ 5 new symbols introduced
• ≤ 2 colored boxes (alertblock/exampleblock)

Lower bounds (per slide):

• Each slide MUST contain at least one substantive element: a formula, diagram, table, theorem statement, or algorithm
• A slide with only ≤ 3 short text-only bullets is too sparse — merge with an adjacent slide or add a formula/diagram
• Pure text-only bullet slides should be ≤ 30% of the total deck

Density self-check after each batch:

• Count slides that have zero formulas/diagrams/tables → flag if > 30% of batch
• Count slides with ≤ 3 short items and no math → candidates for merging

3d. Batch Workflow

• Work in batches of 5-10 slides, following the approved structure
• After each batch, compile (xelatex -interaction=nonstopmode) to catch errors early — fixing 2 issues in a 10-slide batch is far cheaper than fixing 12 issues in a 40-slide deck at Phase 5
• After each batch, self-check: notation consistency, density constraints, motivation-before-formalism
• Continue to next batch only after current batch compiles cleanly and passes self-check

3e. Table Best Practices

• Always center tables — wrap every standalone table in \begin{center}...\end{center}. Left-aligned tables look misaligned on slides.
• Never place a table immediately after the frame title — themes like Madrid have a colored title bar whose bottom edge visually merges with \toprule, making the table appear embedded in the title. Always insert \vspace{4pt} (or introductory text) between the title and the first \toprule. The compiler emits zero warnings for this — it can only be caught by visual inspection.
• Always use booktabs (\toprule, \midrule, \bottomrule) — never vertical lines (|).
• Column alignment: numbers right-aligned (r), text left-aligned (l), short labels centered (c).
• Max 6-7 columns, 8-10 rows per slide. More → split across slides following these pagination rules:
  • Each continuation slide repeats the full header row (\toprule + header + \midrule).
  • Append " (cont'd)" to the frame title: \frametitle{Results (cont'd)}.
  • Split at logical row group boundaries (e.g., between algorithm families, dataset groups) — never mid-group.
  • Last page must have ≥3 data rows; if fewer, merge with the previous page.
  • Each page gets its own takeaway line below the table if the subset tells a different story.
• Use \resizebox{\textwidth}{!}{...} only as last resort — prefer reducing columns/rows first.
• Highlight key cells with \cellcolor{positive!15} or \textbf{} — draw the eye to the result.
• For comparison tables: bold the best result in each row/column.
• Caption below table in \small, or use the frame title as the implicit caption.

3f. Algorithm and Code Display

• Pseudocode ≤ 10 lines per slide. If longer, split into "high-level overview" and "key subroutine" slides.
• Highlight the critical line(s): use escapeinside in listings or \colorbox in algorithm2e.
• Input/output clearly stated at the top of the algorithm.
• Use consistent naming: variables in math italic ($x$), functions in sans-serif or typewriter.
• For code (not pseudocode): \ttfamily\small, syntax highlighting via listings. Show only the relevant fragment — never dump an entire source file.

Phase 4: Figures

• TikZ diagrams in Beamer source (single source of truth)
• Apply TikZ quality standards (see Section 2.6)
• R/Python scripts if needed

Data visualization guidelines (journal figures ≠ slide figures):

• Simplify ruthlessly — remove minor gridlines, detailed legends (label directly on plot), secondary axes. Show only data supporting the current slide's point.
• Enlarge everything — axis labels ≥ 18pt, line width 2-4pt, marker size 8-12pt. If unreadable at 2-3 feet from laptop, it fails on a projector.
• Direct labeling — label lines/bars directly instead of using a separate legend. Reduces cognitive load.
• One message per figure — split multi-panel journal figures across multiple slides. Each slide shows one comparison.
• Highlight the result — key data in bold saturated color, comparison data in muted gray. Use \textcolor{blue!70!black}{...} for the key finding, gray for reference.
• Color-blind safe palette — prefer blue (#0173B2) + orange (#DE8F05) over red + green. Add line style differences (solid/dashed/dotted) as redundant encoding. In TikZ:

  \definecolor{cbBlue}{HTML}{0173B2}
  \definecolor{cbOrange}{HTML}{DE8F05}
  \definecolor{cbGreen}{HTML}{029E73}
  \definecolor{cbPurple}{HTML}{CC78BC}

• Progressive disclosure — for complex figures, build incrementally: axes → first dataset → comparison → annotation with finding. Use separate slides (not \pause).
• Subfigures — use \begin{subfigure}{0.48\textwidth} (requires subcaption package) for side-by-side panels in one frame. Each subfigure gets its own \caption{(a) ...}. Preferred over raw \includegraphics side-by-side when panels need individual captions. Max 2 subfigures per slide (4 panels = split across 2 slides).

pgfplots for data-driven figures (preferred over manual TikZ for data):

Use pgfplots whenever plotting numerical data. It handles axes, legends, scaling, and data loading automatically.

% Bar chart from inline data
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
  ybar, bar width=12pt,
  xlabel={Method}, ylabel={Accuracy (\%)},
  symbolic x coords={Baseline, Ours, Oracle},
  xtick=data, ymin=0, ymax=100,
  nodes near coords, every node near coord/.append style={font=\small},
  width=0.85\textwidth, height=5cm
]
  \addplot coordinates {(Baseline,72) (Ours,89) (Oracle,95)};
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

% Line plot from CSV file
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
  xlabel={Epoch}, ylabel={Loss},
  legend pos=north east, grid=major,
  width=0.85\textwidth, height=5cm
]
  \addplot table[x=epoch, y=train_loss, col sep=comma] {data/results.csv};
  \addplot table[x=epoch, y=val_loss, col sep=comma] {data/results.csv};
  \legend{Train, Validation}
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

% Scatter plot with error bars
\begin{axis}[xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}]
  \addplot+[only marks, error bars/.cd, y dir=both, y explicit]
    coordinates {(1,2)+-(0,0.3) (2,3.5)+-(0,0.5) (3,5.1)+-(0,0.4)};
\end{axis}

• Always set explicit width and height to prevent overflow.
• Use \addplot table[col sep=comma]{file.csv} to load data from file — keeps .tex clean.
• For presentation: enlarge tick labels (tick label style={font=\small}), thicken lines (thick), use semantic colors (color=positive).

Phase 5: Quality Loop (MANDATORY — iterative)

After completing the full draft, enter the quality loop:

┌─→ 5a. Compile (2-pass XeLaTeX)
│   5b. Self-Review (structure + content + visual)
│   5c. Score (apply rubric)
│   5d. Fix all issues found
└── If score < 90 and round < 3: loop back to 5a
    If score ≥ 90 or round = 3: report to user

5a. Compilation

• 2-pass XeLaTeX compilation (bibtex not needed here — already resolved in Phase 3 batch compiles)
• Check: errors, overfull hbox, undefined references
• Open PDF for visual inspection

5b. Self-Review — re-read the .tex and verify:

Structure:

• Slide count matches plan (±2 tolerance)
• Logical flow: motivation → background → technique → results → summary
• No section has >4 consecutive formal slides without a worked example or visual break
• Transition sentences between major sections

Content density:

• No slide has only ≤3 short bullets with no math/diagram
• Pure text-only slides ≤ 30% of deck
• No slide exceeds upper bounds (7 bullets, 2 equations, 5 symbols, 2 boxes)

TikZ and visuals:

• No label-label or label-curve overlaps
• No content overflowing slide boundary
• No content overflowing inside colored boxes (alertblock/exampleblock/block have ~85% effective width; visually verify every box in PDF)
• TikZ diagram fits within remaining slide space — for mixed slides (text + diagram), verify the diagram's bounding box height + text height ≤ ~70mm. Common failure: large TikZ scale + multiple equations above = diagram clipped at bottom
• All marked points lie on their curves — for every \fill, \node, or \draw endpoint that should be on a plotted curve, verify the y-coordinate is computed via \pgfmathsetmacro from the same function, NOT hardcoded. Visually check in PDF that dots/markers visually sit on the curve line
• Dashed reference lines terminate at the curve — vertical/horizontal guide lines should end exactly where they meet the curve, not at arbitrary y-values
• Tables fit within slide width
• All standalone tables are centered (\begin{center}...\end{center})
• No table's \toprule visually merges with the title bar (add \vspace{4pt} or text before first table)
• Font sizes in TikZ ≥ \footnotesize
• Consistent styling across all diagrams

Notation:

• Same symbol used consistently throughout
• Every symbol defined before use

5c. Quality Score

Start at 100. Deduct:

Thresholds:

• ≥ 90: Ready to deliver. Report to user.
• 80-89: Acceptable. Fix remaining majors if possible, report with caveats.
• < 80: Must fix. Loop back and resolve critical/major issues.

5d. Fix — fix all critical and major issues. Re-compile. If score improves to ≥ 90, exit loop. Max 3 rounds to avoid infinite loops.

Post-Creation Checklist (final gate)

[ ] Compiles without errors
[ ] No overfull hbox > 10pt
[ ] All citations resolve
[ ] Score ≥ 90
[ ] Every definition has motivation + worked example
[ ] Max 2 colored boxes per slide
[ ] No sparse slides (all slides have substantive content)
[ ] TikZ diagrams visually verified — no overlaps, no overflow, all marked points on curves
[ ] Tables fit within slide boundaries, are centered, and separated from title bar
[ ] No content overflow inside colored boxes (visual PDF check)
[ ] References slide present (second-to-last, before Thank You)

2.3 review [file] or proofread [file]

Read-only report, no file edits.

5 check categories:

Report format per issue:

### Issue N: [Brief description]
- **Location:** [slide title or line number]
- **Current:** "[exact text]"
- **Proposed:** "[fix]"
- **Category / Severity:** [Category] / [High|Medium|Low]

2.4 audit [file]

Visual layout audit. Read-only report.

Check dimensions:

• Overflow: Content exceeding boundaries, wide tables/equations
• Font consistency: Inline size overrides, inconsistent sizes
• Box fatigue: 2+ boxes per slide, wrong box types
• Spacing: \vspace overuse, structural issues
• Layout: Missing transitions, missing framing sentences

Spacing-first fix principle (priority order):

1. Reduce vertical spacing (structural changes)
2. Consolidate lists
3. Move displayed equations inline
4. Reduce image/table size with \resizebox
5. Last resort: \footnotesize (never \tiny)