| name | paper-slides |
| description | Generate conference presentation slides (beamer LaTeX → PDF + editable PPTX) from a compiled paper, with speaker notes and full talk script. Use when user says "做PPT", "做幻灯片", "make slides", "conference talk", "presentation slides", "生成slides", "写演讲稿", or wants beamer slides for a conference talk. |
| argument-hint | [paper-directory-or-talk-length] |
| allowed-tools | Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Agent, mcp__gemini-review__review, mcp__gemini-review__review_start, mcp__gemini-review__review_reply_start, mcp__gemini-review__review_status |
Override for Codex users who want Gemini, not a Codex-MCP reviewer, to act as the reviewer. Install this package after skills/skills-codex/*.
Paper Slides: From Paper to Conference Talk
Generate conference presentation slides from: $ARGUMENTS
Context
This skill runs after Workflow 3 (/paper-writing). It takes a compiled paper and generates a presentation slide deck for conference oral talks, spotlight presentations, or poster lightning talks.
Unlike posters (single page, visual-first), slides tell a temporal story: each slide builds on the previous one, with progressive revelation of the research narrative. A good talk makes the audience understand why this matters before showing what was done.
Constants
- VENUE =
NeurIPS — Target venue, determines color scheme. Supported: NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, ACL, EMNLP, CVPR, ECCV, GENERIC. Override via argument.
- TALK_TYPE =
spotlight — Talk format. Options: oral (15-20 min), spotlight (5-8 min), poster-talk (3-5 min), invited (30-45 min). Determines slide count and content depth.
- TALK_MINUTES = 15 — Talk duration in minutes. Auto-adjusts slide count (~1 slide/minute for oral, ~1.5 slides/minute for spotlight). Override explicitly if needed.
- ASPECT_RATIO =
16:9 — Slide aspect ratio. Options: 16:9 (default, modern projectors), 4:3 (legacy).
- SPEAKER_NOTES = true — Generate
\note{} blocks in beamer and corresponding PPTX notes. Set false for clean slides without notes.
- PAPER_DIR =
paper/ — Directory containing the compiled paper.
- OUTPUT_DIR =
slides/ — Output directory for all slide files.
- REVIEWER_MODEL =
gemini-review — Gemini reviewer invoked through the local gemini-review MCP bridge for slide review.
- AUTO_PROCEED = false — At each checkpoint, always wait for explicit user confirmation.
- COMPILER =
latexmk — LaTeX build tool.
- ENGINE =
pdflatex — LaTeX engine. Use xelatex for CJK text.
💡 Override: /paper-slides "paper/" — talk_type: oral, venue: ICML, minutes: 20, aspect: 4:3
Talk Type → Slide Count
| Talk Type | Duration | Slides | Content Depth |
|---|
poster-talk | 3-5 min | 5-8 | Problem + 1 method slide + 1 result + conclusion |
spotlight | 5-8 min | 8-12 | Problem + 2 method + 2 results + conclusion |
oral | 15-20 min | 15-22 | Full story with motivation, method detail, experiments, analysis |
invited | 30-45 min | 25-40 | Comprehensive: background, related work, deep method, extensive results, discussion |
Venue Color Schemes
Same as /paper-poster:
| Venue | Primary | Accent | Background | Text |
|---|
| NeurIPS | #8B5CF6 | #2563EB | #FFFFFF | #1E1E1E |
| ICML | #DC2626 | #1D4ED8 | #FFFFFF | #1E1E1E |
| ICLR | #059669 | #0284C7 | #FFFFFF | #1E1E1E |
| CVPR | #2563EB | #7C3AED | #FFFFFF | #1E1E1E |
| GENERIC | #334155 | #2563EB | #FFFFFF | #1E1E1E |
State Persistence (Compact Recovery)
Persist state to slides/SLIDES_STATE.json after each phase:
{
"phase": 3,
"venue": "NeurIPS",
"talk_type": "spotlight",
"slide_count": 10,
"codex_thread_id": "019cfcf4-...",
"status": "in_progress",
"timestamp": "2026-03-18T15:00:00"
}
On startup: if SLIDES_STATE.json exists with "status": "in_progress" and within 24h → resume. Otherwise → fresh start.
Workflow
Phase 0: Input Validation & Setup
-
Check prerequisites:
which pdflatex && which latexmk
-
Verify paper exists:
ls $PAPER_DIR/main.tex || ls $PAPER_DIR/main.pdf
ls $PAPER_DIR/sections/*.tex
ls $PAPER_DIR/figures/
-
Backup existing slides: if slides/ exists, copy to slides-backup-{timestamp}/
-
Create output directory: mkdir -p slides/figures
-
Detect CJK: if paper contains Chinese/Japanese/Korean, set ENGINE to xelatex
-
Determine slide count: from TALK_TYPE and TALK_MINUTES using the table above
-
Check for resume: read slides/SLIDES_STATE.json if it exists
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 0.
Phase 1: Content Extraction & Slide Outline
Read paper/sections/*.tex and build a slide-by-slide outline.
Slide template by talk type:
Oral (15-22 slides)
| Slide | Purpose | Content Source | Figure? |
|---|
| 1 | Title | Paper metadata | No |
| 2 | Outline | Section headers | No |
| 3-4 | Motivation & Problem | Introduction | Optional |
| 5 | Key Insight | Introduction (contribution) | No |
| 6-9 | Method | Method section | Yes (hero figure) |
| 10-14 | Results | Experiments | Yes (per slide) |
| 15-16 | Analysis / Ablations | Experiments | Yes |
| 17 | Limitations | Conclusion | No |
| 18 | Conclusion / Takeaway | Conclusion | No |
| 19 | Thank You + QR | — | QR code |
Spotlight (8-12 slides)
| Slide | Purpose | Content Source | Figure? |
|---|
| 1 | Title | Paper metadata | No |
| 2-3 | Problem + Why It Matters | Introduction | Optional |
| 4 | Key Insight | Contribution | No |
| 5-6 | Method | Method (condensed) | Yes (hero) |
| 7-9 | Results | Key results only | Yes |
| 10 | Takeaway | Conclusion | No |
| 11 | Thank You + QR | — | QR code |
Poster-talk (5-8 slides)
| Slide | Purpose | Content Source | Figure? |
|---|
| 1 | Title | Paper metadata | No |
| 2 | Problem | Introduction (1 slide) | No |
| 3 | Method | Method (1 slide) | Yes |
| 4-5 | Results | Key result only | Yes |
| 6 | Takeaway + QR | Conclusion | QR |
For each slide, specify:
- Title (max 8 words)
- 3-5 bullet points (max 8 words each)
- Figure reference (if any) from paper/figures/
- Speaker note (2-3 sentences of what to say)
- Time allocation (in seconds)
Output: slides/SLIDE_OUTLINE.md
🚦 Checkpoint:
📊 Slide outline ready:
- Talk type: [TALK_TYPE] ([TALK_MINUTES] min)
- Slide count: [N] slides
- Figures used: [N] from paper/figures/
- Time budget: [breakdown]
Slide-by-slide outline:
1. [Title slide]
2. [Motivation — 1.5 min]
3. [Problem statement — 1 min]
...
Proceed to drafting? Or adjust the outline?
⛔ STOP HERE and wait for user response. This is the most critical checkpoint — the outline determines the entire talk flow.
Options:
- "go" → proceed to Phase 2
- adjustments (e.g., "merge slides 3-4", "add a demo slide", "cut the ablation") → revise
- "stop" → save to
slides/SLIDE_OUTLINE.md
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 1.
Phase 2: Slide-by-Slide Content Drafting
For each slide in the outline, draft the actual content.
Presentation rules (enforced strictly):
| Rule | Rationale |
|---|
| One message per slide | If a slide has two ideas, split it |
| Max 6 lines per slide | More than 6 lines = wall of text |
| Max 8 words per line | Audience reads, not listens, if text is long |
| Sentence fragments, not sentences | "Improves F1 by 3.2%" not "Our method improves the F1 score by 3.2 percentage points" |
| Figure slides: figure ≥60% area | The figure IS the content; bullets are annotations |
| Bold key numbers | "Achieves 94.3% accuracy" |
| Progressive disclosure | Use \pause or \onslide for complex slides |
| No Related Work slide | Unless invited talk (30+ min) |
For each slide, produce:
\frametitle{}- Content (itemize or figure + caption)
\note{} with speaker text (if SPEAKER_NOTES=true)
Phase 3: Generate Slides LaTeX
Create slides/main.tex using beamer.
Template structure:
\documentclass[aspectratio=169]{beamer}
% Venue theme
\usepackage{xcolor}
\definecolor{primary}{HTML}{VENUE_PRIMARY}
\definecolor{accent}{HTML}{VENUE_ACCENT}
% Clean theme
\usetheme{default}
\usecolortheme{default}
\setbeamercolor{frametitle}{fg=primary}
\setbeamercolor{title}{fg=primary}
\setbeamercolor{structure}{fg=accent}
\setbeamercolor{itemize item}{fg=primary}
\setbeamercolor{itemize subitem}{fg=accent}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
\setbeamertemplate{footline}{
\hfill\insertframenumber/\inserttotalframenumber\hspace{2mm}\vspace{2mm}
}
% Packages
\usepackage{graphicx,amsmath,booktabs}
\graphicspath{{figures/}}
% Speaker notes (if enabled)
% \setbeameroption{show notes on second screen=right}
% Metadata
\title{PAPER TITLE}
\author{Author 1 \and Author 2}
\institute{Affiliation}
\date{VENUE YEAR}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\titlepage
\end{frame}
% Content slides follow...
\begin{frame}{Motivation}
\begin{itemize}
\item Bullet point 1
\item Bullet point 2
\item \textbf{Key insight in bold}
\end{itemize}
\note{Speaker note: explain the motivation...}
\end{frame}
% Figure slide example
\begin{frame}{Method Overview}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.85\textwidth]{method_overview.pdf}
\vspace{0.5em}
\begin{itemize}
\item Key annotation about the figure
\end{itemize}
\note{Walk through the figure left to right...}
\end{frame}
% ... more slides ...
\begin{frame}{Thank You}
\centering
{\Large Questions?}\\[2em]
Paper: [URL or QR placeholder]\\
Code: [URL or QR placeholder]
\end{frame}
\end{document}
Symlink figures:
ln -sf ../paper/figures/*.pdf slides/figures/ 2>/dev/null
ln -sf ../paper/figures/*.png slides/figures/ 2>/dev/null
Key formatting rules:
- Title font: ≥28pt, venue primary color
- Body font: ≥20pt
- Footnotes: ≥14pt
- No navigation symbols
- Frame numbers in bottom-right
- Clean white background (no gradients, no decorative elements)
Phase 4: Compile Slides
cd slides && latexmk -$ENGINE -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex
Error handling loop (max 3 attempts):
- Parse error log
- Fix: missing package, undefined command, file not found, overfull boxes
- Recompile
Verification:
pdfinfo slides/main.pdf | grep Pages
If page count differs significantly from outline (>2 slides off), investigate.
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 4.
Phase 5: Gemini Review
Send the slide outline + selected LaTeX frames to Gemini:
mcp__gemini-review__review_start:
prompt: |
Review this [TALK_TYPE] presentation ([TALK_MINUTES] min) for [VENUE].
Evaluate using these criteria (score 1-5 each):
1. **Story arc** — Does the talk build a compelling narrative? (Problem → insight → method → evidence → takeaway)
2. **Slide density** — Any slides with too much text? (Max 6 lines, 8 words/line)
3. **Time budget** — Is [N] slides realistic for [TALK_MINUTES] minutes?
4. **Figure visibility** — Will figures be readable on a projector?
5. **Opening hook** — Do slides 2-3 grab attention? (Not "In this paper, we...")
6. **Takeaway** — Is the final message clear and memorable?
7. **Progressive build** — Are complex ideas revealed gradually?
Slide outline:
[PASTE SLIDE_OUTLINE.md]
Selected frames (LaTeX):
[PASTE KEY FRAMES]
Provide:
- Score for each criterion
- Top 3 actionable fixes
- Overall: Ready to present? (Yes / Needs revision / Major issues)
After this start call, immediately save the returned jobId and poll mcp__gemini-review__review_status with a bounded waitSeconds until done=true. Treat the completed status payload's response as the slide review.
Apply fixes. Recompile if LaTeX was changed.
⚠️ If gemini-review MCP is not available or Gemini credentials are missing, skip external review and proceed to Phase 6. Note the skip in SLIDES_STATE.json.
Save review to slides/SLIDES_REVIEW.md.
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 5.
Phase 6: Speaker Notes
For each slide, ensure a \note{} block exists with:
- What to say (2-3 complete sentences, conversational tone)
- Timing hint (e.g., "spend 1 minute here", "quick — 20 seconds")
- Transition phrase to the next slide (e.g., "So how do we actually implement this? Let me show you...")
Also generate slides/speaker_notes.md as a standalone backup:
# Speaker Notes
## Slide 1: Title
[No speaking — wait for introduction]
## Slide 2: Motivation
"Thank you. So let me start with the problem we're trying to solve..."
[Time: 1.5 min]
## Slide 3: Problem Statement
"Specifically, the challenge is..."
→ Transition: "To address this, our key insight is..."
[Time: 1 min]
...
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 6.
Phase 7: PowerPoint Export
Generate an editable PPTX using python-pptx:
python3 -c "import pptx" 2>/dev/null || pip install python-pptx
Write slides/generate_pptx.py that:
- Creates a PPTX with correct aspect ratio (16:9 → 13.33" x 7.5"; 4:3 → 10" x 7.5")
- For each beamer frame:
- Creates a slide with matching layout
- Title in venue primary color, bold
- Bullet points with venue accent color markers
- Figures embedded as images (from slides/figures/)
- Speaker notes transferred to PPTX notes field
- Title slide with special formatting (centered, larger title)
- Thank You slide with centered text
- Applies venue color scheme throughout
cd slides && python3 generate_pptx.py
⚠️ If python-pptx is not installed, skip with a note: "Install pip install python-pptx to enable PowerPoint export."
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 7.
Phase 8: Full Talk Script
Generate slides/TALK_SCRIPT.md — a complete, word-for-word script for the talk.
This is different from speaker notes (brief reminders). The talk script is a full manuscript that can be read aloud or used for practice.
# Talk Script: [Paper Title]
**Venue**: [VENUE] [YEAR]
**Talk type**: [TALK_TYPE] ([TALK_MINUTES] min)
**Total slides**: [N]
---
## Slide 1: Title [0:00 - 0:15]
*[Wait for chair introduction]*
"Thank you [chair name]. I'm [author] from [affiliation], and today I'll be talking about [short title]."
---
## Slide 2: Motivation [0:15 - 1:30]
"Let me start with the problem. [Describe the real-world motivation in accessible terms]. This matters because [impact statement].
The current state of the art approaches this with [brief existing approach]. But there's a fundamental limitation: [gap statement]."
→ *Transition*: "So what's our key insight?"
---
## Slide 3: Key Insight [1:30 - 2:30]
"Our key observation is that [core insight in one sentence].
This leads us to propose [method name], which [one-sentence description]."
→ *Transition*: "Let me walk you through how this works."
---
## Slide 4-N: [Continue for each slide...]
...
---
## Slide [N]: Thank You [TALK_MINUTES:00]
"To summarize: we've shown that [main result]. The key takeaway is [memorable final message].
The paper and code are available at the QR code on screen. I'm happy to take questions."
---
## Time Budget Summary
| Slide | Topic | Duration | Cumulative |
|:-----:|-------|:--------:|:----------:|
| 1 | Title | 0:15 | 0:15 |
| 2 | Motivation | 1:15 | 1:30 |
| 3 | Key Insight | 1:00 | 2:30 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| N | Thank You | 0:15 | [TALK_MINUTES]:00 |
**Total**: [sum] min (target: [TALK_MINUTES] min)
---
## Anticipated Q&A
### Q1: How does this compare to [strongest baseline]?
**A**: "[Specific comparison with numbers]. Our advantage is particularly clear in [specific scenario], where we see [X%] improvement."
### Q2: What are the main limitations?
**A**: "[Honest answer]. We see this as [future work direction]."
### Q3: How computationally expensive is this?
**A**: "[Training/inference cost]. Compared to [baseline], our method requires [comparison]."
### Q4: Does this generalize to [related domain]?
**A**: "[Answer based on paper's discussion section]."
### Q5: What's the most surprising finding?
**A**: "[Interesting insight from the experiments]."
### Q6: How sensitive is the method to [hyperparameter/design choice]?
: "[Reference ablation study if available]."
### Q7: What's the next step for this research?
: "[Future work from conclusion]."
### Q8: [Domain-specific question]
: "[Answer]."
Final Output Summary
📊 Slide generation complete:
- Talk type: [TALK_TYPE] ([TALK_MINUTES] min) for [VENUE]
- Files:
slides/
├── main.tex # Beamer LaTeX source
├── main.pdf # Compiled slides (primary output)
├── presentation.pptx # Editable PowerPoint
├── SLIDE_OUTLINE.md # Slide-by-slide outline
├── SLIDES_REVIEW.md # Gemini review feedback
├── speaker_notes.md # Per-slide speaker notes
├── TALK_SCRIPT.md # Full word-for-word talk script + Q&A
├── SLIDES_STATE.json # State persistence
├── generate_pptx.py # PPTX generation script
└── figures/ # Symlinked from paper/figures/
Next steps:
1. Practice with TALK_SCRIPT.md (read aloud, time yourself)
2. Edit presentation.pptx for visual tweaks (animations, custom graphics)
3. Review Anticipated Q&A section before the talk
4. Do a dry run with a colleague
State: Write SLIDES_STATE.json with phase: 8, status: "completed".
Key Rules
- Large file handling: If the Write tool fails due to file size, immediately retry using Bash (
cat << 'EOF' > file) to write in chunks. Do NOT ask the user for permission — just do it silently.
- One message per slide. If a slide has two ideas, split it into two slides.
- Do NOT fabricate data. All numbers must come from
paper/sections/*.tex.
- Bullet points only — never full sentences on slides. Sentence fragments are fine.
- Figure slides: figure ≥60% of slide area. The figure IS the content.
- Progressive disclosure: Use
\pause or \onslide for complex method slides.
- De-AI polish: Remove watch words from all slide text and talk script.
- Do NOT hallucinate citations. Reference only papers cited in the paper.
- Opening hook matters: Never start with "In this paper, we..." — start with the problem or a provocative question.
- Font size minimums: Title ≥28pt, body ≥20pt, footnotes ≥14pt.
- Feishu notifications are optional. If
~/.claude/feishu.json exists, send notifications. If absent, skip.
Parameter Pass-Through
/paper-slides "paper/" — talk_type: oral, venue: ICML, minutes: 20, aspect: 4:3, notes: false
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|
venue | NeurIPS | Conference for color scheme |
talk_type | spotlight | oral/spotlight/poster-talk/invited |
minutes | 15 | Talk duration |
aspect | 16:9 | Aspect ratio (16:9 / 4:3) |
notes | true | Generate speaker notes |
engine | pdflatex | LaTeX engine |
auto proceed | false | Skip checkpoints |
