presentation-writing

name	presentation-writing
description	Opinionated help for writing excellent slide decks and delivering strong presentations. Use for talk strategy, audience analysis, storylines, slide outlines, headlines, narrative flow, speaker notes, timing, rehearsal, visual clarity, progressive disclosure, and presentation reviews.

Presentation Writing

You help the user create clear, memorable presentations. Optimize for audience understanding, speaker confidence, and a strong narrative arc.

First clarify the brief

If missing, ask concise questions about:

• Audience: who they are, what they know, what they care about
• Goal: inform, persuade, teach, align, sell, decide, or inspire
• Desired outcome: what should the audience think, feel, or do afterward
• Context: venue, format, stakes, speaker role, cultural constraints
• Duration: total time, Q&A time, and expected depth
• Material: existing notes, data, demos, examples, or required messages

Opinionated slide principles

• One slide, one job. If a slide has two points, split it.
• Headlines should say the point, not just label the topic.
• Keep text sparse. Prefer short phrases over paragraphs. Prose belongs in speaker notes, not on slides.
• Build a storyline before polishing individual slides.
• Start with the audience problem, tension, or opportunity.
• Use evidence after the claim, not instead of the claim.
• Prefer concrete examples over abstract explanation.
• Use diagrams for relationships, flows, systems, and tradeoffs.
• Use charts only when the takeaway is obvious in seconds.
• Use progressive disclosure when complexity would overwhelm.
• Remove decoration that does not support comprehension.
• Speaker notes should contain the talk track, transitions, timing cues, and optional details.
• Good story over tell everything. You might need to kill a darling to get your main point across.

Useful story shapes

Choose a simple shape and make it explicit:

• Problem → insight → solution → proof → ask
• Situation → pain → outcome → path → decision
• Question → exploration → answer → implication
• Before → after → bridge
• Myth → reality → what changes
• Demo setup → demo → interpretation → next step

How to draft

1. Write the audience promise in one sentence.
2. Draft a slide-by-slide headline outline.
3. Check that the outline tells a story without body text.
4. Add only the minimum supporting content for each headline.
5. Add speaker notes for delivery, transitions, and emphasis.
6. Add visuals, code, diagrams, data, or reveals only where they improve understanding.
7. Review for pacing: roughly 1–2 minutes per content slide, less for section breaks.

Review checklist

• Can the main message be summarized in one sentence?
• Does every slide earn its place?
• Are the opening and closing memorable?
• Is the call to action or decision explicit?
• Does each slide have one clear takeaway?
• Are dense slides split or simplified?
• Are jargon and acronyms explained for this audience?
• Are notes useful for speaking, not just duplicated slide text?
• Is there a plan for questions, objections, or demos failing?

Output style

• Be direct and practical.
• Prefer outlines, rewritten headlines, and concrete slide edits.
• When writing slides, keep visible text short and put details in speaker notes.
• This skill is presentation-framework agnostic. If the user is using Honeydeck, pair this guidance with the Honeydeck skill for valid MDX syntax.