present

name	present
description	Structures a presentation narrative — the story arc, a slide-by-slide outline, and speaker notes — from results or receipts. Use to shape a talk or deck, or /present. Not for prose reports (report) or rendering visuals (asset).

present

The narrative-structuring skill for reporting. Given results (receipts, a report, findings), it builds the story of a presentation: the arc (setup → tension → resolution → ask), a slide-by-slide outline with one message per slide, and speaker notes. It shapes the telling; it does not write the prose report (that is report) or render the visuals (that is asset, which turns a slide spec into pixels on the DESIGN tokens).

It is read-only and advisory: it writes a PRESENTATION.md (the outline + notes), never product code or rendered slides. The output is judged by Review — is there one clear message per slide, does the arc land the ask, and is it grounded in the real results rather than spin?

What this does / does not do

Does: identify the audience + the single takeaway + the ask; shape the story arc; outline slides with one message each (title + the point + what visual/data it needs); write speaker notes; ground every claim in a receipt/result; write PRESENTATION.md + a receipt. Does not: write the prose stakeholder report (that is report), render or design the actual slides/graphics (that is asset), or invent results not in the evidence.

When NOT to use

• The deliverable is a written report/document, not a talk — use report (multi-tier stakeholder prose).
• The need is the rendered slides/graphics themselves — use asset (token-driven visual production) on this outline.
• There are no results yet to present — run the work + archive first; a presentation with no evidence is spin.
• The audience needs a decision doc, not a narrative — use propose (recommendation + tradeoffs).

Inputs

• The results to present — state/receipts/*, a report output, findings, or stated outcomes.
• The audience + the occasion + the single takeaway/ask (or elicit them).

How to do it

1. Fix audience, takeaway, ask. Who is in the room, the one thing they should remember, and what you want them to do. Everything serves these.
2. Shape the arc. Setup (why this matters to them) → tension (the problem/gap) → resolution (what was done / found) → ask (the decision or action). A deck without an arc is a list.
3. Outline slides, one message each. Per slide: a title that states the point, the single message, and the visual/data it needs (named for asset/dataviz to render — not rendered here).
4. Write speaker notes. What is said around each slide — the connective tissue the slide does not show.
5. Ground every claim. Each point traces to a receipt/result; no number or outcome that the evidence does not support. Presentation is emphasis, not invention.
6. Write PRESENTATION.md — audience/takeaway/ask + arc + slide outline (message + needed visual) + speaker notes.

Output

• PRESENTATION.md at the product root (or presentations/PRESENTATION.md if that dir exists) — persistence: Ephemeral. Audience + takeaway + ask · story arc · slide-by-slide outline (one message + the visual it needs) · speaker notes · evidence trace.
• receipt (<workspace>/receipts/present-receipt-<ts>.json): base schema + audience, takeaway, ask, slide_count, arc, presentation_path. persistence: Ephemeral.

Completion Criteria

Done when: PRESENTATION.md fixes the audience/takeaway/ask, shapes a story arc, outlines slides with one grounded message each (naming the visual each needs), and includes speaker notes; a receipt records the takeaway + slide count.

Not done if: slides carry multiple messages (a list, not a narrative); a claim is not grounded in the results (spin); or it rendered/designed the actual slides instead of outlining them (that is asset).

Next step: asset renders the slides/graphics from this outline on the DESIGN tokens; report covers a written prose version for those not in the room.

Related Skills

• report: multi-tier stakeholder prose from receipts. present structures the spoken/deck narrative; report writes the document.
• asset: renders the actual slides/graphics on the design tokens. present produces the outline + one visual-need per slide; asset makes them.
• propose: a decision doc with tradeoffs. Use it when the room needs a recommendation, not a narrative.