ppt-planner

name	ppt-planner
description	Plan PowerPoint and slide deck structure from reports, rubrics, papers, project notes, or presentation requirements. Use when the user asks how many slides to make, what each slide should contain, how to convert a report into a presentation outline, how to structure a lab meeting or defense deck, or wants page-by-page layout and pacing guidance before building the actual PPT.

PPT Planner

Use this skill to turn source material into a presentation plan before making slides. Focus on deck structure, page count, page roles, layout choices, and speaking flow.

This skill is for planning first. Do not jump straight to generating a .pptx unless the user explicitly asks for that next step.

Workflow

1. Understand the presentation context

Extract these inputs from the user's request and materials:

• source type: report, rubric, paper, project summary, meeting notes, or mixed inputs
• presentation type: coursework, lab meeting, paper reading, project demo, proposal, defense, or interview-style update
• audience: instructor, classmates, advisor, lab, external judges, or mixed audience
• target duration, if known
• required sections, scoring criteria, and must-show evidence
• source-specific structure requirements, if any, such as repeated per-student, per-question, per-section, or per-demo blocks
• slide-count convention, if specified, such as whether cover, agenda, Q&A, or backup slides count toward the formal page total
• constraints such as page limit, language, visual style, or required figures

If key inputs are missing, infer cautiously and state the assumption in the plan.

If the source includes code or a PDF, use the specialized intake rules:

• for code-heavy material, read references/code-evidence.md
• for PDF material, read references/pdf-intake.md

2. Choose a deck strategy

Decide what kind of presentation this is:

• explain a problem and solution
• summarize a paper
• defend research progress
• present a project build
• compare options or results
• report status and next steps

Then decide whether the deck should be:

• narrative-first
• evidence-first
• demo-first
• defense-first

Use references/deck-sizing.md to choose a reasonable page count and pacing target.

3. Draft the deck map first

Before expanding into detailed slide guidance, produce a short deck map:

• recommended total slide count
• one-line purpose for each slide
• page role for each slide

Pause here and ask for confirmation unless the user explicitly wants the full detailed plan in one pass.

4. Expand into page-by-page guidance

After the deck map is accepted, expand each slide using:

• references/page-roles.md
• references/layout-patterns.md
• references/talk-track.md

For each slide, specify:

• slide number
• page role
• working title
• question this slide answers
• content to include
• recommended layout
• what not to cram onto the page
• suggested speaking angle
• estimated speaking time

5. Prepare handoff guidance

If the user wants to continue after planning:

• hand off to Presentations for building the deck
• hand off to documents for a speaker script or notes
• optionally suggest drawioLocal or drawioRemote for architecture, workflow, or comparison diagrams

Do not silently switch into slide generation mode. Say that the structure is ready and the next step is implementation.

Planning Rules

Apply rules in this order:

1. explicit requirements from the current task or rubric
2. source-specific suggested structure from the current materials
3. generic planning heuristics in this skill

Do not turn a source-specific pattern from one presentation into a universal template for unrelated decks.

• One slide should have one clear job.
• Split overloaded slides instead of stacking too much text.
• Prefer figures, diagrams, tables, and comparisons over dense paragraphs when the material supports it.
• After 3-4 dense explanation slides, insert a visual or evidence-heavy slide when possible.
• If the user gives a time budget, enforce it. Do not propose a 14-slide deck for a 5-minute talk.
• Tie every slide to audience needs, not just source document order.
• Preserve required evidence. If a rubric or report requires specific data, results, or methodology, make sure it appears in the plan.
• If the current source explicitly requires a repeated presentation unit per student, per question, per experiment block, or per demo block, preserve that structure in the deck map instead of collapsing it away.
• When repeated units are explicitly required for the current task, size the deck from that requirement first, then compress within each unit rather than deleting the unit structure itself.
• If the source only suggests a structure rather than requiring it, the planner may adapt it as long as the final deck still respects time, audience, and scoring criteria.
• Unless the source or user specifies otherwise, treat the cover slide as outside the formal content slide count. Q&A and backup slides should also be counted separately from core content when slide-budget wording is ambiguous.
• When page counts matter, report both content-slide count and total-slide count so the user can see exactly how the deck is being counted.
• Request code only when the deck truly depends on implementation evidence; do not ask for a full repository by default.
• When the input is a PDF, identify figures and tables before finalizing slide assignments whenever those assets are likely to drive the talk.

Output Format

Use this structure in the response:

1. Presentation judgment
2. Recommended slide count
3. Deck map
4. Page-by-page plan
5. Speaking rhythm
6. Next-step handoff

In the slide-count section, explicitly note:

• content slides
• non-content slides such as cover, Q&A, or backup
• total slides

Deck map format

Use one line per slide:

Slide 1 — Cover — establish topic and context
Slide 2 — Problem / motivation — explain why this matters
Slide 3 — Method overview — show the big picture

Page-by-page format

Use this template:

Slide N
- Role:
- Title:
- This slide answers:
- Include:
- Recommended layout:
- Avoid:
- Suggested talk track:
- Time:

Common Requests

Examples this skill should handle well:

• "Based on this report, help me figure out how many slides I need."
• "Turn this rubric into a presentation outline."
• "I have a 10-minute lab meeting. What should each page cover?"
• "Help me convert this paper summary into a defense-style deck."
• "Before making the PPT, tell me how to structure it page by page."

Boundaries

This skill plans the deck. It does not replace:

• Presentations for actually creating .pptx files
• documents for full script authoring
• drawing tools for detailed diagrams

If the user explicitly asks for the actual deck after planning, use the approved plan as input to the next tool or skill.

For PDF inputs, this skill should try to produce a figure/table inventory and a slide-to-asset recommendation before slide generation. If reliable extraction is not possible, it should still produce the inventory and clearly mark which assets need manual confirmation.