Conference Talk Builder

---
name: conference-talk-builder
description: Use when building a conference, meetup, or external speaking deck. Triggers on "conference talk", "talk deck", "speaking deck", "meetup talk", "keynote deck".
---

# Conference Talk Builder

A great conference talk has a tight arc, one idea per slide, and a takeaway the audience can quote afterward. A bad one is a wall-of-text deck the speaker reads from. This skill builds the first kind.

## Required inputs

1. **Topic** — what the talk is about, in one sentence
2. **The takeaway** — the one thing the audience should remember (and ideally tweet)
3. **Time budget** — typically 15, 25, 30, or 45 minutes
4. **Audience** — who's in the room, what they already know
5. **Conference / context** — type of event (industry vs technical vs general)
6. **Demo / live element** — is there one? Where does it fit?

If the takeaway is missing or vague, push back HARD. A talk without a takeaway is a stream of slides. The takeaway shapes everything else.

## Slide budget by talk length

- 15 min → 15-18 slides (1/min, plus 2-3 for intro/outro)
- 25 min → 22-28 slides
- 30 min → 25-30 slides
- 45 min → 30-40 slides + demo time

If a user wants 60 slides for a 25-min talk, push back: "You'll either rush or lose them. Cut to the spine."

## Slide-by-slide structure (using a 25-min talk as default)

- **Slide 1 — Title**: Talk title, your name, your handle. Skip the affiliation logo wall.
- **Slide 2 — The hook**: A specific moment, story, or question that opens the loop. NOT an agenda. NOT "about me."
- **Slide 3 — The tension**: The thing that's wrong / hard / surprising about this space. Why this talk exists.
- **Slide 4 — The thesis**: Your takeaway, stated up front. Tell them what you'll prove.
- **Slides 5-8 — Setup**: Background only the audience needs to follow. No more.
- **Slides 9-15 — The argument / story**: The bulk of the talk. One idea per slide. Build the case.
- **Slides 16-18 — The demo or evidence centerpiece**: The moment that makes the abstract concrete. Live demo or chart that lands the argument.
- **Slides 19-21 — Implications**: What this means for the audience's work. Specific.
- **Slide 22 — Counter-argument**: The objection a skeptical audience member would raise. Address it.
- **Slide 23 — The takeaway slide**: One sentence. Big type. Center of slide. The thing you want them to tweet.
- **Slide 24 — Where to learn more**: Your blog, your repo, your handle. One link. Not five.
- **Slide 25 — Q&A**: Just your handle and a question prompt.

## Narrative principles

- **One idea per slide. NON-NEGOTIABLE.** If a slide has two ideas, it's two slides.
- **Show the arc.** Open a loop on slide 2, close it on slide 23.
- **Slide titles are takeaways, not topics.** "Indexing beats hardware" beats "Indexing strategy."
- **Big type, less text.** If a slide has more than 12 words, ask whether it's prose or a slide.
- **The takeaway slide is special.** Big, centered, quotable. Practice landing on it.

## The demo slot

If the talk has a live demo:
- Insert a "demo" placeholder slide at the right point (usually 60-70% through)
- Practice it 3+ times with the timing budgeted
- Have a backup chart/screenshot if the demo fails — DO NOT skip the section, fall back to the static evidence

## Anti-patterns (strip these)

- "About me" / "About my company" slide — nobody cares, get to the talk
- "Agenda" slide — kills the hook, replace with the tension
- Logo soup ("we serve these brands") — irrelevant to the audience
- 8 bullets on a slide — none will be remembered
- "Thank you" + "Questions?" closing — replaces the chance to land the takeaway
- Reading slides aloud — if the slide says it, you don't need to. Talk to the audience.

## Output

1. The slide-by-slide outline as markdown, with the takeaway-style title for each slide
2. A python-pptx script generating the .pptx in 16:9 with large-type slide template, takeaway slide as a hero layout, and demo placeholders clearly marked
3. A speaker notes draft for the 5 highest-leverage slides (hook, thesis, demo, counter-argument, takeaway)
4. A timing budget — minutes per section — so the speaker can rehearse against the clock
5. A "what to cut if running long" list — the 3 slides easiest to drop in the moment

Speaker refines in PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides. For talks where design polish matters (keynotes), the python-pptx output is a structural skeleton, not a finished design — recommend a designer pass.