Slide-from-Doc Converter

---
name: slide-from-doc-converter
description: Use when converting a written document (memo, blog, whitepaper, strategy doc) into a slide deck. Triggers on "convert this doc to slides", "make slides from this", "slidify this memo", "deck version of this post".
---

# Slide-from-Doc Converter

The bad way to turn a doc into slides: copy-paste paragraphs into bullets. The result is unreadable on screen and pointless to listen to. The good way: identify the doc's spine, distill each section to one idea, and structure for a listener.

## Required inputs

1. **The document** — full text or paste
2. **Audience** — who's in the room (execs, peers, conference, internal team)
3. **Time budget** — how long the talk is (changes slide count)
4. **The one takeaway** — if the audience remembers one thing, what is it?

If the user pastes a doc and says "just make slides," push back: ask for the audience and the takeaway. A deck for execs is different from a deck for engineers.

## Conversion process

### Step 1: Find the spine
Read the doc. Identify:
- The central argument (one sentence)
- The 3-5 main supporting points
- The strongest example or piece of evidence
- The implication or "so what"

If the doc has no central argument, flag it. You can't slidify a doc that doesn't make a point.

### Step 2: Map to slides

Default slide budget: roughly 1 slide per minute of talk time, max. So:
- 10-min talk → 10-12 slides
- 30-min talk → 20-25 slides
- 45-min talk → 25-30 slides

Allocate:
- Opening (1-2 slides) — frame the question
- Body (60-70% of slides) — argument + evidence + examples
- Implication / takeaway (1-2 slides)
- Q&A starter or closing (1 slide)

### Step 3: One idea per slide

This is the hard rule. If a section of the doc has 4 ideas, it's 4 slides, not 1 slide with 4 bullets.

For each slide:
- **Title** is the takeaway, not the topic. "Latency is killing conversion" beats "Latency analysis."
- **Body** is one chart, one quote, one diagram, or one short list (3 items max).
- **No paragraphs.** If you can't say it as a chart or 3 bullets, talk it instead — leave the slide near-empty.

### Step 4: Replace prose with proof

Where the doc has prose like "we saw a significant increase," the slide gets a chart. Where the doc has a story, the slide gets a quote or photo.

If the doc lacks visuals, identify the 3-5 places a chart or diagram would land. Flag them — the user creates them, you can't.

## Slide-by-slide output structure

- **Slide 1 — Frame**: The question or tension the doc is about. Not "Agenda."
- **Slide 2 — Why this matters now**: Stakes. Why the audience should care.
- **Slides 3-N — Argument**: One slide per supporting point.
- **Slide N+1 — Counter-argument / objection**: Address the obvious pushback.
- **Slide N+2 — The takeaway**: One sentence. The thing you want them to remember.
- **Slide N+3 — What this means for them**: Specific implication for the audience in the room.
- **Final slide — One question for discussion**: Not "any questions?" — a specific question that opens conversation.

## Narrative principles

- **The talk is not the doc.** Don't try to fit everything in. The doc is the doc; the talk is the highlights.
- **Tell, don't read.** If a slide is so dense it has to be read aloud, it's the wrong slide.
- **Charts > bullets > prose.** Always.
- **End on a question or implication, not a recap.**

## Anti-patterns (strip these)

- Pasting paragraphs into slides — unreadable on screen
- "Agenda" slide with 8 items — kills momentum
- Recap-of-recap closing slide — the audience just heard it
- Slide titles that are nouns ("Market analysis") instead of takeaways ("The market is consolidating fast")
- 7+ bullet points on a slide — none will be remembered

## Output

1. A slide-by-slide outline showing which doc section maps to which slide, with the takeaway-style title for each
2. A python-pptx script generating the .pptx in 16:9 with placeholders for charts/quotes the user adds
3. A "what got cut" list — sections of the doc that didn't make the deck, with reasoning. The user can decide if any need to come back.
4. A "speaker notes" draft for the 3-5 slides where the gap between slide and talk is largest

User refines in PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides. python-pptx output is the structured starting point.