Presentation Design Skill

1. Design Thinking Process

Before generating YAML, choose an aesthetic direction based on the audience and content:

2. Visual Hierarchy

Structure every deck with this arc:

1. •Title slide (template: title) — establish brand and topic
2. •Agenda (template: agenda) — orient the audience (optional for <8 slides)
3. •Section dividers (template: section) — breathing room between topics
4. •Evidence slides — mix of content, metrics, comparison, split
5. •Summary/Close — center with a key takeaway, or title reprise

Rules:

• •One idea per slide
• •Title slides should have 2-6 word headlines
• •Section dividers every 4-7 slides in long decks (>12 slides)
• •End with impact: a bold statement, a call to action, or a key metric

3. Template Selection Strategy

Never use 3+ of the same template in a row. Alternate between text-heavy and visual templates:

Emotional arc: Open with impact (hero/title) -> build with evidence (content/metrics/comparison) -> close with aspiration (quote/center/hero)

4. Content Density Rules

If a slide exceeds these limits, split it into two slides.

5. Motion & Animation Strategy

Use fragments for:

• •Argument building: reveal bullets one-by-one (fragment: fade-up)
• •Metric reveals: show numbers progressively (fragment: fade-in)
• •Comparison reveals: expose rows one at a time (fragment: fade-up)
• •Progressive disclosure in training content

Do NOT use fragments for:

• •Every slide (causes pacing fatigue)
• •Simple lists with <3 items
• •Decorative purposes
• •Section dividers or title slides

Use auto-animate for:

• •Before/after comparisons (matching data_id on items)
• •Progressive detail — start simple, add complexity
• •Code evolution — show how code changes step by step

Per-slide transitions:

• •transition: zoom — only for dramatic reveals (use sparingly, max 2 per deck)
• •transition: fade — smooth narrative flow, section transitions
• •transition: none — rapid-fire comparison between similar slides
• •Default slide transition works well for most slides

6. Theme & Color Usage

Metric colors tell a story:

• •mint — positive outcomes, growth, success
• •coral — negative outcomes, problems, risks
• •amber — warnings, caveats, things to watch
• •icy — neutral data, context, baseline

Hero slides:

• •color should match the theme's mood (dark for midnight, warm for sunset)
• •Use background_image for photographic hero slides
• •Use background_gradient for abstract/geometric backgrounds

Comparison highlights:

• •highlight: right (default) — right column is the recommendation
• •highlight: left — left column is preferred
• •highlight: none — neutral comparison

Background enhancements:

• •background_color on section dividers for visual separation
• •background_gradient for mood transitions between sections
• •background_image sparingly — max 2-3 per deck

7. Anti-Patterns to Flag

When reviewing presentations, flag these issues:

• •Wall of text: Any slide with >100 words of body content
• •Template monotony: 3+ consecutive slides with the same template
• •Missing section dividers: Decks >8 slides without any section templates
• •Generic titles: "Overview", "Details", "Summary" — titles should be specific
• •Orphaned sections: A section divider followed by only 1 content slide
• •Fragment overuse: More than 50% of slides using fragments
• •Metric overload: More than 4 metrics on a single slide
• •Missing speaker notes: Important slides without notes: field
• •Image-heavy without alt text: image fields without image_alt