Conference Talk Builder

Create compelling conference talk outlines and iA Presenter markdown slides using the Story Circle narrative framework.

Process

1. Gather Information

Ask the user for:

• Talk title and topic

• Target audience and knowledge level

• Main points to cover

• Brain dump of everything they know

• Problem they're solving or story they're telling

• Constraints (time limit, specific technologies)

2. Read the Story Circle Framework

Load references/story-circle.md for the eight-step narrative structure.

The framework maps tech talks to:

• Top half: Established practices and order

• Bottom half: Disruption and experimentation

3. Create the Outline

Structure the talk using eight Story Circle steps:

• Introduction - Current status quo

• Problem Statement - What needs solving

• Exploration - Initial attempts

• Experimentation - Deep investigation

• Solution - The breakthrough

• Challenges - Implementation difficulties

• Apply Knowledge - Integration into project

• Results & Insights - Lessons learned

Map user's content to these steps. Show outline and refine based on feedback.

4. Generate iA Presenter Slides

Read references/ia-presenter-syntax.md for markdown formatting rules.

Create slides that:

• Use --- to separate slides

• Add tabs before content visible on slides

• Leave speaker notes without tabs

• Include comments with // for reminders

• Format code blocks with syntax highlighting

Structure the slide deck:

• Title slide

• Introduction with speaker bio

• One or more slides per Story Circle step

• Code examples broken across multiple slides

• Closing slide with contact info and resources

5. Refine and Iterate

After showing slides:

• Ask if sections need expansion or compression

• Check if code examples need better formatting

• Verify story flow makes sense

• Adjust based on feedback

Key Principles

Tell a Story: Focus on how you approached a problem and solved it.

Keep It Readable: Break code across slides. Test on bad projectors.

Engage the Audience: Use humor where appropriate. Ask questions.

Make Follow-up Easy: Include memorable URL or QR code linking to resources.

Example Workflow

Topic: Migrating from JavaScript to TypeScript

• Gather experience, main points, target audience

• Map content to Story Circle:

• Introduction: Current JS codebase

• Problem: Type safety issues

• Exploration: Research into TypeScript

• Experimentation: Pilot conversion

• Solution: Incremental migration strategy

• Challenges: Third-party library types

• Apply: Full codebase migration

• Results: 40% reduction in runtime errors

• Generate markdown slides with proper formatting

• Iterate based on feedback