Present-Paper Skill

Purpose

Prepare a polished academic presentation from a research paper. The skill walks through a 5-phase pipeline: paper analysis, supporting research, script writing, slide note injection, and Q&A preparation.

Use it when:

• preparing a journal club or seminar presentation
• presenting a paper for a graduate course
• preparing grand rounds or conference talks based on a published paper
• building speaker notes for an existing slide deck

Communication Rules

• Communicate with the user in their preferred language.
• Use English for medical, statistical, and methodological terminology.
• Add pronunciation guides for drug names and technical abbreviations in the user's language.
• Be direct about paper limitations, but frame them constructively.

Phase 0: Init & Outline

Step 0a — Load design references (read before drafting outline)

Before collecting inputs, the skill loads three reference files:

1. references/slide_design_principles.md — Reynolds (Presentation Zen) + Duarte (Slide:ology Glance Test™) + Knaflic (Storytelling with Data preattentive attributes) + Tufte (Cognitive Style of PowerPoint). Defines the 5 design principles, reading-time budgets per audience, cognitive-load ceilings, and the anti-patterns this skill is built to avoid. Read this first — it shifts the outline from "what content fits" to "what should the audience remember 10 seconds after each slide."
2. references/medical_presentation_templates.md — Section structure, slide counts, and design seeds for the 5 contexts: journal club, grand rounds, conference talk, lecture, and academic lecture multi-paper survey. Pick the matching template after Phase 0 inputs are collected, then customize.
3. references/slide_visual_styles/ — visual style specs (color palette, typography, layout grid, slide-type templates) callable from any of the 5 context templates. Currently available: nature_lancet.md (Nature/Lancet aesthetic — white background, navy primary, coral accent, Inter/Pretendard). Default for academic lectures per ~/.claude/rules/academic-lecture-style.md. Paired with the generic builder templates/build_pptx_nature_lancet.py and the PDF figure extractor scripts/extract_pdf_figures.py.

These two files mirror the entry-point pattern used in make-figures/references/design_principles.md (Step 1 "Specify"). Both skills share the same Reynolds / Knaflic / Tufte foundations — slide-level (this skill) and figure-level (make-figures) are companions, not duplicates.

Required Inputs

Before starting, collect these from the user:

Paper Analysis

Read the paper and produce a structured analysis:

## Paper Analysis

### Citation
[Full citation with DOI]

### Background
- What gap does this paper address?
- What was known vs. unknown before this study?

### Study Design
- Type: [RCT / cohort / case series / meta-analysis / etc.]
- Subjects: [n, inclusion/exclusion]
- Methods: [key methodological choices]
- Primary outcome: [what was measured]

### Key Results
1. [Finding 1 with effect size and CI/p-value]
2. [Finding 2]
3. [Finding 3]

### Patient/Case Summary Table
[If applicable — structured table of individual cases or subgroups]

### Limitations
1. [Limitation 1]
2. [Limitation 2]

### Significance
- Why does this matter?
- What changes because of this paper?

Slide Outline

Create a slide-by-slide outline with time allocation:

## Slide Outline ([N] slides, [M] minutes)

| # | Title | Time | Key Content |
|---|-------|------|-------------|
| 1 | Title slide | 0:30 | Paper citation, presenter |
| 2 | Context / Prior sessions | 1:00 | How this connects to prior knowledge |
| 3 | Background | 1:30 | The gap this paper fills |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| N | Take-home messages | 0:30 | 3-5 key points |

Gate: User approves outline before proceeding.

Phase 1: Supporting Research

Search Strategy

Find references that strengthen the presentation:

1. Follow-up studies — Has the main finding been replicated or extended?
2. Clinical trial data — Large-scale data that contextualizes the findings
3. Review articles — Authoritative summaries that frame the topic
4. Contradicting evidence — Important for balanced Q&A preparation

Efficiency rule: Limit supporting references to 5-8 total. Only search categories that the approved outline (Phase 0) actually requires. Skip categories not needed for the presentation type (e.g., skip clinical trials for a methods-focused paper).

Selection Criteria

Do NOT summarize every paper found. Extract only:

• Specific data points needed for slides (incidence rates, OR/HR, AUC values)
• Findings that directly support or challenge the main paper
• Context that helps the audience understand significance

Output

## Verified References

### Main Paper
1. [Citation] — PMID: XXXXX, DOI: XX.XXXX/XXXXX

### Supporting References
2. [Citation] — PMID: XXXXX
   → Used for: [specific data point or context]
3. [Citation] — PMID: XXXXX
   → Used for: [specific data point or context]

### Key Data for Slides
- [Statistic 1]: [value] — Source: [Ref #]
- [Statistic 2]: [value] — Source: [Ref #]

Every reference must have a verified DOI or PMID. Mark unverified references with [UNVERIFIED].

Phase 2: Script & Content

Speaker Script

Draft a complete speaker script with these requirements:

1. Language: User's preferred language for narration; English for technical terms
2. Audience adaptation: Adjust explanation depth based on Phase 0 audience profile
   • For mixed audiences: add one-line plain-language explanations for specialty-specific terms
   • Example: "FLAIR sequence — an MRI technique that suppresses fluid signal to highlight edema"
3. Pronunciation guide: Include native-language pronunciation for drug names, abbreviations
   • Example: "lecanemab (leh-KAN-eh-mab)" or local equivalent
4. Timing markers: Note approximate time per slide
5. Transition phrases: Connect each slide to the narrative arc

Structure

## Speaker Script

### Slide 1: Title (0:30)
"[Opening — introduce yourself and the paper]"

### Slide 2: Context (1:00)
"[Connect to prior knowledge or clinical relevance]"

...

### Slide N: Take-home Messages (0:30)
"[Summarize 3-5 key points. Thank audience. Invite questions.]"

Extension Section (Optional)

Only include if user requested in Phase 0. Examples:

• AI/computational research directions stemming from the paper
• Clinical practice implications
• Policy or guideline implications
• Connections to the user's own research

Gate: User reviews script before proceeding.

Phase 3: Slides & Notes

Two Modes

Mode A: Generate new slide deck

Generate a fully-editable PPTX from structured inline data using python-pptx. Two canonical template libraries:

• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/generate_pptx_templates.py — generic T_lead / T_text / T_table / T_image_right / etc. templates with smoke-tested main(). Use for journal club, grand rounds, conference talk, and short paper talks.
• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/templates/build_pptx_nature_lancet.py — Nature/Lancet visual style (white + navy + coral, Inter/Pretendard, 47-slide academic lecture proven). Use for academic lecture multi-paper survey (template #5). Functions: new_presentation, add_title_slide, add_toc_slide, add_section_divider, add_transition_slide, add_content_slide, `a