---
name: "giving-presentations"
description: "Plan and deliver persuasive, confident presentations and produce a Presentation Pack (brief, narrative, slide outline, Q&A bank, pre-brief plan, rehearsal plan, delivery checklist). Use for presentation, deck, keynote, all-hands, exec review, demo talk track. Category: Communication."
---

# Giving Presentations

## Scope

**Covers**
- Turning a goal + audience into a clear **talk objective** and **ask**
- Building a persuasive narrative using **contrast** (“what is” vs “what could be”)
- Producing a slide/talk-track plan that is easy to deliver under time pressure
- De-risking high-stakes talks via **role-play**, **Q&A prep**, and **pre-briefs**
- Rehearsing for confidence (including **visualization** + record/review)
- Delivery mechanics for in-person and Zoom (presence, pauses, looking up to think)

**When to use**
- “Create an outline and talk track for my all-hands update.”
- “Help me turn this doc into a 10-minute exec presentation with a clear ask.”
- “I need a deck structure for a keynote / conference talk.”
- “Prep me for Q&A and objections for a high-stakes review.”
- “Build a rehearsal plan so I can deliver confidently.”

**When NOT to use**
- You only need **visual/brand design polish** (use a design system or a designer; this skill focuses on narrative + delivery)
- You need a long-form decision doc (write a memo/PRD first; then convert it to a talk)
- You need deep stakeholder alignment on strategy from scratch (do alignment work first; this skill assumes a direction/ask)
- You’re presenting on regulated/high-risk topics (medical/legal/financial advice) without expert review

## Inputs

**Minimum required**
- Presentation type + setting (all-hands, keynote, exec review, customer demo; in-person vs Zoom)
- Audience (roles/seniority) + what they care about
- Desired outcome (inform / align / decide / persuade) and the **ask** (decision, approval, next step)
- Time limit and Q&A format (minutes; live Q&A vs async)
- Core content (bullets, doc, notes, or an existing deck) + any must-include points
- Constraints (deadline, level of polish, sensitive details to avoid)

**Missing-info strategy**
- Ask up to 5 questions from [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md) (3–5 at a time).
- If details are missing, proceed with explicit assumptions and label unknowns.

## Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a **Presentation Pack** in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if requested):

1) **Presentation brief** (goal, audience, ask, constraints)
2) **Narrative outline** (core message + “what is vs what could be” contrast)
3) **Slide-by-slide outline + talk track** (each slide: takeaway, key points, evidence, speaker notes)
4) **Q&A / objection bank** (top questions + crisp responses)
5) **Stakeholder pre-brief plan** (who to pre-meet, what to align, how to de-risk)
6) **Rehearsal + delivery plan** (visualization, record/review, timing, logistics, Zoom/in-person cues)
7) **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** (always)

Templates: [references/TEMPLATES.md](references/TEMPLATES.md)  
Expanded guidance: [references/WORKFLOW.md](references/WORKFLOW.md)

## Workflow (8 steps)

### 1) Intake: lock the objective, ask, and constraints
- **Inputs:** user context + [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).
- **Actions:** Clarify audience, outcome, and the single most important ask. Confirm time limit and what is in/out of scope.
- **Outputs:** Presentation brief (draft) + assumptions/unknowns list.
- **Checks:** You can answer in one sentence: “After this talk, the audience will _____.”

### 2) Build the narrative spine using contrast
- **Inputs:** brief + source content (doc/bullets/deck).
- **Actions:** Define the “what is” current reality and the “what could be” future. Choose 2–4 supporting points and the call-to-action.
- **Outputs:** Narrative outline (contrast table + story beats).
- **Checks:** The contrast is concrete (not vague) and matches what the audience values.

### 3) Map the narrative to a slide/story structure
- **Inputs:** narrative outline + time limit.
- **Actions:** Select a structure (e.g., Context → Tension → Proposal → Proof → Ask). Create a slide list with 1 takeaway per slide and a rough time budget.
- **Outputs:** Slide-by-slide outline (titles + takeaways + time plan).
- **Checks:** The talk fits time with buffer; no slide has multiple competing takeaways.

### 4) Draft talk track and evidence (make it sayable)
- **Inputs:** slide outline + evidence sources.
- **Actions:** Write speaker notes (bullet talk track), add proof (metrics, examples, demos), and trim anything “nice to know.”
- **Outputs:** Slide outline with speaker notes + evidence plan.
- **Checks:** Each slide can be spoken without reading; jargon is translated for the audience.

### 5) Prepare for Q&A: role-play objections
- **Inputs:** draft pack + stakeholder context.
- **Actions:** Generate a Q&A / objection bank. Role-play the hardest audience member(s) and refine responses. Identify unanswered questions.
- **Outputs:** Q&A bank + “unknowns to resolve” list.
- **Checks:** Top 10 likely questions have concise answers and a fallback (“I’ll follow up by DATE”).

### 6) De-risk with stakeholder pre-briefs (no surprises)
- **Inputs:** draft pack + stakeholder map.
- **Actions:** Plan and run pre-meetings with key decision-makers/influencers. Capture objections early and update the narrative/ask.
- **Outputs:** Pre-brief plan + change log (what changed and why).
- **Checks:** No major stakeholder is seeing the core ask for the first time in the live meeting.

### 7) Rehearse for confidence (visualize + record + iterate)
- **Inputs:** near-final outline/talk track.
- **Actions:** Do a mental dress rehearsal (visualization), then a timed run. Record yourself, review, and iterate. Add delivery cues (pause, look up to think, avoid reading).
- **Outputs:** Rehearsal plan + timing notes + delivery cues.
- **Checks:** You can deliver within time twice in a row without major stumbles.

### 8) Finalize and run the quality gate
- **Inputs:** final draft pack + logistics.
- **Actions:** Run [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and score with [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md). Confirm logistics (room/Zoom, backups). Produce the final pack.
- **Outputs:** Final Presentation Pack + Risks/Open questions/Next steps.
- **Checks:** A teammate can read the brief + slide outline and correctly predict the ask and flow.

## Quality gate (required)
- Use [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md).
- Always include: **Risks**, **Open questions**, **Next steps**.

## Examples

**Example 1 (all-hands update):** “Create a 7-minute all-hands presentation: what we shipped this quarter, what’s next, and what help we need from other teams.”  
Expected: brief, narrative contrast (current vs next), slide outline + talk track, Q&A, rehearsal + delivery plan.

**Example 2 (exec review with decision):** “I need a 12-minute exec review proposing a new onboarding flow. The ask is approval to run a 4-week experiment. Prep me for objections.”  
Expected: clear ask, proof points, objection bank, pre-brief plan for key execs, and a rehearsal plan.

**Boundary example:** “Make my slides prettier.”  
Response: clarify whether the problem is narrative/structure vs visual design; if it’s purely aesthetics, recommend design-system alignment or a designer and do not invent business content.