# Paper To Talk

> Use when preparing a clean 15-20 min academic talk (journal club, group meeting, seminar, conference talk) from 1-2 source papers, with LaTeX Beamer slides that prioritize white space, sparse text, readable figures, and defensible source attribution. Also use when incorporating recorded talks, videos with captions, transcripts, Q&A, conference slides, or author presentations into a paper-based de…

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-minhmpa-paper-to-talk-paper-to-talk`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [MinhMPA](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/minhmpa)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Content & Media](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/content-and-media)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [MinhMPA](https://github.com/MinhMPA)
- **Source:** https://github.com/MinhMPA/paper-to-talk/tree/main/skills/paper-to-talk

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-minhmpa-paper-to-talk-paper-to-talk
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# paper-to-talk

## Overview

Build a presentation deck from source papers with three non-negotiable disciplines:

1. **Source fidelity** — every equation, figure, and attribution traces to a specific page/equation/figure in the source PDF. Nothing recalled from memory.
2. **Clean slide design** — the default slide has open space, one visual or one idea, sparse text, and no more information than can be spoken comfortably.
3. **Argument structure** — every assertion holds a `(claim, evidence pointer, caveat)` triple. Strong evidence → main slide. Weak or parametrization-sensitive → grain-of-salt slide.

Each slide has one thesis sentence. If you can't write that sentence, the slide isn't ready.

## Design defaults

Optimize for a 15-minute spoken path plus discussion. Prefer fewer, cleaner slides over comprehensive coverage.

- Target **10-12 spoken frames** plus title and backup for a 15-minute talk; use 12-14 only for a full 20 minutes.
- Use **one primary figure, equation, or table per slide**. If a slide has two visuals, remove most text.
- Keep most slides to **3 bullets or fewer**; TL;DR and take-away slides may use 4 bullets.
- Keep bullets to **one line when possible**. If a bullet wraps twice, compress or split the idea.
- Put detailed derivations, reference tables, robustness catalogs, and source pointers in backup unless they are essential to the story.
- Leave a visible blank region on every slide. Do not fill all quadrants just because space exists.
- Prefer `\small` or normal size for spoken content. Use `\scriptsize` only for citations, compact tables, or backup.
- Use source lines as muted footers, not paragraphs.

When a slide feels dense, fix it in this order:

1. Delete secondary claims.
2. Move caveats to the grain-of-salt slide or backup.
3. Replace prose with a labeled figure or 2-3 word callout.
4. Split only if both halves are essential to the spoken path.

## Workflow

### 1. Source extraction

For each paper:
- Fetch the arXiv abstract/PDF or use the user-provided PDF.
- Read the saved PDF page ranges. Hit in order: title page → abstract → intro → methods/theory → results → appendices.
- Capture verbatim: first 3 authors + et al, equation numbers, figure numbers, exact symbols, footnote caveats.
- Distinguish **speaker** (presenter at the talk) from **paper author** (first author of the PDF). They are not the same.

**Never write equations from memory.** For every equation on a slide, hold a pointer `(paper, eq. N, page)`.

### 2. Recorded talk / transcript extraction

Use video and transcript material as interpretation context, not as slide filler.

For a recorded talk, conference page, or captioned video:

- Fetch the webpage and identify direct transcript/caption files first (`.srt`, `.vtt`, `.txt`, embedded JSON). Use the video only when captions are unavailable or visual content matters.
- If the user asks whether you can watch a video, answer honestly: you can analyze captions/transcripts and accessible video metadata; direct visual/audio inspection depends on available tools.
- Preserve timestamps in working notes, but do not paste long transcript excerpts into slides.
- Segment the talk into: setup, method, headline result, interpretation, caveats, and Q&A.
- Extract the speaker's **emphasis**, not every statement:
  - what they repeated or framed as the main point,
  - what they contrasted against prior work,
  - what they treated as interpretation rather than measurement,
  - what they were cautious about,
  - what they said future work should do.
- Extract Q&A as **discussion prompts**:
  - convert audience questions into short journal-club questions,
  - include the speaker's answer only as a compact context clause when needed,
  - group related questions instead of listing the full exchange,
  - keep the discussion slide to 4-5 questions maximum.

Good slide patterns:

- **"What the speaker emphasized"** — 3 bullets plus a small diagram linking the paper result to the speaker's interpretation.
- **"Discussion prompts"** — 4-5 concise questions derived from Q&A, with one muted source footer.
- **"Talk vs paper framing"** — two columns with 2-3 rows: paper result, speaker emphasis, implication.

Avoid:

- transcript tables,
- timestamp-by-timestamp summaries,
- literal Q&A dumps,
- long quotes unless the user explicitly asks for them and copyright limits allow it.

### 3. Equation derivation discipline

When the equation you need is **not in the text**, or its **derivation is missing**, or the **user asks for one**, derive it. While deriving, sanity-check via at least two of:

- **Dimensional analysis** — both sides have the same dimensions.
- **Unit consistency** — SI / cgs / natural units balance.
- **Scaling** — the answer scales correctly in known parameters; no hidden factors of $k$, $a$, $H$, $c$, $\hbar$ etc.
- **Limit convergence** — reduces to a known formula in a known limit (Newtonian, weak-field, low-z, linear, deep-MOND, classical, non-relativistic, etc.).

If a derivation cannot pass at least two of these checks, do not put it on the slide. Flag the gap to the user.

### 4. Slide-flow checklist

Target ~10-12 spoken frames for 15 min; ~12-14 for 20 min:

1. **Title** — paper(s), authors, arXiv ID, your name, venue.
2. **TL;DR** — 3-4 bullets, one stating the headline number with its sigma / CI.
3. **Method / estimator zoo** — situate the paper among siblings. One row per family. Mark the row this paper occupies. If two papers share the session, mark both rows.
4. **Context primer** — 1 frame of background the audience needs but the paper assumes.
5. **Concept / data setup** — 1-2 frames.
6. **Method** — 1-2 frames covering the new derivation / parameterization / estimator.
7. **Results** — 1-2 frames with the paper's headline figures.
8. **Author/talk emphasis** — optional, only when a talk/transcript adds interpretation beyond the paper.
9. **Discussion prompts** — optional, especially for journal club; use Q&A material here rather than literal transcript.
10. **Grain-of-salt slide** — caveats, parametrization sensitivities, untested systematics, scope limits. Required, not optional.
11. **Take-aways** — 3-4 bullets mirroring TL;DR with what was actually shown.
12. **Backup** — key equations, derivations, references, robustness details.

Delete or move to backup before exceeding the target. A 15-minute journal-club deck should not try to teach every appendix.

### 5. Argument structure rule

For every assertion: hold a triple

- **claim** — what the slide says.
- **evidence pointer** — paper section / equation / figure number, or external citation.
- **caveat** — qualifier (parametrization sensitivity, missing systematic, scope limitation, weak prior).

Strong evidence + small caveat → main slide. Weak evidence or large caveat → grain-of-salt slide. **No bare assertions.**

### 6. Layout discipline (Beamer 16:9, 10pt)

Usable area: ~14.6 × 8.2 cm.

**Density budget:**
- No more than 35-45 words of body text on a visual-heavy slide.
- No more than 65 words on a text-only slide.
- No more than 5 displayed equations in the entire spoken path for a 15-minute talk; put the rest in backup.
- No more than one dense table in the spoken path. The estimator zoo may be that table.
- If a slide needs `\tiny`, it is backup or it needs deletion.

**Bullets:**
- Set `\itemsep` to at least `0.45em` on main slides.
- Prefer 3 bullets with keywords in `\acc{}` or `\wrn{}` over 5 complete sentences.
- Use paragraph text only for a single thesis sentence or a source footer.

**Tables:**
- Sum of `p{...cm}` widths plus `(n-1) × 2 × \tabcolsep` must be .tex 2>&1 | grep -E "^!|Error|Output written|Overfull"
```

Iterate until the grep output contains only `Output written` (or vanishing residuals like `Overfull \vbox (0.5pt too high)`). **Ignoring `Overfull` warnings is a quality violation.**

**Visual verification loop (mandatory for substantial decks):**
- Render the PDF to PNGs or inspect it with a PDF viewer.
- Create a contact sheet for fast density review.
- Check that each slide has visible white space, readable labels, and no stale pages from earlier renders.
- If a slide looks like notes, convert it into a backup slide or cut it.

### 7. Notation hygiene

- Pin notation once per slide when symbols are ambiguous across papers ($T$ vs $\delta T$ vs $\bar T$, $g$ vs $\mathbf g$ vs $g_N$, $f$ as growth-rate vs filling-factor, etc.). Add a `\mut{...}` declaration.
- Use canonical macros (`\acc`, `\wrn`, `\mut`, `\Lcdm`, `\rd`) consistently across the deck. See `template-beamer-16x9.tex`.
- For multi-paper talks, harmonize notation across papers in the zoo slide; flag any cross-paper symbol clashes.

## Failure-mode catalog

| Failure | Counter |
|---------|---------|
| Misattributing the paper to the speaker presenting it | Check the PDF title page; first author ≠ speaker. |
| Pasting transcript or Q&A into slides | Extract emphasis and discussion prompts; keep transcript in working notes only. |
| Treating a talk as identical to the paper | Add a "speaker emphasis" slide only for differences in framing, caution, or interpretation. |
| Conflating differently-named-but-same-physics methods | Build the zoo slide early; explicitly distinguish overloaded terms in a caveat row. |
| Notation drift across papers | Pin convention once per slide via `\mut{...}` declaration. |
| Wrong scaling / dimensional error in a derivation | Re-derive from governing equation; check at least 2 of dim/unit/scaling/limit. |
| Inferring appendix content from the section name | Read the appendix. Always. |
| Ignoring `Overfull` warnings in the log | Compile-and-grep is mandatory before "done". |
| Equations recalled from memory | Trace every equation to a source pointer or derive with sanity checks. |
| Bare assertions without evidence | Every claim has a `(claim, evidence, caveat)` triple. |
| Main slides look like paper notes | Enforce the density budget; cut, move to backup, or replace text with a figure. |
| Tables / images that overflow the frame | Compile-and-grep. Adjust column widths, font size, or split content. |
| Cropped or off-center full-page images | Use `keepaspectratio` for letterbox or drop it for full-bleed; never let Beamer infer placement. |

## Bundled assets

- `template-beamer-16x9.tex` — preamble with color palette and macros, sample frames (title, TL;DR, 2-col, table, full-bleed image).
- `compile-check.sh` — wrapper running `pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error` and grepping the log for issues.

## Red flags — stop and verify

- "I'll write this equation from memory" → No. Derive or extract from PDF.
- "The compile is mostly clean" → grep the log; count overfull boxes; decide explicitly.
- "Speaker = author, probably" → Check the PDF title page.
- "The appendix probably does X" → Read the appendix.
- "Close enough on the centering" → Render the PDF and look; don't infer.
- "This estimator is the same as that one, I think" → Build the zoo slide; force yourself to articulate the distinction.
- "I'll skip the grain-of-salt slide, the result is solid" → No. Every paper has caveats. The grain-of-salt slide is non-negotiable.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [MinhMPA](https://github.com/MinhMPA)
- **Source:** [MinhMPA/paper-to-talk](https://github.com/MinhMPA/paper-to-talk)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-minhmpa-paper-to-talk-paper-to-talk
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/minhmpa
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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