Build slide decks and presentations for research talks. Use this for making PowerPoint slides, conference presentations, seminar talks, research presentations, thesis defense slides, or any scientific talk. Provides slide structure, design templates, timing guidance, and visual
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Build slide decks and presentations for research talks. Use this for making PowerPoint slides, conference presentations, seminar talks, research presentations, thesis defense slides, or any scientific talk. Provides slide structure, design templates, timing guidance, and visual
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LicenseMIT
📦 Ships with scientific-agent-skills
</> SKILL.md
scientific-slides.SKILL.md
---name: scientific-slides
description: Build slide decks and presentations for research talks. Use this for making PowerPoint slides, conference presentations, seminar talks, research presentations, thesis defense slides, or any scientific talk. Provides slide structure, design templates, timing guidance, and visual validation. Works with PowerPoint and LaTeX Beamer.
allowed-tools: Read Write Edit Bash
license: MIT license
required_environment_variables: [{"name": "OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "prompt": "OpenRouter API key for the skill's LLM-powered steps.", "required_for": "optional features"}]
metadata: {"version": "1.2", "skill-author": "K-Dense Inc.", "openclaw": {"primaryEnv": "OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "envVars": [{"name": "OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "required": false, "description": "OpenRouter API key for the skill's LLM-powered steps."}]}}
---# Scientific Slides
## Overview
Scientific presentations are a critical medium for communicating research, sharing findings, and engaging with academic and professional audiences. This skill provides comprehensive guidance for creating effective scientific presentations, from structure and content development to visual design and delivery preparation.
**Key Focus**: Oral presentations for conferences, seminars, defenses, and professional talks.
**CRITICAL DESIGN PHILOSOPHY**: Scientific presentations should be VISUALLY ENGAGING and RESEARCH-BACKED. Avoid dry, text-heavy slides at all costs. Great scientific presentations combine:
- **Compelling visuals**: High-quality figures, images, diagrams (not just bullet points)
- **Research context**: Proper citations from research-lookup establishing credibility
- **Minimal text**: Bullet points as prompts, YOU provide the explanation verbally
- **Professional design**: Modern color schemes, strong visual hierarchy, generous white space
- **Story-driven**: Clear narrative arc, not just data dumps
**Remember**: Boring presentations = forgotten science. Make your slides visually memorable while maintaining scientific rigor through proper citations.
- Layout approach (e.g., "generous white space, left-aligned content")
2. **Always attach the previous slide** when generating subsequent slides using `--attach`:
- This allows Nano Banana Pro to see and match the existing style
- Creates visual continuity throughout the deck
- Ensures consistent colors, fonts, and design language
3. **Default author is "K-Dense"** unless another name is specified
4. **Include citations directly in the prompt** for slides that reference research:
- Add citations in the prompt text so they appear on the generated slide
- Use format: "Include citation: (Author et al., Year)" or "Show reference: Author et al., Year"
- For multiple citations, list them all in the prompt
- Citations should appear in small text at the bottom of the slide or near relevant content
5. **Attach existing figures/data for results slides** (CRITICAL for data-driven presentations):
- When creating slides about results, ALWAYS check for existing figures in:
- The working directory (e.g., `figures/`, `results/`, `plots/`, `images/`)
- User-provided input files or directories
- Any data visualizations, charts, or graphs relevant to the presentation
- Use `--attach` to include these figures so Nano Banana Pro can incorporate them:
- Attach the actual data figure/chart for results slides
- Attach relevant diagrams for methodology slides
- Attach logos or institutional images for title slides
- When attaching data figures, describe what you want in the prompt:
- "Create a slide presenting the attached results chart with key findings highlighted"
- "Build a slide around this attached figure, add title and bullet points explaining the data"
- "Incorporate the attached graph into a results slide with interpretation"
- **Before generating results slides**: List files in the working directory to find relevant figures
- Multiple figures can be attached: `--attach fig1.png --attach fig2.png`
**Example with formatting consistency, citations, and figure attachments:**
```bash
# Title slide (first slide - establishes the style)
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Title slide for presentation: 'Machine Learning: From Theory to Practice'. Subtitle: 'AI Conference 2025'. Speaker: K-Dense. FORMATTING GOAL: Dark blue background (#1a237e), white text, gold accents (#ffc107), minimal design, sans-serif fonts, generous margins, no decorative elements." -o slides/01_title.png
# Content slide with citations (attach previous slide for consistency)
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Presentation slide titled 'Why Machine Learning Matters'. Three key points with simple icons: 1) Industry adoption, 2) Breakthrough applications, 3) Future potential. CITATIONS: Include at bottom in small text: (LeCun et al., 2015; Goodfellow et al., 2016). FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style - dark blue background, white text, gold accents, minimal professional design, no visual clutter." -o slides/02_intro.png --attach slides/01_title.png
# Background slide with multiple citations
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Presentation slide titled 'Deep Learning Revolution'. Key milestones: ImageNet breakthrough (2012), transformer architecture (2017), GPT models (2018-present). CITATIONS: Show references at bottom: (Krizhevsky et al., 2012; Vaswani et al., 2017; Brown et al., 2020). FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly - same colors, fonts, minimal design." -o slides/03_background.png --attach slides/02_intro.png
# RESULTS SLIDE - Attach actual data figure from working directory
# First, check what figures exist: ls figures/ or ls results/
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Presentation slide titled 'Model Performance Results'. Create a slide presenting the attached accuracy chart. Key findings to highlight: 1) 95% accuracy achieved, 2) Outperforms baseline by 12%, 3) Consistent across test sets. CITATIONS: Include at bottom: (Our results, 2025). FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly." -o slides/04_results.png --attach slides/03_background.png --attach figures/accuracy_chart.png
# RESULTS SLIDE - Multiple figures comparison
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Presentation slide titled 'Before vs After Comparison'. Build a side-by-side comparison slide using the two attached figures. Left: baseline results, Right: our improved results. Add brief labels explaining the improvement. FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly." -o slides/05_comparison.png --attach slides/04_results.png --attach figures/baseline.png --attach figures/improved.png
# METHODOLOGY SLIDE - Attach existing diagram
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Presentation slide titled 'System Architecture'. Present the attached architecture diagram with brief explanatory bullet points: 1) Input processing, 2) Model inference, 3) Output generation. FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly." -o slides/06_architecture.png --attach slides/05_comparison.png --attach diagrams/system_architecture.png
```
**IMPORTANT: Before creating results slides, always:**
1. List files in working directory: `ls -la figures/` or `ls -la results/`
2. Check user-provided directories for relevant figures
3. Attach ALL relevant figures that should appear on the slide
4. Describe how Nano Banana Pro should incorporate the attached figures
**Prompt Template:**
Include these elements in every prompt (customize as needed):
```
[Slide content description]
CITATIONS: Include at bottom: (Author1 et al., Year; Author2 et al., Year)
FORMATTING GOAL: [Background color], [text color], [accent color], minimal professional design, no decorative elements, consistent with attached slide style.
### PPT Workflow: PowerPoint with Generated Visuals
When creating PowerPoint presentations, use Nano Banana Pro to generate images and figures for each slide, then add text separately using the PPTX skill.
**How it works:**
1. **Plan the deck**: Create content plan for each slide
2. **Generate visuals**: Use Nano Banana Pro with `--visual-only` flag to create images for slides
3. **Build PPTX**: Use the PPTX skill (html2pptx or template-based) to create slides with generated visuals and separate text
**Step 1: Generate Visuals for Each Slide**
```bash
# Generate a figure for the introduction slide
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Professional illustration showing machine learning applications: healthcare diagnosis, financial analysis, autonomous vehicles, and robotics. Modern flat design, colorful icons on white background." -o figures/ml_applications.png --visual-only
# Generate a diagram for the methods slide
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Neural network architecture diagram showing input layer, three hidden layers, and output layer. Clean, technical style with node connections. Blue and gray color scheme." -o figures/neural_network.png --visual-only
# Generate a conceptual graphic for results
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Before and after comparison showing improvement: left side shows cluttered data, right side shows organized insights. Arrow connecting them. Professional business style." -o figures/results_visual.png --visual-only
```
**Step 2: Build PowerPoint with PPTX Skill**
Use the PPTX skill's html2pptx workflow to create slides that include:
- Generated images from step 1
- Title and body text added separately
- Professional layout and formatting
See `skills/pptx/SKILL.md` for complete PPTX creation documentation.
---
## Nano Banana Pro Script Reference
### generate_slide_image.py
Generate presentation slides or visuals using Nano Banana Pro AI.
```bash
# Full slide (default) - generates complete slide as image
**Tip:** Name slides with numbers for correct ordering: `01_title.png`, `02_intro.png`, etc.
---
## Prompt Writing for Slide Generation
### Full Slide Prompts (PDF Workflow)
For complete slides, include:
1. **Slide type**: Title slide, content slide, diagram slide, etc.
2. **Title**: The slide title text
3. **Content**: Key points, bullet items, or descriptions
4. **Visual elements**: What imagery, icons, or graphics to include
5. **Design style**: Color scheme, mood, aesthetic
**Example prompts:**
```
Title slide:
"Title slide for a medical research presentation. Title: 'Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy'. Subtitle: 'Clinical Trial Results 2024'. Professional medical theme with subtle DNA helix in background. Navy blue and white color scheme."
Content slide:
"Presentation slide titled 'Key Findings'. Three bullet points: 1) 40% improvement in response rate, 2) Reduced side effects, 3) Extended survival outcomes. Include relevant medical icons. Clean, professional design with green and white colors."
Diagram slide:
"Presentation slide showing the research methodology. Title: 'Study Design'. Flowchart showing: Patient Screening → Randomization → Treatment Groups (A, B, Control) → Follow-up → Analysis. CONSORT-style flow diagram. Professional academic style."
```
### Visual-Only Prompts (PPT Workflow)
For images to embed in PowerPoint, focus on the visual element only:
```
"Flowchart showing machine learning pipeline: Data Collection → Preprocessing → Model Training → Validation → Deployment. Clean technical style, blue and gray colors."
"Conceptual illustration of cloud computing with servers, data flow, and connected devices. Modern flat design, suitable for business presentation."
"Scientific diagram of cell division process showing mitosis phases. Educational style with labels, colorblind-friendly colors."
```
---
## Visual Enhancement with Scientific Schematics
In addition to slide generation, use the **scientific-schematics** skill for technical diagrams:
**When to use scientific-schematics instead:**
- Complex technical diagrams (circuit diagrams, chemical structures)
- Publication-quality figures for papers (higher quality threshold)
For detailed guidance on creating schematics, refer to the scientific-schematics skill documentation.
---
## Core Capabilities
### 1. Presentation Structure and Organization
Build presentations with clear narrative flow and appropriate structure for different contexts. For detailed guidance, refer to `references/presentation_structure.md`.
**Universal Story Arc**:
1. **Hook**: Grab attention (30-60 seconds)
2. **Context**: Establish importance (5-10% of talk)
3. **Problem/Gap**: Identify what's unknown (5-10% of talk)
4. **Approach**: Explain your solution (15-25% of talk)
5. **Results**: Present key findings (40-50% of talk)
6. **Implications**: Discuss meaning (15-20% of talk)
- **Grant pitches (15 min)**: Emphasis on significance, feasibility, and impact
- **Journal clubs (30 min)**: Critical analysis of published work
### 2. Slide Design Principles
Create professional, readable, and accessible slides that enhance understanding. For complete design guidelines, refer to `references/slide_design_principles.md`.
- **Create detailed plan for each slide** (title, key points, visual elements)
- Target 15-18 slides
2. **Generate Slides with Nano Banana Pro** (1-2 hours):
**Important: Use consistent formatting, attach previous slides, and include citations!**
```bash
# Title slide (establishes style - default author: K-Dense)
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Title slide: 'Your Research Title'. Conference name, K-Dense. FORMATTING GOAL: [your color scheme], minimal professional design, no decorative elements, clean and corporate." -o slides/01_title.png
# Introduction slide with citations (attach previous for consistency)
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Slide titled 'Why This Matters'. Three key points with simple icons. CITATIONS: Include at bottom: (Smith et al., 2023; Jones et al., 2024). FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly." -o slides/02_intro.png --attach slides/01_title.png
# Continue for each slide (always attach previous, include citations where relevant)
python scripts/generate_slide_image.py "Slide titled 'Methods'. Key methodology points. CITATIONS: (Based on Chen et al., 2022). FORMATTING GOAL: Match attached slide style exactly." -o slides/03_methods.png --attach slides/02_intro.png
