Phase 3: Content Development — Detail

Writing the Outline

The outline needs to be:

1. Structurally complete — every section, every transition, every interaction cue
2. Voice-authentic — speaker notes in the speaker's actual voice
3. Visually directional — enough detail for the author to build slides from
4. Flexible — marked sections that can be cut for shorter slots or expanded

Outline Format

# [Talk Title]

**Spec:** [mode] | [duration] | [venue] | [audience]
**Slide budget:** [N slides — from profile guardrail_sources.slide_budgets]
**Pacing target:** [from profile pacing.wpm_range]

---

Illustration Style Anchor (when illustration strategy is defined)

If Phase 2 produced an illustration strategy, add the style anchor section after the spec/budget/pacing header:

## Illustration Style Anchor

All generated illustrations use the **[style name]** style. Prefix every image
prompt with the appropriate anchor below.

**Model:** `[model-name]`

### STYLE ANCHOR (FULL — Landscape 1920×1080)
> [style anchor paragraph for full-bleed illustrations]

### STYLE ANCHOR (IMG+TXT — Portrait 1024×1536)
> [style anchor paragraph for image-with-text illustrations]

### Conventions
[Visual continuity rules: numbering scheme, recurring motifs,
progressive elements, annotation style — from Phase 2 Step 4]

---

The format names and dimensions come from the format vocabulary defined in Phase 2. Talks without an illustration strategy omit this entire section.

Standard outline body

## Opening Sequence [3 min, slides 1-5]

### Slide 1: Title Slide
- Visual: [description]
- Footer: [from profile design_rules.footer.pattern]
- Speaker: [no notes — title slide is visual-only]

### Slide 2: [Opening hook type — from Phase 2 architecture]
- Visual: [description]
- Speaker: "[opening lines in the speaker's voice]"

### Slide 3: Brief Bio
- Visual: [from profile speaker.bio_short]
- Speaker: "[brief intro]"

### Slide 4: Shownotes URL
- Visual: [shownotes URL composed from profile `publishing_process.shownotes.url.base` + `url.template` with the Presentation Spec slug] with QR code
- Speaker: "Everything — slides, links, resources — [shownotes URL]"

### Slide 5: [First content beat]
...

## Act 1: [Title] [N min, slides X-Y]
...

## [CUT LINE: Everything below here can be dropped for short version]
...

## Closing Sequence [3 min, slides N-end]

### Slide N: Summary
### Slide N+1: CTA
### Slide N+2: Thanks / Social

Per-slide illustration fields (when illustration strategy is defined)

When the outline has an Illustration Style Anchor, each slide gains additional fields:

### Slide N: [Title]
- Format: **FULL** | **IMG+TXT** | **EXCEPTION** — [justification if EXCEPTION]
- Illustration: [human-readable description of the visual concept]
- Text overlay: [text that goes on top of the illustration, or "none"]
- Image prompt: `[STYLE ANCHOR]. [complete prompt for the image generation model]`
- Visual: [description — for non-illustrated elements like footer, layout notes]
- Speaker: [notes]

Key rules:

• Format is required for every slide — forces the author to think about visual weight
• EXCEPTION slides must include a justification (why a real asset instead of generated)
• Image prompt uses [STYLE ANCHOR] as a token referencing the header — the generation script replaces it with the full anchor text for the matching format
• Illustration is the human-readable intent; Image prompt is the machine-readable generation input
• Slides with no illustration (text-only, EXCEPTION with real asset) omit the Image prompt field
• Talks without an illustration strategy use the standard - Visual: field only

Build specifications (progressive reveals)

When a slide needs progressive-reveal builds, add a Builds section after the Image prompt field:

### Slide 5: The Five Pillars
- Format: **FULL**
- Illustration: Five pillars of AI governance, labeled
- Image prompt: `[STYLE ANCHOR]. Five classical pillars...`
- Builds: 5 steps
  - build-00: Empty frame — title and borders only, no pillars
  - build-01: First pillar only (Transparency)
  - build-02: Add second pillar (Accountability)
  - build-03: Add third pillar (Fairness)
  - build-04: Add fourth pillar (Safety)
  - build-05: [FULL] — all five pillars (= slide-05.jpg)

Key conventions:

• build-00 is always the empty frame (title/borders only, no content)
• The final build step is tagged [FULL] — it's a copy of the full slide image
• Build descriptions are edit instructions for the image model (they describe what to show at that step, working backwards from the full image)
• Build slides count toward the slide budget (they are separate slides, not animations)

Opening PUNCH

The first 1–2 minutes of the talk are the highest-stakes real estate. Audiences grant a roughly two-minute "honeymoon period" before forming a verdict on whether the talk is worth their attention. The outline's opening section must contain at least one of five hook flavors, per Reynolds's PUNCH framework:

• Personal — a relevant story (not a credentials parade)
• Unexpected — a counterintuitive fact, surprising statistic, or claim that violates received wisdom
• Novel — fresh data, never-published image, or working demo of something new
• Challenging — a provocative question or assumption-reframing
• Humorous — observational humor, a wry aside, or anecdote with a relevant payoff (not a joke)

Strong openings stack 2–3 PUNCH elements. When writing the outline, explicitly tag the opening's PUNCH flavor(s) in the slide notes, e.g.:

### Slide 2: Opening Hook
- PUNCH: Personal + Unexpected
- Visual: [description]
- Speaker: "[the actual opening lines]"

This tag makes the choice visible, lets Phase 4 verify the opening lands, and gives the vault a concrete signal to score later. If the outline's opening contains none of the PUNCH flavors — agenda slide, "let me introduce myself," "thanks for having me" filler — flag it as a content gap. See patterns/prepare/opening-punch.md for the full pattern.

Use Contrast as a Structural Device

Reynolds: "Contrast is about differences, and we are hardwired to notice differences." Contrasts are one of the most reliable engagement tools available to the outline writer. When choosing how to frame a section or transition, look for the inherent contrast pair:

• before / after
• past / future
• problem / solution
• received wisdom / actual finding
• naive expectation / messy reality
• competitor approach / your approach
• pessimism / optimism
• decline / growth

Contrast structures naturally produce dramatic tension and make the resolution feel earned. They also map cleanly onto narrative beats — a problem/solution contrast IS a two-act narrative arc; a past/future contrast IS a thesis. When a section feels flat in the outline, ask: what is the contrast pair here? If you can't name one, the section is not yet sharpened.

Sparkline Structural Elements (when sparkline is the chosen architecture)

If Phase 2 selected sparkline as the top-level structure, four named structural elements must appear at specific places in the outline:

Call to Adventure — the first turning point, dramatizing the gap between "what is" and "what could be." Place it 10–25% into the talk, immediately after the "what is" baseline section. Tag it explicitly in the outline:

### Slide N: Call to Adventure
- STRUCTURE: Call to Adventure (sparkline turning point 1)
- Visual: [paired contrasting image, or full-bleed gap-revelation visual]
- Speaker: "[explicit gap-reveal language]. The Big Idea: [single-sentence thesis with stakes]"

The Big Idea must be stated as a complete sentence at this turning point. See patterns/build/call-to-adventure.md.

Call to Action — the second turning point, in the closing 15–25% of the talk. Must contain at least one specific, immediately-executable ask per audience action-temperament type (Doer / Supplier / Influencer / Innovator — pre-planned in Phase 2). Tag it in the outline:

### Slide N: Call to Action
- STRUCTURE: Call to Action (sparkline turning point 2)
- Asks (one per type):
  - Doer: [specific ask]
  - Supplier: [specific ask]
  - Influencer: [specific ask]
  - Innovator: [specific ask]
- Speaker: "[explicit transition language]. Here's what to do…"

See patterns/build/call-to-action.md.

New Bliss — the closing future-state vision, immediately after the Call to Action. Required for sparkline; the talk must end on a higher emotional plane than it started. Tag it:

### Slide N+1: New Bliss
- STRUCTURE: New Bliss (sparkline closing)
- Visual: [vivid future-state image — concrete scene, not abstract state]
- Speaker: "[30-second to 2-minute vision of the world after adoption]"

See patterns/build/new-bliss.md.

S.T.A.R. moments at one or more peaks in the persuasive middle. Every sparkline gets at least one; ambitious talks stack 2–3. Identify the sub-type explicitly:

### Slide N: [section title]
- STAR: [Memorable Dramatization | Repeatable Sound Bite | Evocative Visual | Emotive Storytelling | Shocking Statistic]
- Visual: [...]
- Speaker: "[the constructed beat in the speaker's actual voice]"

See patterns/build/star-moment.md.

Inoculation Beats

For persuasive talks (especially with sparkline structure), include 1–3 inoculation moves in the persuasive middle — moments where the speaker preemptively voices the audience's strongest objection (steel-manned, not strawmanned) and addresses it within the same content section. Source the objections from the resistance map (six vectors: Comfort Zone / Fear / Vulnerabilities / Misunderstanding / Obstacles / Politics — see patterns/prepare/know-your-audience.md).

Tag inoculation moves in the outline:

### Slide N: [section title]
- INOCULATION: addresses the [Politics | Comfort Zone | …] resistance vector
- Speaker: "Now, you might be thinking [steel-manned objection]. Here's why that's a real concern but not the whole story…"

See patterns/build/inoculation.md. Reserve inoculation for objections that would otherwise derail the room — overusing the move makes the talk feel defensive.

Master Story (for talks 30+ minutes)

For longer persuasive talks, consider weaving a single anecdote — usually personal, metaphorically aligned with the Big Idea — through the entire talk. Introduce it fully in the opening or first half of the middle, then reference it 2–4 more times across distinct sections, each return adding a new layer of meaning rather than repeating. The first telling must work as a story on its own; subsequent references compress to a phrase or image that the audience now recognizes as compressed shorthand for the Big Idea. See patterns/build/master-story.md.

When a master story is in use, tag the recurrence points in the outline:

### Slide N: [section title]
- CALLBACK: master-story reference #2 — maps Pandy's "love makes the unloved precious" onto [section topic]

Callback Identification

Proactively identify and suggest callback opportunities. Check the vault summary for whether the speaker uses within-talk callbacks as a structural device. Look for:

• Recurring memes — call back later with a twist
• Progressive lists — add items on later appearances
• Running gags — escalate across 2-3 callbacks
• Deferred payoff — plant early, resolve later

Flag every callback explicitly in the outline:

[CALLBACK: reference to {element} from slide {N} — {variation}]
[PROGRESSIVE LIST: {list name} gains Nth item from slide {N}]
[RUNNING GAG: Nth appearance of {gag}]

Voice Calibration

Read verbal signatures from the vault summary (recurring phrases section) and the profile's instrument_catalog.verbal_signatures[]. Place them where they fit organically — don't force them.

General placement principles:

• Confirmation tags — after explaining something, not every sentence
• Transition fillers — into the next point, sparingly
• Bold claim framers — before provocative statements, max once per talk
• Dismissal phrases — when rejecting a concept the audience might believe in
• Profanity — only in the speaker's natural rhythm, calibrated to the spec's register
• Self-deprecating humor — most effective in openings and transitions
• Bullet symbols — read default from design_rules.default_bullet_symbol in the profile, but proactively suggest contextual symbols where they fit

The specific phrases come from the vault, not from this file.

Placeholder Types

Use numbered, typed placeholders:

[AUTHOR 01: your specific data/story for this point]
[DEMO 01: description of what to demo]
[DATA 01: need survey stat — describe what's needed]
[SCREENSHOT 01: description of what to capture]
[IMAGE 01: description — what real asset is needed]

[IMAGE NN] is for EXCEPTION slides that need real photos, screenshots, or data visualizations instead of generated illustrations. This replaces [SCREENSHOT NN] in illustration-aware outlines. [SCREENSHOT NN] still works for talks without an illustration strategy.

Meme briefs — structured brief for each meme:

[MEME 01]
Template: [meme template name]
Search query: "[search terms to find the template image]"
Overlay text: [specific text to apply]
Rhetorical function: [what argument this meme serves]

Each type uses independent numbering.