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: [from profile speaker.shownotes_url_pattern] 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)

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.