Marp Presentation

If not available, install it:

npm init -y 2>/dev/null; npm install @marp-team/marp-cli

Install themes

The three theme CSS files are bundled in this skill's references/ directory. Copy them into the working directory:

mkdir -p themes

Then read each theme file from this skill's references and write it to themes/:

• references/uofg.css → themes/uofg.css
• references/uofg-creative.css → themes/uofg-creative.css
• references/personal.css → themes/personal.css

Only copy if themes/ doesn't already contain them — the user may have customised their local copies.

Create presentations directory

mkdir -p presentations

Step 1: Understand the presentation

If the user hasn't already explained what they need, ask these questions. Skip any that are already obvious from context. Ask them all at once — don't drip-feed.

What to ask

Topic & purpose:

What's this presentation about, and what's the goal? (inform, persuade, teach, update, etc.)

Audience:

Who will be watching? This determines which theme we use:

• Internal UofG / institutional → uofg theme (clean, brand-compliant, Noto Sans, university blues)
• Mixed audience or external with UofG connection → uofg-creative theme (UofG palette but with Literata serif headings, warmer surfaces, more visual personality)
• Personal, casual, or non-UofG → personal theme (dark warm palette, Bricolage Grotesque headings, terracotta accents)

Source material:

Do you have existing material to work from? For example:

• Obsidian/markdown notes (give me the file paths or vault location)
• A CSV or spreadsheet (I'll turn the data into tables and charts)
• A document, PDF, or web page
• Bullet points or an outline
• Just a topic — I'll help structure it from scratch

You can point me at multiple sources. I'll read everything and synthesise.

Length & format:

Roughly how many slides? A 10-minute talk is typically 10–15 slides. A lightning talk is 5–8. A workshop deck might be 30+. If you're unsure, I'll aim for 12–15.

What NOT to ask

Don't ask about fonts, colours, CSS, or technical Marp details. The themes handle all of that. The user just needs to think about content and audience.

Step 2: Gather source material

Based on what the user said, read and process their source material.

Obsidian / Markdown notes

• Read the files the user points to
• Look for structure: headings, bullet points, links between notes
• Identify the narrative arc — what order should things appear in?
• Pull out key quotes, data points, and examples

CSV / Spreadsheet data

• Read the file
• Identify which columns and rows are most relevant
• Decide what belongs in tables vs what should be summarised as bullet points or key figures
• Keep tables concise — slides aren't spreadsheets. Max 5–6 rows per table, 4 columns. If there's more data, pick the most impactful subset and note what was left out

Documents / PDFs

• Read and extract the key points
• Identify the structure and main arguments
• Pull out quotable lines for blockquote slides

URLs / web pages

• Fetch and read the content
• Extract relevant information
• Credit the source in the slide footer or notes

No source material

• Work with the user to build an outline
• Ask what 3–5 key points they want the audience to take away
• Suggest a structure (problem → solution → evidence → next steps, or similar)

Step 3: Build the presentation

File setup

Create the markdown file at an appropriate location. If the user doesn't specify, use presentations/YYYY-MM-DD-topic-slug.md.

Frontmatter

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