pitch-deck-creator-edtech

What this skill does

# Pitch Deck Creator for EdTech Startups

## Overview

Transform content-heavy pitch materials into visually compelling, narrative-driven pitch decks. This skill guides EdTech startup founders through collaborative content refinement, wireframe validation, professional design generation, and hybrid deck creation (PowerPoint + Google Slides).

**Target User:** EdTech startup founders with written pitch content who need help with structure, narrative flow, and visual design.

**Core Value:** Combines storytelling expertise with graphic design principles to maximize investor impact.

---

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:
- User asks to "create a pitch deck" or "design a presentation"
- User has pitch content but needs help with structure and visual design
- User mentions they don't know how to make content visually appealing
- User wants to refine existing pitch materials for investors
- User says they have content but struggle with narrative flow

**Trigger phrases:** "create pitch deck," "design presentation," "make slides," "help with my pitch"

---

## Prerequisites

**Required from user:**
- Content markdown file structured by slide topics (similar to Harry_Llama_Pitch_Deck_Content.md format)
- Each slide should have: slide number, title, and content organized by section

**Resource locations:**
- Best practices: `/pitch_deck_skill/` (articles, examples, design principles)
- Example decks: `examples/` (visual reference images relative to skill directory)
- Output directory: `./pitch_deck_output/` (will be created in working directory)

---

## The 7-Phase Process

### Phase 1: Discovery & Setup

**Goal:** Gather requirements and understand user's needs.

**Actions:**
1. Ask user for content markdown file path
2. Use `AskUserQuestion` tool to gather:
   - **Purpose:** Investor pitch | Customer pitch | Partnership pitch | Internal pitch
   - **Target Audience:** VCs | Angels | Strategic investors | Corporate partners
   - **Tone:** Bold/aggressive | Professional/measured | Visionary/aspirational | Data-driven/analytical
   - **Format Preference:** PowerPoint | Google Slides | Both
   - **Brand Assets:** Colors (hex codes), Fonts (names), Logo location

3. Use `Read` tool to load:
   - User's content markdown file
   - Best practices resource: `resources.md` (from skill directory)
   - 2-3 example pitch deck images from `examples/` folder (use `Read` tool to view visual design patterns)
   - 1-2 HTML template examples from templates folder for reference

4. Use `TodoWrite` to create checklist:
   - [ ] Content analysis and collaborative editing
   - [ ] Text wireframes generation
   - [ ] ASCII wireframes confirmation
   - [ ] HTML slides generation
   - [ ] Visual preview and iteration
   - [ ] PowerPoint creation
   - [ ] Google Slides creation (if requested)

**Output:** Complete understanding of requirements + loaded resources.

---

### Phase 2: Content Analysis & Collaborative Editing

**Goal:** Refine content for maximum narrative impact through collaborative editing.

**Analysis Criteria:**
Evaluate content against EdTech pitch deck best practices:
- **Narrative flow:** Story builds logically (Problem → Solution → Market → Why Us)
- **Clarity:** Each point immediately understandable (no jargon, concrete examples)
- **Emotional impact:** Connects with investor motivations (FOMO, vision, urgency)
- **Data balance:** Right mix of numbers and story (not too dry, not too fluffy)
- **Slide economy:** Can any slides be combined/removed? (10-20 slides ideal)
- **Audience alignment:** Tone matches investor expectations (confident but honest)

**Analysis Process:**
1. Read through ALL slide content
2. Identify issues per slide:
   - Redundant points
   - Unclear messaging
   - Missing emotional hooks
   - Too much/too little data
   - Poor narrative transitions
   - Weak value propositions

3. Prioritize by impact: HIGH (narrative/clarity) > MEDIUM (emotional/data) > LOW (polish)

**Edit Presentation Format:**
For each proposed change, show:
```
═══════════════════════════════════════════════
SLIDE X: [Slide Title]
SECTION: [Which part of the slide]

CURRENT:
[Original text]

PROPOSED:
[Edited text]

RATIONALE:
[Why this change improves the pitch - specific principle applied]

IMPACT: [High/Medium/Low] - [Narrative/Clarity/Emotional/Data]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════
```

**Presentation Strategy:**
- Present 3-5 edits at a time (don't overwhelm)
- Start with HIGH impact changes first
- After each batch, ask: "Approve all | Approve some | Reject all | Suggest alternative"
- If "Approve some": Present each edit individually for Accept/Reject decision
- If "Suggest alternative": Listen to user's direction, regenerate proposals

**Editing Guidelines:**
- **Preserve founder's voice** - Don't make it sound generic
- **Respect data integrity** - Never change numbers without explicit approval
- **Flag assumptions** - If proposing content not in original, clearly mark as [SUGGESTED ADDITION]
- **Prioritize high-impact** - Show most important changes first
- **Show before/after** - Make it easy to compare

**Collaborative Loop:**
1. Present batch of edits
2. Gather user decisions
3. Apply approved changes
4. Present next batch
5. Repeat until all slides reviewed

**Output:**
- Refined content markdown with all approved edits applied
- Use `Write` tool to save: `./pitch_deck_output/content_refined.md`
- Mark Phase 2 todo as complete

---

### Phase 3: Text Wireframes

**Goal:** Define slide layouts in text form before visual design.

**For each slide, describe:**
- **Layout structure:** Header placement, content zones (left/right/center), footer
- **Content organization:** How many sections, how points are grouped
- **Visual emphasis:** Which elements are primary/secondary/tertiary
- **Special elements:** Stats callout boxes, charts, images, tables

**Text Wireframe Format:**
```
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SLIDE X: [Title]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

LAYOUT TYPE: [Full-bleed header | Split-screen | Centered | Grid]

HEADER ZONE:
- Background: [Brand color]
- Title: [Large, bold, brand accent color]
- Position: [Top-left | Centered | Top-banner]

CONTENT ZONE:
- Organization: [3-column | Left-text-right-visual | Bullet list | Cards]
- Primary element: [Main headline or key stat]
- Secondary elements: [Supporting points]
- Emphasis: [Callout box | Color highlight | Size variation]

SPECIAL ELEMENTS:
- [Stats callout box bottom-right]
- [Chart placeholder center]
- [Icon grid for features]

FOOTER:
- [Logo left | Page number right]

WHITESPACE: [~35% of slide]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
```

**Validation:**
After presenting all text wireframes, ask:
"Do these layouts support the narrative flow? Any slides that need restructuring?"

If user requests changes, update wireframes before proceeding.

**Output:**
- Text wireframe descriptions for all slides
- Use `Write` tool to save: `./pitch_deck_output/wireframes_text.md`
- Mark Phase 3 todo as complete

---

### Phase 4: ASCII Wireframes

**Goal:** Show spatial relationships and visual hierarchy before committing to code.

**ASCII Wireframe Format:**
```
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                         SLIDE X: [TITLE]                      ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
║ │                     [HEADER BANNER]                       │ ║
║ │            ████████ SLIDE TITLE ████████                  │ ║
║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
║                                                               ║
║  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐         ║
║  │   POINT 1   │  │   POINT 2   │  │   POINT 3   │         ║
║  │             │  │             │  │             │         ║
║  │ • Detail    │  │ • Detail    │  │ • Detail    │         ║
║  │