Presentation / Briefing Template

Back to Markdown Style Guide — Read the style guide first for formatting, citation, and emoji rules.

Use this template for: Slide-deck-style documents, research presentations, briefings, lectures, walkthroughs, or any content that would traditionally be a PowerPoint. Designed to read well as a standalone document AND to serve as speaker-ready presentation notes.

Key features: Collapsible speaker notes under every section, structured flow from context through content to action items, figure captions, and footnote citations.

How to Use

1. Copy this file to your project
2. Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your content
3. Delete sections that don't apply (but keep the core flow)
4. Add/remove content topics (H3s under 📚 Content) as needed
5. Follow the Markdown Style Guide for all formatting
6. Add Mermaid diagrams wherever a concept benefits from a visual

Template Structure

The presentation follows a 6-section flow. Each section has an H2 with one emoji, content, and optional collapsible speaker notes.

1. 🏠 Housekeeping — Logistics, context, announcements
2. 📍 Agenda — What we'll cover, with time estimates
3. 🎯 Objectives — What the audience will walk away with
4. 📚 Content — The main body (multiple H3 topics)
5. ✍️ Action Items — What happens next, who owns what
6. 🔗 References — Citations, resources, further reading

The Template

Everything below the line is the template. Copy from here:

[Presentation Title]

[Context line — project, team, date, or purpose]

🏠 Housekeeping

• [Logistics item or announcement]
• [Important deadline or reminder]
• [Any prerequisite context the audience needs]

• Timing: 2–3 minutes for this section
• Tone: Conversational, get the room settled
• [Specific note about announcement context]
• [Transition line:] "With that covered, here's our plan for today..."

📍 Agenda

• Housekeeping (3 min)
• [Topic 1 name] (10 min)
• [Topic 2 name] (15 min)
• [Topic 3 name] (15 min)
• Action items and Q&A (10 min)

Total: [estimated time]

• Reference this agenda when transitioning between topics
• If running long on a topic, note what you'll compress
• "We have a natural break around the halfway point"
• Adjust timing based on audience engagement — questions are good

🎯 Objectives

After this presentation, you'll be able to:

• [Action verb] [specific, measurable outcome]
• [Action verb] [specific, measurable outcome]
• [Action verb] [specific, measurable outcome]

• Reference these objectives throughout the presentation
• "This connects back to our first objective..."
• At the end, revisit: "Let's check — did we hit all three?"
• Strong action verbs: Identify, Analyze, Compare, Evaluate, Design, Implement, Explain, Distinguish, Create, Apply

📚 Content

[Topic 1 title]

[Opening context — why this matters, what problem it solves]

Key points:

• [Point 1 with brief explanation]
• [Point 2 with brief explanation]
• [Point 3 with brief explanation]

Image placeholder: images/slide-[filename].png Figure 1: [What this image demonstrates]

💡 Key insight: [The one-liner the audience should remember from this topic]

Teaching strategy

• Open with a question: "[Engaging question for the audience]?"
• Take 2–3 responses
• "Good thinking. Here's how this actually works..."

Core explanation (3–5 min)

• Start with the definition/concept
• Walk through step by step
• Use a real-world example: "[Specific scenario]"

Common misconceptions

• What people think: [Misconception]
• What's actually true: [Reality]
• How to address it: [Reframe]

Transition

• "Now that we understand [concept], let's look at how it applies to..."

[Topic 2 title]

[Context and explanation]

Comparison of approaches:

flowchart LR
    accTitle: [Short title for this diagram]
    accDescr: [One sentence describing what the diagram shows]

    step1[⚙️ Step one] --> step2[🔍 Step two] --> step3[✅ Step three]

[Explanation of what the diagram shows and why it matters]

Walk through each option (5–6 min)

Option A:

• "Used when [scenario]"
• "Advantage: [benefit]"
• "Disadvantage: [drawback]"

Option B:

• "Used when [scenario]"
• "Advantage: [benefit]"
• "Disadvantage: [drawback]"

Decision-making exercise

• Ask: "Given [scenario], which would you choose?"
• Take responses, discuss reasoning
• "In practice, professionals choose based on [criteria]"

Real-world example

• "[Company/project] chose Option B because [reasoning]"
• "The result was [outcome]"
• "This matters because [relevance to audience]"¹

[Topic 3 title]

[Context and explanation]

Process:

1. [First step with explanation]
2. [Second step with explanation]
3. [Third step with explanation]

⚠️ Common pitfall: [What goes wrong and how to avoid it]

[Deeper explanation, examples, or data supporting the topic]

Interactive element

• Pause at step 2: "What happens next?"
• Take guesses before revealing step 3
• "Why does this matter? Because [stakes]"

If audience is advanced

• Skip the basics, jump to: "[Advanced angle]"
• Challenge question: "What if [scenario changed]?"

If audience is struggling

• Slow down, repeat the analogy
• "Think of it like [simple comparison]"
• Offer to cover more in Q&A

Timing

• This should take about [N] minutes
• If running long, compress the [specific part]

✍️ Action items

Next steps

Key takeaways

1. [Takeaway 1] — [one sentence summary]
2. [Takeaway 2] — [one sentence summary]
3. [Takeaway 3] — [one sentence summary]

• Walk through each action item explicitly
• "Who owns this? When is it due?"
• "Questions about any of these?"
• Revisit the objectives: "Did we hit all three?"
• "Thank you for your time. I'm available for follow-up at [contact]."

🔗 References

Sources cited

All footnote references from the presentation are collected here:

Further reading

• Resource title — Why this is useful
• Resource title — What it provides

Tools mentioned

• Tool name — Purpose and how to access

• "These resources are available in the shared document"
• "Start with [specific resource] — it's the most practical"
• "If you want to go deeper, [specific resource] covers the advanced topics"

Last updated: [Date]