Essay to Speech

Transform written essays into spoken word presentations. Outputs both the original text and talk track in connected chunks, ready for downstream slide generation.

When to Use

Invoke when user:

Wants to turn an essay into a presentation talk track
Needs to adapt written content for verbal delivery
Is preparing a speech from written material
Uses /essay-to-speech command

Transformation Intensity

Default to full transformation unless the essay is already conversational.

Mode	When to Use	Approach
Full (default)	Academic, formal, or dense prose	Aggressive rewrite for natural speech
Light	Already conversational, personal voice	Preserve author's voice, minimal changes

Auto-detect: If the essay uses "I", contractions, and short sentences, use light mode. If it uses passive voice, complex clauses, and formal language, use full mode.

Core Process

1. Segment the Essay

Break the essay into atomic chunks based on:

Existing structure first: Honor headings, sections, paragraph breaks
Argument units: Each chunk = one coherent point or idea
Slide-sized thinking: Could this chunk support one slide?

Typical segmentation:

Introduction → Opening hook chunk
Each major section → 1-3 chunks depending on density
Conclusion → Landing chunk

2. Transform Each Chunk

Convert written prose to spoken language:

Written Pattern	Spoken Pattern
"This essay examines..."	"Today I want to share..."
"As previously mentioned..."	"Remember when I said..."
"It is important to note that..."	"Here's what matters..."
"In conclusion, this paper has demonstrated..."	"So what does this mean for you?"
Complex nested clauses	Shorter, punchier sentences
Passive voice	Active voice
Academic hedging	Confident assertions
Dense paragraphs	Breathing room, varied rhythm

Statistical Notation → Plain English

Critical: Convert all statistical notation to spoken-friendly language. Nobody says "rho equals negative 0.91" on stage.

Written (Academic)	Spoken (Natural)
"ρ = -0.91"	"almost a perfect inverse—when one goes up, the other goes down"
"β = 0.27, p < 0.001"	"a significant effect—this isn't random chance"
"95% CI: 0.01-1.29"	"we can be confident this relationship is real"
"ΔELPD = 50.9 (SE = 10.2)"	"the statistical evidence was overwhelming"
"coefficient: 0.65"	"a strong positive relationship"
"r² = 0.73"	"this explains most of the variation"
"n = 667"	"nearly 700 people"

Keep the meaning of statistics, drop the notation. The audience needs to understand the insight, not verify the math.

Rhythm and Breath

Vary sentence length deliberately. Pattern: Long → Short → Medium

Too uniform (written):

The researchers found that Theory of Mind predicted collaboration. The correlation was significant. The effect was strong.

Varied rhythm (spoken):

The researchers found something surprising about what predicts AI collaboration success. Theory of Mind. Not technical skill—a social skill.

Breath points: Insert natural pauses by breaking at:

After a key insight (let it land)
Before a contrast ("But here's the thing...")
After rhetorical questions (let audience think)

3. Assess Images (if present)

For essays containing images, apply a critical eye—not everything works on a slide at 20 feet.

Detection: Identify all images referenced in the essay (inline, figures, diagrams)

Assessment questions (be skeptical):

Can the audience read this from the back row?
Does this make sense without the surrounding text?
Is this a data dump or a clear visual?
Would a simpler version communicate better?

Common issues to flag:

Image Type	Common Problem	Likely Rating
Scatter plots	Too many points, tiny labels	ADAPT or RECREATE
Tables	Text-heavy, not visual	RECREATE as chart
Screenshots	Low resolution, cluttered	ADAPT (crop) or SKIP
Flowcharts	Too many boxes, small text	ADAPT (simplify)
Bar/pie charts	Usually fine if not too busy	USE or ADAPT
Conceptual diagrams	Often good	USE
Decorative images	No information value	SKIP

Ratings:

USE - Genuinely presentation-ready (rare for academic figures)
ADAPT - Good concept, needs work (most common)
RECREATE - Valuable data, wrong format (tables, dense plots)
SKIP - Doesn't add value to spoken presentation

Be honest: Rating everything "USE" isn't helpful. Most academic figures need adaptation.

4. Preserve the Connection

Critical: Output BOTH versions for each chunk. The original is never modified.

Output Format

Filename Convention

Generate a logical filename from the essay title:

{slugified-title}-presentation.md
Drop common stop words (the, a, an, in, of, and, or) for concise filenames
Example: "The Future of Remote Work" → future-remote-work-presentation.md

Document Structure

# [Essay Title]: Presentation Version

**Source**: [Original essay title/description]
**Chunks**: [N sections]
**Generated**: [Date]
**Mode**: [Full/Light transformation]

---

## Section 1: [Descriptive Title]

### Original
[Verbatim essay text for this section - unchanged]

### Talk Track
[HOOK] Let me start with a question: what if everything you thought you knew was wrong?

[KEY_POINT] The real issue isn't what people say—it's what they actually do.

[EVIDENCE] A recent study found a 50% gap between reported intentions and actual behavior.

[TRANSITION] Now that we understand the problem, let's look at what we can do about it.

### Images
- `figure1.png`: USE - Clear diagram, good resolution
- `chart2.png`: ADAPT - Needs larger labels for projection

### Slide Ideas
- [Suggested visual, chart type, or slide concept]
- [Alternative approach or supporting visual]

---

## Section 2: [Descriptive Title]

### Original
[Verbatim essay text for this section]

### Talk Track
[Tagged spoken content...]

### Slide Ideas
- [Visual suggestions for this chunk]

---

[Continue for all sections...]

Talk Track Semantic Tags

Use tags to mark key structural moments—not every sentence.

Tag	Purpose	Example
`[HOOK]`	Opening attention-grabber	`[HOOK] Let me ask you something...`
`[KEY_POINT]`	Core argument or insight	`[KEY_POINT] This changes everything about...`
`[EVIDENCE]`	Data, examples, proof	`[EVIDENCE] Nearly 700 people were tested...`
`[STORY]`	Narrative or anecdote	`[STORY] I met a manager who...`
`[TRANSITION]`	Bridge between ideas	`[TRANSITION] So that's the problem. Now let's talk solutions.`
`[CALLBACK]`	Reference to earlier point	`[CALLBACK] Remember that study I mentioned?`
`[LANDING]`	Section or final conclusion	`[LANDING] And that's why this matters.`
`[CTA]`	Call to action	`[CTA] Starting tomorrow, I want you to...`

Tagging guidelines:

2-4 tags per section is typical
Don't tag every paragraph—it becomes noise
Untagged sentences flow naturally between tagged moments
Tags help the slide-builder know where visual anchors belong

Images Section (when applicable)

If the original essay contains images, each chunk includes a ### Images section:

### Images
- `fig1-market-share.png`: USE - Clean pie chart, large labels, works as-is
- `fig2-scatter.png`: ADAPT - Good data but axis labels too small, needs enlargement
- `fig3-table.png`: RECREATE - Important data but tables don't work on slides, convert to horizontal bar chart
- `header-decorative.jpg`: SKIP - Decorative only, no value for presentation

No images? Omit the ### Images section entirely for text-only chunks.

Slide Ideas Section

Each chunk includes a ### Slide Ideas section with 1-3 suggestions:

Chart/graph types with specific data to visualize
Key quote or stat callouts
Comparison frameworks (before/after, A vs B)
Visual metaphors or imagery concepts
"No slide needed" if the chunk is purely transitional

When original images exist, slide ideas should reference them:

"Use fig1-market-share.png as primary visual"
"Recreate fig3-table.png as horizontal bar chart showing top 5 only"

These are suggestions, not requirements—the slide-builder skill makes final decisions.

Delivery Markup (Optional)

When user requests annotated output, add delivery cues:

[PAUSE] - Breath/emphasis pause (after key insights, before contrasts)
*word* - Vocal emphasis
[SLOW] / [FASTER] - Pacing shifts
[LOOK UP] - Eye contact moment

What This Skill Does NOT Do

Design slides or visuals (that's the next skill)
Edit or modify images (assesses only, slide-builder handles modifications)
Fundamentally rewrite arguments or add new content
Coach on public speaking technique
Change the essay's core message or stance

Best Practices

Preserve meaning: The talk track conveys the same arguments, just spoken
Respect structure: Don't arbitrarily merge or split the author's sections
Natural chunking: Each section should feel like a complete thought
Opening matters: Transform bland thesis statements into hooks
Landing matters: End with impact, not "in conclusion"
Kill the jargon: Statistical notation, acronyms, and academic language don't belong in speech
Vary the rhythm: Mix sentence lengths—monotony kills engagement
Be a critical friend on images: Most academic figures need work; say so

Example Transformation

Original (written):

The study found ToM strongly predicted collaborative ability with AI (coefficient: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.01-1.29). Translation: higher Theory of Mind scores meant better AI collaboration, and we can be 95% confident this relationship is real—the confidence interval stays positive.

Talk Track (full transformation):

[EVIDENCE] The study found a strong link between Theory of Mind and AI collaboration success. And this isn't a maybe—the statistics are clear. Higher Theory of Mind means better results with AI.

[KEY_POINT] We can be confident this relationship is real.

What changed:

"coefficient: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.01-1.29" → "a strong link" + "the statistics are clear"
"confidence interval stays positive" → "we can be confident this relationship is real"
Complex sentence broken into two
Same meaning, speakable language

Images

correlation-scatter.png: ADAPT - Data points clear but axis labels "ToM Score" and "κ (Collaborative Ability)" need plain English labels

Slide Ideas

Single insight slide: "Theory of Mind → Better AI Collaboration"
Visual: simplified scatter with trend line, labeled "Social Skill" → "AI Success"

References

references/transformation-patterns.md - Detailed written→spoken patterns
references/examples.md - Full before/after essay transformations

essay-to-speech