IA Presenter

IA Presenter

Overview

This skill generates markdown files formatted for IA Presenter, a presentation tool with specific markdown syntax requirements. IA Presenter uses standard markdown with unique conventions for slide separation, content visibility, and layout control.

Core Syntax Rules

Slide Structure

Use heading levels to control slide hierarchy:

• # Title and ## Subtitle on the first slide create the cover page
• --- separates slides
• ### Heading creates content slide titles (always visible)

Content Visibility

Control what appears on slides using tab characters:

• Lines starting with a tab character appear on the slide
• Lines without tabs are speaker notes (invisible to audience)
• Headings always appear and don't need tabs

Critical: Use actual tab characters (\t), not the tab symbol or spaces.

Layout Control

Create side-by-side layouts by separating tabbed content with a non-tabbed line:

	Left panel content

	Right panel content

Without the separator, content stacks vertically.

Creating Presentations

Standard Structure

Follow this typical flow:

1. Cover slide (# Title, ## Subtitle)
2. Executive summary or key message slide
3. Content slides with concise points
4. Conclusion or next steps slide

Content Guidelines

Keep text minimal and impactful:

• Use bullets and short phrases over paragraphs
• Focus on keywords that reinforce spoken content
• Avoid long sentences that distract from the presenter
• Prioritize visuals (images, graphs) when available

Gathering Information

Before generating, ask clarifying questions:

• Presentation topic and target audience
• Key messages or objectives
• Number of slides needed
• Whether images are available (and what they depict)
• Any specific content structure preferences

Images

Handle images as follows:

• All image paths start with /​assets/
• Example: /​assets/​myimage.jpg
• Use size: contain on the line after the image path to fit the full image
• If user provides images, ask what each depicts to place appropriately
• If no images provided, skip image syntax (user will add later)

Formatting

Standard markdown works within IA Presenter:

• **bold** for bold text
• *italic* for italic text
• [link text](url) for hyperlinks
• Backtick code blocks with optional language: ```python
• Ordered lists: 1., 2., etc.
• Unordered lists: - or *

Output Format

Always create a .md file in /​mnt/​user-data/​outputs/ with the IA Presenter formatted content.

Reference Example

See references/​Example_IA_Presenter_Deck.md for a complete working example demonstrating all syntax features.

Additional Resources

Full IA Presenter markdown documentation: https://ia.net/presenter/support/basics/markdown