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beamer

Category: review
Field: economics
License: private (curator-owned)
Updated: 2026-05-20
Stages: referee-simulation

Curator-private skill — copy text from 100xOS/shared/skills/review/beamer.md.

Beamer Presentation Review Checklist

Multi-pass review checklist for academic Beamer presentations. Covers rhetoric quality, visual quality, and LaTeX correctness.

Pass 1: Rhetoric Review (The "Referee 2" Pass)

Narrative Structure

  • The deck tells a three-act story: Problem (tension) → Investigation (development) → Resolution (release)
  • The opening slide (after title) grabs attention — not "Today I will talk about..." or a 12-item agenda
  • The closing slide is a single memorable takeaway or call to action — not "Questions?" or "Thank You"
  • The Pyramid Principle is followed: conclusions first, then evidence. Not: background → background → finding
  • A "Devil's Advocate" slide addresses the strongest objection before the audience raises it

MB/MC Equivalence

  • Cognitive load is balanced across all slides — no slide is overloaded while another is sparse
  • Each slide has approximately the same marginal benefit-to-cost ratio
  • Any deliberate "jump scares" (density spikes) are clearly intentional rhetorical effects
  • The deck "breathes" — dense technical slides are followed by lighter rest slides
  • One idea per slide. Any slide with multiple competing ideas must be split

Titles

  • Every slide title is an assertion, not a label. "Treatment increased X by Y" not "Results"
  • Reading only the slide titles in sequence conveys the complete argument
  • No generic titles: "Motivation", "Data", "Methods", "Conclusion" are all banned
  • Title text fits on one line (two max) — trim if needed

Content Quality

  • Bullet points are used only when items are genuinely parallel and equal-weight
  • Where structure exists (sequence, contrast, hierarchy, causal chain), it is made visible through layout, not bullets
  • Text is minimal — keywords and short phrases, not full sentences
  • Every claim has evidence (data, citation, figure). No unsupported assertions
  • Equations appear one per slide with surrounding context explaining each term

Audience Fit

  • Ethos/Pathos/Logos balance is appropriate for the audience (seminar vs. conference vs. job market)
  • Technical depth matches the audience — not too deep for a broad audience, not too shallow for specialists
  • Jargon is appropriate for the target audience
  • Backup slides cover anticipated questions

Pass 2: Visual Quality (The "Graphics Specialist" Pass)

Color and Typography

  • A custom color palette is defined with semantic roles (not default Beamer theme)
  • Colors are used consistently: structural color for key terms, alert color for emphasis, gray for de-emphasis
  • Minimum 24pt body text (20pt absolute floor)
  • Maximum two font families used
  • White space is generous — content fills 60–80% of the slide, not 100%

Visual Hierarchy

  • Each slide has clear primary/secondary/tertiary information hierarchy
  • Primary information is large and prominent (above the fold)
  • Supporting evidence is smaller and subordinate
  • Context and sourcing is smallest (footer/caption area)
  • If everything on a slide is the same size, something is wrong

Figures

  • Every figure title states the finding: "X increased Y by Z%" not "Chart of X"
  • Figures use PDF (vector) format when possible, PNG at 300 DPI as fallback
  • No chartjunk: no 3D effects, excessive gridlines, or decorative elements
  • Labels are placed directly on lines/bars (no separate legends requiring eye movement)
  • Axis labels include units: "Wage (2019 USD)" not just "Wage"
  • Font sizes in figures are readable when projected (consistent with slide text)
  • Color palette in figures matches the LaTeX deck palette exactly
  • Confidence intervals or bands are shown where appropriate

Tables

  • 2–4 columns maximum (rest in appendix)
  • Font size is \small or larger — readable from back row
  • Key coefficient is highlighted (bold, color, or both)
  • Numbers are rounded aggressively (two significant digits)
  • Only booktabs horizontal rules (\toprule, \midrule, \bottomrule) — no vertical rules

TikZ and Diagrams

  • Box uniformity: All boxes in the same diagram have identical dimensions — no exceptions
  • Boxes use text width (hard-fixed), NEVER minimum width (which grows with content)
  • Arrow routing: No arrows pass through boxes. No TikZ shorthand (|-, -|) — use explicit coordinate paths (--++(dx,0)--++(0,dy)--) routed outside all nodes
  • Text fitting: All text fits on one line within its box. If not, text is shortened — box is NOT resized
  • TikZ node positions correspond to their intended visual appearance
  • Coordinate values are verified (not just syntactically correct but visually correct)
  • Timeline endpoints align with content
  • Arrows point to the correct nodes
  • Transition slides use full-bleed backgrounds (not just centered text on white)
  • Flow diagrams are readable left-to-right or top-to-bottom
  • Original layout aesthetic is preserved — don't "clean up" into a grid unless asked
  • Visually verified after compilation: arrows connect, boxes align, text fits, no overlaps

Pass 3: Content Accuracy (The "Fact-Check" Pass)

  • No future plans invented for things that already exist (e.g., don't say "we plan to build X" if X is operational)
  • All stated facts (dataset sizes, system capabilities, infrastructure) are verified against actual state
  • ALL feedback items from previous rounds are fully addressed — no partial fixes
  • Every fix described as "done" has been visually verified in the compiled PDF

Pass 4: LaTeX Correctness (The "Compilation" Pass)

Zero-Warning Policy

  • No overfull \hbox warnings (content too wide — pushes text into margins)
  • No underfull \hbox warnings (content too sparse — stretches whitespace awkwardly)
  • No overfull \vbox warnings (content overflows page bottom)
  • No underfull \vbox warnings (awkward vertical gaps)
  • All warnings, no matter how small, must be fixed

Structural Correctness

  • All \begin{...} environments have matching \end{...}
  • All braces { } are balanced
  • No empty \ref{} or \cite{} commands
  • No ?? undefined references in compiled output
  • Frame numbers display correctly
  • Appendix frame counter is properly reset

Package and Command Hygiene

  • No deprecated packages (e.g., subfig → use subcaption)
  • \usepackage{hyperref} is loaded last
  • Custom math operators use \DeclareMathOperator not ad hoc formatting
  • Navigation symbols are removed (\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{})
  • aspectratio=169 is set for 16:9 widescreen

Scoring

Rate each pass independently on a scale of 1–10:

  • Rhetoric score: Narrative structure, MB/MC balance, assertion titles, audience fit
  • Visual score: Color palette, hierarchy, figure quality, TikZ correctness
  • Accuracy score: Facts verified, feedback fully addressed, no invented plans
  • LaTeX score: Zero warnings, structural correctness, package hygiene

Overall score = min(rhetoric, visual, accuracy, latex)

The weakest pass determines the overall score. A deck with perfect rhetoric but broken LaTeX is not presentable, and vice versa.

Pass threshold: Overall score ≥ 9

Review Output Format

Text Only
RHETORIC_SCORE: [1-10]
VISUAL_SCORE: [1-10]
ACCURACY_SCORE: [1-10]
LATEX_SCORE: [1-10]
OVERALL_SCORE: [1-10]
PASSED: [YES/NO] (YES if overall score >= 9)
ISSUES:
- [RHETORIC] issue description -> suggestion
- [VISUAL] issue description -> suggestion
- [ACCURACY] issue description -> suggestion
- [LATEX] issue description -> suggestion
SUMMARY: [2-3 sentence assessment covering all four passes]