Talk Stage 3: Concepts
Builds an exhaustive catalogue of all identifiable concepts in the source material. Each concept is numbered, categorized, and scored for its talk potential.
When to Use This Skill
- After Stage 1 (and Stage 2 if REX mode)
- Before Stage 4 (Position needs the concept catalogue)
- When you want a structured inventory of what's available before choosing an angle
What This Skill Does
- **Reads the summary** — loads `{slug}-summary.md`
- **Reads the timeline** (if available) — enriches scoring with verified dates
- **Extracts concepts** — full scan of the source material
- **Categorizes** — assigns each concept to a domain category
- **Scores** — HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW for talk potential
- **Optional repo enrichment** — if repo_path is provided, analyzes AI config concepts
- **Writes output files**
Input
- `talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-summary.md` (required)
- `talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-timeline.md` (optional — enriches REX concepts)
- `repo_path` (optional — for config/infrastructure concept extraction)
Output
- `talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-concepts.md` (main catalogue)
- `talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-concepts-enriched.md` (if repo_path provided)
Scoring Criteria
HIGH — Strong potential
- Demonstrable live or with a screenshot
- Counter-intuitive or surprising (triggers a reaction)
- Associated with verifiable numbers
- Concrete and actionable (explainable in 30 seconds)
- Differentiator vs other talks on the same topic
MEDIUM — Moderate potential
- Useful but expected (not surprising)
- Missing concrete proof or numbers
- Too specific to one particular context
- Needs too much explanation for a 30-min talk
LOW — Weak potential
- Too abstract or philosophical without concrete grounding
- Already heavily covered by other speakers
- Requires specific technical background
- Hard to illustrate in a slide
**Scoring discipline**: Max 30% HIGH. If everything is HIGH, nothing is.
Standard Categories
| Category | Description | |----------|-------------| | **Architecture** | Technical decisions, stack, structural patterns | | **Tooling** | Tools, workflows, automations | | **Philosophy** | Principles, mindsets, approaches | | **Workflow** | Work processes, habits | | **Knowledge Transfer** | Onboarding, team, knowledge sharing | | **Problems** | Obstacles encountered, trade-offs | | **Open Source** | Contributions, sharing, community | | **AI Config** | AI configuration, profiles, knowledge feeding | | **AI Infrastructure** | Agents, skills, hooks, commands | | **AI Quality** | Review, tests, anti-patterns | | **AI Security** | Security hooks, guardrails | | **Optimization** | Performance, cost/token reduction |
Adapt or create categories if the talk has domain-specific areas.
Output Format
concepts.md
# Key Concepts — {provisional title}
**Date**: {date}
**Source**: {source path} × Summary × Timeline (if available)
---
## Concept table
| # | Concept | Category | Short description | Talk potential |
|---|---------|----------|------------------|----------------|
| 1 | **{Concept name}** | {Category} | {1-2 concrete sentences} | HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW |
...
---
## Category breakdown
| Category | Count | HIGH concepts | Examples |
|----------|-------|---------------|---------|
| {category} | {n} | {n} | {examples} |
...
| **TOTAL** | **{N}** | **{N HIGH}** | |
---
## Recommendations for positioning
{3-5 sentences on concept clusters that could form the talk's acts.
Which HIGH concepts reinforce each other? Wh
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