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

1. Reads the summary: loads {slug}-summary.md
2. Reads the timeline (if available): enriches scoring with verified dates
3. Extracts concepts: full scan of the source material
4. Categorizes: assigns each concept to a domain category
5. Scores: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW for talk potential
6. Optional repo enrichment: if repo_path is provided, analyzes AI config concepts
7. 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

markdown
# Key Concepts: {provisional title}

**Date**: {date}
**Source**: {source path} x Summary x 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? What narrative arc is emerging?}

concepts-enriched.md (if repo available)

Same structure but focused on what the repo analysis reveals:

• Specialized agents (count, size, roles)
• Invocable skills (catalogue, domains covered)
• System hooks (events, logic)
• Modular config (profiles, modules, pipeline)
• Project-specific code patterns

For each enriched concept, include:

• Exact source: file and approximate line
• Demo-able: yes/no (can it be shown in a slide or live?)

Anti-patterns

• Creating overly granular concepts (one feature = one concept max)
• Scoring HIGH by default (be selective)
• Omitting LOW concepts (they're useful in positioning as "angles to avoid")
• Duplicating very similar concepts (merge them instead)
• Analyzing repo code if the repo isn't accessible

Validation Checklist

• ] Minimum 15 concepts identified (20+ for REX with repo)
• ] Each concept has a 1-2 sentence concrete description
• ] Scores are calibrated (not all HIGH, not all LOW)
• ] Categories cover the summary's themes
• ] Positioning recommendations present
• ] Files saved to correct paths

Tips

• The concept catalogue is what Stage 4 (Position) draws from; the richer it is, the better the angle choices
• LOW concepts are valuable: they define the boundaries of what NOT to put in the talk
• If two concepts feel very similar, merge them (a smaller, sharper list beats a long diluted one)

Related

• Stage 1: Extract: prerequisite
• Stage 2: Research: provides timeline (REX)
• Stage 4: Position: reads this catalogue
• Orchestrator