Structure First, Then Words

What this is for

Most talks that ramble were written sentence by sentence before anyone decided what belonged where. This guide uses AI to help you build the skeleton first: the open, the one idea everything hangs on, the signposts that carry the audience from section to section, and the close. Word choice comes after the skeleton holds up, not before.

When to use it

Use this once you have your angle and your teaching point (guides 10 and 12) and before you write full paragraphs. If you're staring at a blank page trying to write an opening line for a talk that doesn't have a structure yet, stop and come back here first.

The prompt kit

I'm building a talk. Here's my angle and teaching point: [paste from guides 10 and 12]

My audience is: [who you speak to], and I have about [X] minutes.

Before you suggest a structure, ask me: what is the ONE thing I want the audience to remember if they forget everything else? Don't move on until I've answered in one sentence.

Here's my one idea: [paste it]

Now ask me what evidence, stories, or examples I actually have to support it - not what I could research, only what I already have. List them back to me as a rough inventory once I've answered.

Based on my one idea and my inventory of material, propose a skeleton with an open, 3-4 main sections, and a close. For each section, give me one line describing what it does for the audience, not what it says. Don't write any actual content yet, just the shape and the job each part does.

Then ask me: where in this skeleton would the audience most likely lose the thread? Point to the weakest transition.

Here's my skeleton: [paste the shape you settled on]

Write me a one-sentence signpost line I could speak between each section - a spoken transition that tells the audience where we've been and where we're going next. Keep these plain and short. I'll rewrite them in my own voice.

What good output looks like

A skeleton that's doing its job can be described out loud in under a minute: "I open with X, then I make three points that build toward Y, then I close on Z." If you can't say your own structure back that simply, it's still too tangled. The signposts should sound like something a person would actually say on stage, not a table of contents.

Watch out for

Writing full sentences before the skeleton is settled. It's tempting to start polishing the opening line the moment it comes to you. Write it down in a notes file and keep moving. Guide 21 is where the open gets built properly.

Cramming in every story you have. Not every piece of material earns a place in the skeleton. If your inventory has six stories and your skeleton only needs three, cut the weakest three now. It's easier than cutting them after they're written into paragraphs.

Letting the AI invent transitions that reference facts you didn't give it. Signpost lines should only refer to material you actually put in the skeleton. If a transition line references a story or a number you never mentioned, that's the AI filling in a blank on its own. Cut it.

Skipping the "one thing" question. If you can't answer what the single thing is that the audience should remember, the whole structure will drift, because there's nothing to build toward. Answer that question honestly before building the rest.