pptx-toolkit

name: pptx-toolkitdescription: >  Audit PowerPoint (.pptx) decks for slide count, text density, embedded images  and fonts, hidden slides, speaker notes, and animation density. Use when  reviewing a board deck, sales deck, or conference talk before sending.license: MIT + Commons Clausemetadata:   version: 1.0.0  author: borghei  category: documents  domain: document-automation  updated: 2026-05-04  python-tools: pptx_auditor.py  tech-stack: pptx, OOXML  tags:     - pptx    - powerpoint    - presentation-audit    - slides    - ooxml

Pptx Toolkit

Audit .pptx files using the standard library only — no python-pptx required. Reads OOXML directly via zipfile + xml.etree.

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Table of Contents

• Keywords
• Quick Start
• Core Workflows
• Tools
• Reference Guides
• Templates
• Best Practices
• Scope & Limitations

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Keywords

pptx, PowerPoint, slide deck, presentation, board deck, sales deck, deck review, slide density, speaker notes, animation, hidden slides

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Clarify First

Before running the audit, settle the inputs below. When one is missing or vague and would change the result, ask about it; when it wouldn't, use a sensible default and say which one you used.

• Deck purpose (board/investor, sales, or conference talk): sets the density caps, speaker-notes coverage, and animation limits (the rubric differs per type).
• Delivery context (sent to be read vs presented live from notes): changes whether bare slides and animations are acceptable.
• Whether hidden slides should ship: distinguishes intentional backup slides from leftover narrative cruft.

Ask about the two or three inputs that matter most for this request, not the whole list. If the user wants a result straight away, produce it and state your assumptions at the top.

Quick Start

python scripts/pptx_auditor.py deck.pptx

Outputs: slide count, hidden slide count, slides with speaker notes, words per slide (with per-slide breakdown), image and embedded-media count, animation node count, theme name.

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Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Pre-Meeting Deck Review

Goal: Catch the issues that make decks look unprofessional in the room — overstuffed slides, missing speaker notes, leftover hidden slides from prior versions.

Steps:

1. Run audit
2. Slides with > 50 words → flag for content reduction
3. Slides without speaker notes for a board / investor deck → add notes or mark "intentionally bare"
4. Hidden slides → confirm they should ship hidden, or delete
5. Animation count > 100 across deck → likely over-animated; trim

Time Estimate: 5-10 minutes per deck.

Workflow 2: Board / Investor Deck Audit

Goal: Hold a board / investor deck to a higher quality bar with a structured audit trail.

Steps:

1. Run audit; export JSON for archival alongside the deck
2. Apply the rubric in references/deck_density_rubric.md
3. Flag slides over density caps; trim to one idea per slide
4. Pair with cs-board-deck-builder skill for narrative review

Time Estimate: 30-60 minutes per board deck.

Workflow 3: Pre-Conference Talk Deck Check

Goal: Stage-ready deck — hidden / cut slides removed, speaker notes complete, animations rehearsable.

Steps:

1. Audit; ensure slide count matches dry-run timing budget
2. Speaker notes coverage > 90% (for talks where you'll deliver from notes)
3. Animations under 50 across the talk (more invites timing accidents on stage)
4. Embedded video / audio: confirm present and play locally

Time Estimate: 15 minutes pre-rehearsal.

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Tools

pptx_auditor.py

Reads a .pptx file as a ZIP archive and parses OOXML directly. No external dependencies.

python scripts/pptx_auditor.py deck.pptx
python scripts/pptx_auditor.py deck.pptx --json

Reports:

• Slide count and hidden-slide count
• Slides with speaker notes (count and percentage)
• Words per slide (mean, max, full distribution)
• Top-N densest slides
• Image / embedded-media count
• Animation timing node count
• Theme name

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Reference Guides

• references/deck_density_rubric.md — Words-per-slide guidance by deck purpose (board, sales, talk, training); animation philosophy; speaker-notes pattern

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Templates

• assets/deck_handoff_checklist.md — Pre-meeting deck sign-off checklist

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Best Practices

• One idea per slide. If you can't summarize the slide in one sentence, it has more than one idea.
• Speaker notes are documentation. Slides without notes leave readers (post-meeting) guessing what the talk track was.
• Delete hidden slides before sending. Hidden slides are often older versions left for "just in case" — they survive forever and leak narrative context.
• Animations are timing risk. Every animation is a place where the live demo can desync from the speaker.

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Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

• Read-only audit of .pptx files with scripts/pptx_auditor.py, which parses OOXML with zipfile and xml.etree and needs no third-party package
• Slide and hidden-slide counts, speaker-notes coverage, words per slide with the densest slides, image and embedded-media count, animation timing nodes, and theme name
• Three workflows: pre-meeting review, board or investor deck audit, and pre-conference talk check
• A deck density rubric with words-per-slide targets by deck purpose, plus a handoff checklist

Out of Scope:

• Creating, editing or restyling slides; the tool only reads
• Building a board deck's narrative and content (see c-level-advisor/board-deck-builder/)
• Reviewing a pitch deck's story for investors (see personal-productivity/pitch-deck-reviewer/)
• Producing slides from markdown (see markdown-html/md-slides/)

Important Caveats:

• The auditor does not render slides. Layout, overlap, contrast, font use and brand compliance are not checked.
• Word counts and animation counts measure density, not quality. The thresholds in the workflows, such as 50 words per slide, are rules of thumb; the rubric sets different targets by deck purpose.
• It counts embedded media but cannot confirm that video or audio plays; the talk workflow says to test playback locally.

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Integration Points

• Pairs with c-level-advisor/board-deck-builder for board / investor decks
• Pairs with marketing/launch-strategy for launch-deck reviews
• Used by cs-pr-comms-lead for press / partner decks