brycewang-stanford/beamer-presentation

Beamer Presentation Creator

Purpose

This skill helps economists create professional academic presentations using LaTeX Beamer. It provides templates for conference talks, job market presentations, and seminar presentations with proper structure and clean aesthetics.

When to Use

• Preparing conference presentations
• Creating job market talk slides
• Making seminar/workshop presentations
• Converting a paper into presentation slides

Instructions

Step 1: Understand the Context

Ask the user:

1. What type of presentation? (20-min conference, 90-min seminar, job market)
2. What's the paper/project about?
3. What's the target audience expertise level?
4. Do they have specific style preferences?

Step 2: Structure by Time

| Duration | Structure | |----------|-----------| | 15-20 min | Motivation (2) → Question (1) → Method (2) → Results (3-4) → Conclusion (1) | | 45-60 min | Add literature review, more results detail, robustness | | 90 min | Full seminar with theoretical framework, extensive empirics |

Step 3: Follow Presentation Best Practices

• One idea per slide
• Minimal text - use bullets of 3-6 words
• Big fonts - minimum 20pt for content
• Consistent colors - use a limited palette
• Reveal incrementally using \pause or <+-> for complex slides

Example Output

\documentclass[aspectratio=169, 11pt]{beamer}

% ============================================
% THEME AND APPEARANCE
% ============================================

% Clean minimal theme
\usetheme{metropolis}
\usecolortheme{default}

% Or for a more traditional look:
% \usetheme{Madrid}
% \usecolortheme{whale}

% Custom colors
\definecolor{darkblue}{RGB}{0, 51, 102}
\definecolor{lightgray}{RGB}{245, 245, 245}

\setbeamercolor{frametitle}{bg=darkblue, fg=white}
\setbeamercolor{title}{fg=darkblue}
\setbeamercolor{structure}{fg=darkblue}

% Remove navigation symbols
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}

% Frame numbers
\setbeamertemplate{footline}[frame number]

% ============================================
% PACKAGES
% ============================================

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.17}

% ============================================
% TITLE PAGE
% ============================================

\title{The Effect of X on Y: \\Evidence from Z}
\subtitle{Short and Descriptive}
\author{Your Name}
\institute{Your University}
\date{Conference Name \\ Month Year}

\begin{document}

% Title slide
\begin{frame}[plain]
    \titlepage
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% MOTIVATION (2-3 slides)
% ============================================

\begin{frame}{Motivation: Why This Matters}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item<1-> \textbf{Big picture:} [One sentence on broad relevance]
        \item<2-> \textbf{Specific puzzle:} [What we don't know]
        \item<3-> \textbf{Stakes:} [Why should we care?]
    \end{itemize}
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    \only<4>{
    \begin{block}{Key Statistic}
        \Large \textbf{X\%} of [outcome] can be explained by [factor]
    \end{block}
    }
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{What We Know (and Don't Know)}
    \textbf{Previous literature:}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item Author et al. (2020): Finding 1
        \item Other Author (2019): Finding 2
    \end{itemize}
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    \textbf{Gap we fill:}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item[\textcolor{red}{?}] [Open question our paper addresses]
    \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% RESEARCH QUESTION (1 slide)
% ============================================

\begin{frame}{This Paper}
    \begin{center}
        \Large
        \textbf{Research Question:} \\[1em]
        Does [X] cause [Y]? \\[2em]
    \end{center}
    
    \textbf{Preview of findings:}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item Main result in plain language
        \item Key magnitude: [Quantitative summary]
    \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% EMPIRICAL STRATEGY (2-3 slides)
% ============================================

\begin{frame}{Data}
    \textbf{Sources:}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item Dataset 1: [Description, years, N]
        \item Dataset 2: [Description, matching method]
    \end{itemize}
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    \textbf{Sample:}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item Unit of observation: [What is an observation?]
        \item Final sample: [N] observations, [Time period]
    \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Identification Strategy}
    \textbf{Challenge:} [Endogeneity concern in one sentence]
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    \textbf{Solution:} We exploit [natural experiment / instrument / RDD]
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    \textbf{Key assumption:} [Identification assumption in plain language]
    
    \begin{equation*}
        Y_{it} = \alpha + \beta \cdot \text{Treatment}_{it} + \gamma X_{it} + \mu_i + \delta_t + \varepsilon_{it}
    \end{equation*}
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% RESULTS (3-5 slides)
% ============================================

\begin{frame}{Main Result}
    \begin{center}
        \includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{figures/main_result.pdf}
    \end{center}
    
    \vspace{0.5em}
    
    \textbf{Takeaway:} [One sentence interpretation]
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Main Result: Regression Table}
    \begin{table}
        \centering
        \small
        \begin{tabular}{lccc}
            \toprule
            & (1) & (2) & (3) \\
            & OLS & + Controls & + FE \\
            \midrule
            Treatment & 0.052*** & 0.048*** & 0.041** \\
                      & (0.012)  & (0.011)  & (0.015) \\
            \midrule
            Controls & No & Yes & Yes \\
            Fixed Effects & No & No & Yes \\
            N & 10,000 & 9,850 & 9,850 \\
            \bottomrule
        \end{tabular}
    \end{table}
    
    \textbf{Economic magnitude:} 1 SD increase in X $\rightarrow$ Y\% increase in outcome
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Robustness Checks}
    \begin{itemize}
        \item[\checkmark] Alternative specifications
        \item[\checkmark] Placebo tests
        \item[\checkmark] Different sample cuts
        \item[\checkmark] [Other relevant checks]
    \end{itemize}
    
    \vspace{1em}
    
    $\rightarrow$ Results robust across specifications
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% CONCLUSION (1 slide)
% ============================================

\begin{frame}{Takeaways}
    \begin{enumerate}
        \item \textbf{Finding 1:} [Main result]
        \item \textbf{Finding 2:} [Secondary result]
        \item \textbf{Implication:} [Policy/theory takeaway]
    \end{enumerate}
    
    \vspace{2em}
    
    \begin{center}
        \Large Thank you! \\[0.5em]
        \normalsize [email protected]
    \end{center}
\end{frame}

% ============================================
% APPENDIX
% ============================================

\appendix

\begin{frame}[noframenumbering]{Appendix: Additional Results}
    [Backup slides for Q\&A]
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Theme Recommendations

| Audience | Theme | Notes | |----------|-------|-------| | Academic | metropolis | Clean, modern, minimal | | Conference | Madrid | Traditional, professional | | Job market | default with custom colors | Safe, customizable | | Policy | CambridgeUS | Authoritative look |

Best Practices

1. One message per slide - if you need more, split it
2. Use figures over tables when possible
3. Highlight key numbers in results tables
4. Build complex slides incrementally with \pause
5. Prepare backup slides for anticipated questions
6. Practice timing - 1-2 minutes per slide max

Common Pitfalls

• ❌ Too much text on slides
• ❌ Reading slides word-for-word
• ❌ Tables with too many columns
• ❌ Skipping the roadmap/preview
• ❌ Ending with "Questions?" instead of takeaways

References

• Shapiro (2019) How to Give Applied Micro Talk
• Beamer User Guide
• Metropolis Theme

Changelog

v1.0.0

• Initial release with conference talk template