PPT Defense QA Backup Stage

Role

Use this stage to prepare the defense conversation after the main talk is already storyboarded and rehearsable. It is a mandatory stop gate before asset/layout planning.

Do not proceed unless these confirmed artifacts exist:

• align/ppt_production_brief_v*.md
• align/fact_ledger_v*.md
• align/ppt_defense_narrative_v*.md
• align/PPT_storyboard_v*.md
• align/ppt_speaker_notes_rehearsal_v*.md

Use codex-deep-interview if any of these are still unclear:

• who may ask difficult questions and what they care about;
• which rubric or committee-map concerns should be covered;
• which claims, methods, metrics, baselines, experiments, or limitations feel risky;
• whether backup slides should be hidden, appendix-only, or included after a Q&A separator;
• how direct, defensive, cautious, or exploratory the answer style should be.

Ask only high-impact questions. Do not invent evidence or promise experiments that do not exist.

Required Output

Write or update:

• align/ppt_defense_qa_backup_v*.md

Include this metadata:

stage: defense_qa_backup
stage_status: draft | confirmed
requires_confirmed:
  - ppt_production_brief
  - fact_ledger
  - defense_narrative
  - storyboard
  - speaker_notes_rehearsal
allowed_next_stage: ppt-asset-layout-plan
confirmed_by: <user/date or empty>

Use stage_status: draft until the user explicitly confirms the Q&A and backup-slide plan. Codex must not self-confirm it.

Q&A Requirements

Create a question matrix with:

• question ID;
• likely question or objection;
• concern behind the question;
• answer thesis in one sentence;
• concise answer draft;
• source fact, claim, figure, experiment, or limitation anchors;
• rubric or committee concern covered when applicable;
• main slide anchor and backup slide anchor when relevant;
• risk level;
• safe fallback if the answer is unknown, out of scope, or needs follow-up.

Cover at least:

• contribution novelty;
• method validity;
• data, baseline, metric, or experimental design choices;
• failure cases and limitations;
• practical significance;
• relation to prior work;
• threats to validity or generalization.

Backup Slide Requirements

Define every backup-only slide with:

• backup slide ID and action title;
• question(s) it answers;
• evidence source and fact IDs;
• visual or table needed;
• asset source or generation/redraw requirement;
• placement policy: hidden, appendix, or after Q&A separator;
• whether it should be counted in the main talk duration;
• editability and QA risks.

Backup slides must defend real questions. Do not add decorative or speculative slides.

Guardrails

• Do not change confirmed speaker notes or storyboard unless routing back to the responsible stage.
• Do not plan detailed layout geometry; leave that to ppt-asset-layout-plan.
• Do not generate images, generate PPTX, or run render QA.
• Do not over-answer by adding unsupported claims.
• Mark weak evidence, missing comparisons, and unsafe answers as open decisions.

Stop Rule

After writing a draft Q&A and backup-slide artifact, stop and ask the user to review, challenge, revise, or confirm.

When the user confirms, update only align/ppt_defense_qa_backup_v*.md to stage_status: confirmed, record confirmed_by, then stop again. The next user turn must explicitly invoke or allow ppt-asset-layout-plan.