The Secrets of My Emacs Presentation Style

I get asked pretty regularly about how I achieve the look of the presentations I that give from within Emacs. I made another video in the past showing how to use a package called org-tree-slide for presentations, but I’ve actually been using another package called org-present for the last year or more.

In the video, I’ll show you exactly how I achieve my presentation style using org-present and a few other customizations.

At the end of this tutorial, I provide a complete Emacs configuration that will replicate what you see here.

org-present can be installed from either the NonGNU or MELPA package archives. I prefer using the NonGNU archive since it’s already part of the default set of package archives in Emacs 28.

If you’re using a version of Emacs before 28 you can add the following line to your configuration to add the NonGNU archive:

;; Make sure the NonGNU repo is added
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("nongnu" . "https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/"))

NOTE: You don’t need to add this archive if you’re already using the MELPA archive!

After adding this entry to the archives you might need to run M-x package-refresh-contents to pull the NonGNU package index!

Now you can install the package by using M-x package-install RET org-present or (ideally) by adding these lines to your configuration:

;; Install org-present if needed
(unless (package-installed-p 'org-present)
  (package-install 'org-present))

NOTE: In this video I’ll be showing Emacs Lisp snippets that don’t use configuration macro packages like use-package, etc!

Let’s take a look at what Org Present looks like without any customization! Open up an Org Mode file and run M-x org-present.

The presentation will be displayed like this by default:

• The first slide is the document title followed by any text before the first heading
• Each subsequent slide contains the content of the next top-level heading
• Each slide’s sub-headings can be folded or expanded

Looks pretty basic, right? That’s great! We can use everything we know about Emacs to make it look however we want.

Before we do that though, let’s get familiar with the essential key bindings you’ll need when you use this package:

You can also bind your own keys in the org-present-mode-keymap!

In my opinion, the display of org-present doesn’t look like much of a presentation until we center it on the screen.

Luckily there’s a simple package called visual-fill-column which helps with this! There are two ways we might want to use it:

• Keep it enabled permanently by turning it on for every Org Mode document (using the org-mode-hook)
• Only turn it on when giving a presentation

I like the way my Org documents look with visual-fill-column turned on so I leave it on all the time, but in this example I’ll show you how to turn it on only for presentations.

I’ve already got the package installed here so I’ll run M-x visual-fill-column-mode so we can try it out.

Let’s break down what we need to do:

• Create functions for configuring the current buffer when starting and stopping a presentation
• Enable centering when starting presentation, disable when presentation ends
• Add these functions to the org-present-mode-hook and org-present-mode-quit-hook

I also use visual-line-mode here to cause lines to be wrapped within the centered document, otherwise you will have to horizontally scroll to see them all!

;; Install visual-fill-column
(unless (package-installed-p 'visual-fill-column)
  (package-install 'visual-fill-column))

;; Configure fill width
(setq visual-fill-column-width 110
      visual-fill-column-center-text t)

(defun my/org-present-start ()
  ;; Center the presentation and wrap lines
  (visual-fill-column-mode 1)
  (visual-line-mode 1))

(defun my/org-present-end ()
  ;; Stop centering the document
  (visual-fill-column-mode 0)
  (visual-line-mode 0))

;; Register hooks with org-present
(add-hook 'org-present-mode-hook 'my/org-present-start)
(add-hook 'org-present-mode-quit-hook 'my/org-present-end)

The next thing we’ll want to do is make the text a lot bigger because it’s a little unreadable at the default size!

There’s a very cool variable for this called face-remapping-alist! It allows you to set a list of face overrides for the current buffer using setq-local. You can also use relative font heights based on existing faces.

We’ll add the following snippet to our my/org-present-start function:

;; Tweak font sizes
(setq-local face-remapping-alist '((default (:height 1.5) variable-pitch)
                                   (header-line (:height 4.0) variable-pitch)
                                   (org-document-title (:height 1.75) org-document-title)
                                   (org-code (:height 1.55) org-code)
                                   (org-verbatim (:height 1.55) org-verbatim)
                                   (org-block (:height 1.25) org-block)
                                   (org-block-begin-line (:height 0.7) org-block)))

NOTE: You might notice I base a couple of faces on the variable-pitch face. We’ll talk about that in the next slide!

To reset the fonts back to their normal sizes once the presentation is complete, add the following snippet to the my/org-present-end function:

;; Reset font customizations
(setq-local face-remapping-alist '((default variable-pitch default)))

It’s important to note that we don’t set face-remapping-alist to nil or an empty list because it will remove the variable-pitch face in our buffer if we already have it set!

The color theme and fonts you use will make a huge impact on how your presentation looks!

An important aspect of the look is the use of “variable pitch” fonts for most text in Org Mode files so that your slides look more like a document than a source code file. The variable-pitch-mode and the variable-pitch face will do a lot to help your presentation look more polished.

Font and theme selection is purely a matter of personal taste, but I’ll tell you exactly what I’m using so that you can use it as a starting point if you like:

• Fixed-pitch font: JetBrains Mono, light weight
• Variable-pitch font: Iosevka Aile, light weight
• Color theme: doom-palenight from Doom Themes

;; Install doom-themes
(unless (package-installed-p 'doom-themes)
  (package-install 'doom-themes))

;; Load up doom-palenight for the System Crafters look
(load-theme 'doom-palenight t)

;; NOTE: These settings might not be ideal for your machine, tweak them as needed!
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :font "JetBrains Mono" :weight 'light :height 180)
(set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :font "JetBrains Mono" :weight 'light :height 190)
(set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :font "Iosevka Aile" :weight 'light :height 1.3)

After dropping in this snippet, the slides start to look a lot more like mine! However, there are still a few things that need to be improved to make it look really good.

Org Mode provides a wide variety of variables and faces for customizing its appearance. Here’s a list of the things we’ll want to customize to get the best look for the slides:

• Increase the size of heading text with org-level-N faces
• Make a few text elements like tables, code text, and more use a properly sized, fixed-width font
• Hide formatting markers for bold, italic and code text with org-hide-emphasis-markers
• Ensure code blocks use a fixed-width font at the right size
• Make the presentation title larger
• Add some space between the top of the window and the slide heading (we customized header-line with face remapping)

;; Load org-faces to make sure we can set appropriate faces
(require 'org-faces)

;; Hide emphasis markers on formatted text
(setq org-hide-emphasis-markers t)

;; Resize Org headings
(dolist (face '((org-level-1 . 1.2)
                (org-level-2 . 1.1)
                (org-level-3 . 1.05)
                (org-level-4 . 1.0)
                (org-level-5 . 1.1)
                (org-level-6 . 1.1)
                (org-level-7 . 1.1)
                (org-level-8 . 1.1)))
  (set-face-attribute (car face) nil :font "Iosevka Aile" :weight 'medium :height (cdr face)))

;; Make the document title a bit bigger
(set-face-attribute 'org-document-title nil :font "Iosevka Aile" :weight 'bold :height 1.3)

;; Make sure certain org faces use the fixed-pitch face when variable-pitch-mode is on
(set-face-attribute 'org-block nil :foreground nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-table nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-formula nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-code nil :inherit '(shadow fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-verbatim nil :inherit '(shadow fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-special-keyword nil :inherit '(font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-meta-line nil :inherit '(font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-checkbox nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)

One last thing we need to do is set the heading text for the presentation buffer to ensure the extra space gets added above. We’ll do this in the my/org-present-start function we defined:

;; Set a blank header line string to create blank space at the top
(setq header-line-format " ")

Let’s also add a matching removal of the header string in the my/org-present-end function:

;; Clear the header line format by setting to `nil'
(setq header-line-format nil)

Another thing we can do to improve the look of our presentation is get rid of unnecessary UI elements that might distract from the experience!

These settings will probably be no surprise if you’ve watched some of my other customization videos:

;; Hide unneeded UI elements (this can even be done in my/org-present-start!)
(menu-bar-mode 0)
(tool-bar-mode 0)
(scroll-bar-mode 0)

;; Let the desktop background show through
(set-frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'alpha '(97 . 100))
(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(alpha . (90 . 90)))

One last thing to consider: when you have a lot of content on a single slide, it might make sense to break it up into sub-headings so that it isn’t all shown at the same time.

However, just putting more content in sub-headings isn’t enough; we also need to tell Org Present to collapse these subheadings when we enter a slide so that their contents aren’t initially visible.

I’ll show you what I mean in the example slides.

To set up a slide correctly as we enter it, we can define a new function called my/org-present-prepare-slide and call some standard Org Mode functions to do the following:

• Hide everything except for top-level headings
• Unfold the content of the current heading (the current slide)
• Show the immediate children of the heading without expanding them

(defun my/org-present-prepare-slide (buffer-name heading)
  ;; Show only top-level headlines
  (org-overview)

  ;; Unfold the current entry
  (org-show-entry)

  ;; Show only direct subheadings of the slide but don't expand them
  (org-show-children))

We’ll add this function to the (surprisingly named) hook function org-present-after-navigate-functions so that it gets called whenever the slide changes:

(add-hook 'org-present-after-navigate-functions 'my/org-present-prepare-slide)

We definitely covered a lot more than you expected in this video, but I think it’s an interesting use case in seeing how a variety of Emacs features and packages can enable you to create something fully custom and surprisingly nice.

So let me know in the comments:

• Do you think you’ll try giving your next presentation in Emacs?
• If you’ve done it before, what strategies or packages did you use?

Don’t forget to check out the final configuration on the next slide, it’s a more polished version of what we put together!

Try this out with the Org File I showed in this video!

;;; Configure Package Archives -----------------------------

;; Initialize package sources
(require 'package)

;; org-present is in the "nongnu" package archive.  This line isn't needed in
;; Emacs 28!
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("nongnu" . "https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/"))

;; This will be needed if you decide to use doom-themes!
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))

;; Set up package.el and refresh package archives if it hasn't been done yet
(package-initialize)
(unless package-archive-contents
  (package-refresh-contents))

;;; Basic Appearance ---------------------------------------

;; More minimal UI
(setq inhibit-startup-screen t)
(menu-bar-mode 0)
(tool-bar-mode 0)
(scroll-bar-mode 0)

;; Let the desktop background show through
(set-frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'alpha '(97 . 100))
(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(alpha . (90 . 90)))

;;; Theme and Fonts ----------------------------------------

;; Install doom-themes
(unless (package-installed-p 'doom-themes)
  (package-install 'doom-themes))

;; Load up doom-palenight for the System Crafters look
(load-theme 'doom-palenight t)

;; Set reusable font name variables
(defvar my/fixed-width-font "JetBrains Mono"
  "The font to use for monospaced (fixed width) text.")

(defvar my/variable-width-font "Iosevka Aile"
  "The font to use for variable-pitch (document) text.")

;; NOTE: These settings might not be ideal for your machine, tweak them as needed!
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :font my/fixed-width-font :weight 'light :height 180)
(set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :font my/fixed-width-font :weight 'light :height 190)
(set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :font my/variable-width-font :weight 'light :height 1.3)

;;; Org Mode Appearance ------------------------------------

;; Load org-faces to make sure we can set appropriate faces
(require 'org-faces)

;; Hide emphasis markers on formatted text
(setq org-hide-emphasis-markers t)

;; Resize Org headings
(dolist (face '((org-level-1 . 1.2)
                (org-level-2 . 1.1)
                (org-level-3 . 1.05)
                (org-level-4 . 1.0)
                (org-level-5 . 1.1)
                (org-level-6 . 1.1)
                (org-level-7 . 1.1)
                (org-level-8 . 1.1)))
  (set-face-attribute (car face) nil :font my/variable-width-font :weight 'medium :height (cdr face)))

;; Make the document title a bit bigger
(set-face-attribute 'org-document-title nil :font my/variable-width-font :weight 'bold :height 1.3)

;; Make sure certain org faces use the fixed-pitch face when variable-pitch-mode is on
(set-face-attribute 'org-block nil :foreground nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-table nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-formula nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)
(set-face-attribute 'org-code nil :inherit '(shadow fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-verbatim nil :inherit '(shadow fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-special-keyword nil :inherit '(font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-meta-line nil :inherit '(font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch))
(set-face-attribute 'org-checkbox nil :inherit 'fixed-pitch)

;;; Centering Org Documents --------------------------------

;; Install visual-fill-column
(unless (package-installed-p 'visual-fill-column)
  (package-install 'visual-fill-column))

;; Configure fill width
(setq visual-fill-column-width 110
      visual-fill-column-center-text t)

;;; Org Present --------------------------------------------

;; Install org-present if needed
(unless (package-installed-p 'org-present)
  (package-install 'org-present))

(defun my/org-present-prepare-slide (buffer-name heading)
  ;; Show only top-level headlines
  (org-overview)

  ;; Unfold the current entry
  (org-show-entry)

  ;; Show only direct subheadings of the slide but don't expand them
  (org-show-children))

(defun my/org-present-start ()
  ;; Tweak font sizes
  (setq-local face-remapping-alist '((default (:height 1.5) variable-pitch)
                                     (header-line (:height 4.0) variable-pitch)
                                     (org-document-title (:height 1.75) org-document-title)
                                     (org-code (:height 1.55) org-code)
                                     (org-verbatim (:height 1.55) org-verbatim)
                                     (org-block (:height 1.25) org-block)
                                     (org-block-begin-line (:height 0.7) org-block)))

  ;; Set a blank header line string to create blank space at the top
  (setq header-line-format " ")

  ;; Display inline images automatically
  (org-display-inline-images)

  ;; Center the presentation and wrap lines
  (visual-fill-column-mode 1)
  (visual-line-mode 1))

(defun my/org-present-end ()
  ;; Reset font customizations
  (setq-local face-remapping-alist '((default variable-pitch default)))

  ;; Clear the header line string so that it isn't displayed
  (setq header-line-format nil)

  ;; Stop displaying inline images
  (org-remove-inline-images)

  ;; Stop centering the document
  (visual-fill-column-mode 0)
  (visual-line-mode 0))

;; Turn on variable pitch fonts in Org Mode buffers
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'variable-pitch-mode)

;; Register hooks with org-present
(add-hook 'org-present-mode-hook 'my/org-present-start)
(add-hook 'org-present-mode-quit-hook 'my/org-present-end)
(add-hook 'org-present-after-navigate-functions 'my/org-present-prepare-slide)