Spark Workshop · Facilitator Cheat Sheet

One page · Keep on podium · Don't read it word-for-word

Total: 3 hours · 15 min setup

Cohort: 5–15 · laptops required

Capital One Café · 2026-04-19

Timing + What You Actually Say

Setup · 15 min · before start

-0:15

Greet, check Claude Code + GitHub + template clone on each laptop

"Grab coffee — we'll start at [time] sharp."

Hour 1 · Design Your Agents

0:00

Warm-up — Who does your work? Roles you can't afford.

"Not titles. Functions. Who writes the grants? Who checks the cultural accuracy?"

0:10

Skill — Agent design. Scope · Intent · Voice · Calibration.

"Agents are personas, not separate programs. Same AI, different hats."

0:30

Build — Roster. 3 agents, one file each. Name them alive.

"'Marketing Agent' is dead on arrival. 'The Dispatch' has a voice."

0:55

Check-in. 2–3 share. Group gives naming + scope feedback.

"What's the agent you couldn't stop thinking about?"

Hour 2 · Build Your State Layer

1:00

Intro. The state IS the institution.

"If the AI forgets between sessions, it's a stranger — not a colleague."

1:05

Skill — State file anatomy. 4 files: org-state, portfolio, last-session, decision-journal.

"80 lines of live state. Everything else is archive."

1:20

Build — State files with REAL data. 20 min on portfolio, 10 on rest.

"The portfolio is the hardest. Most people have never written all their projects down."

1:50

Build — Memory layer. 3 seeds: preference, context, feedback.

"Tell Spark once. It remembers across every future session."

Hour 3 · Connect and Operate

2:00

Skill — Gmail MCP. Live demo. Drafts only, never sends.

"Relationships are human. Sent emails can't be unsent."

2:15

Skill — Session protocol. Start + close checklist.

"The protocol is the discipline. Without it, the system drifts."

2:25

Build — First live session. "What's the status of my projects?" THE MOMENT.

"Watch for the face. The moment they see their data reflect back — that's the testimonial."

2:50

Reflection + close. Three questions. Testimonial capture.

"You built the skeleton. Muscle grows every session you use it."

Three Questions for Close (ask out loud · 30 sec silence before answers)

Q1What's the one thing you'll use on Monday?

Q2What almost didn't work for you today?

Q3Can we quote you? (yes / yes w/ attribution / no)

Recovery Moves · If You're Running Long

CutRunning 15 min long in Hour 1

Drop check-in from 5 → 2 min. Roll the 3 min into Hour 2 portfolio build.

CutRunning 15 min long in Hour 2

Skip the decision-journal template; put it in the follow-up email.

CutRunning 15 min long in Hour 3

Drop Gmail MCP live demo → "I'll show this in the follow-up." Never cut the first-session moment.

WatchSomeone is stuck

9/10 times: CLAUDE.md isn't pointing to state files, or state files are empty. Check those two.

Say This · Four Lines to Memorize

"Agents are personas, not separate programs. Same AI, different hats."

"The state IS the institution. Markdown in a git repo. No database. No vendor lock-in."

"Drafts only. Never sends. Tone is personal. Relationships are human."

"You built the skeleton. The muscle grows every session you use it."