Including a live website in your PowerPoint presentation can be a great way to showcase additional information, keep content up-to-date, and allow your audience to interact with online content. However, PowerPoint does not have a built-in feature to embed websites directly into slides. In this article, we will explore several methods to include a website in your PowerPoint presentation.
Use Hyperlinks
The easiest way to include a website in PowerPoint is by adding a hyperlink. This allows you to link text or images to a URL that opens when clicked in the presentation.
To add a hyperlink:
- Select the text or object you want to be clickable
- Go to Insert > Hyperlink
- Paste the URL of the website into the address field
- Customize link text and screen tip as desired
- Click OK
This will make the selected item clickable, opening the linked website in the user’s default browser when clicked in the presentation.
While simple, hyperlinks do force users to leave the presentation. The next methods allow embedding web content directly into slides.
Use the PowerPoint Web Viewer Add-in
The PowerPoint Web Viewer is a free add-in from Microsoft that allows embedding web pages in slides.
To use it:
- Download and install the PowerPoint Web Viewer Add-in
- On a slide, go to Insert > My Add-ins > Web Viewer > Insert
- Paste the website URL and insert
- Resize and position the web viewer object as needed
The Web Viewer works well for secure web pages and content you want to display directly in the slideshow. However, it only refreshes content when the slide is shown again, so highly dynamic websites may not update immediately.
Use LiveSlides
For adding dynamic websites that need to refresh live, LiveSlides is an excellent PowerPoint add-in.
To use LiveSlides:
- Download and install the LiveSlides add-in
- On a slide, select the LiveSlides tab > Insert Web View
- Paste the URL and insert the website
- Position and size the object as desired
LiveSlides uses an iframe to display web content directly in slides, refreshing every few seconds to show updated content in real-time. This is perfect for websites that change frequently like dashboards, data visualizations, or live reports.
Convert Presentation to Video
If you don’t need audience interaction, converting your presentation to a video allows easily embedding web content:
- Record your presentation with a voiceover and slide timings
- Insert screenshots or screen recordings of websites when needed
- Export the presentation to video
- Insert the produced video into slides
This approach allows precise control over what website content is shown and when. Use screen recording software like Screencast-O-Matic to capture website screenshots and video.
Build Custom Interactions with Office Add-ins
For advanced interactivity, PowerPoint Office Add-ins like PowerPointLabs allow programmers to build custom interactions between slides and websites using JavaScript and XML.
For example, the PowerPointLabs Simulate Web Browsing tool lets you trigger websites to open or navigate to specific URLs based on user clicks in the presentation.
While complex, Office Add-ins open up many possibilities for connecting PowerPoint with web content.
Conclusion
Adding a live website into PowerPoint provides useful context and interactivity to presentations. While PowerPoint doesn’t have native support for embedding webpages, the options covered in this article should cover most use cases. Choose the right method based on your content and technical needs. Properly integrated web content can make for more engaging, informative presentations.
