Storing a presentation in the cloud, that is, in a Web-based location, has great advantages:
- It’s an off-site backup
- You can use Embed code to embed the presentation on your website or blog
- You can share the link with colleagues for collaboration or with potential customers for marketing
- People without PowerPoint (or an earlier version) can view the presentation online
In this article, updated for the 2013 version of Office Web Apps and PowerPoint 2013, I’ll show you how to use the free Microsoft Office Web Apps/SkyDrive to store and share your presentations in the cloud.
The PowerPoint Office Web App (OWA) have been significantly updated. For example, it now supports animation and video.
Windows Live OneDrive offers 25GB of free online storage. You can use this storage for just about anything, not just presentations. (I’ve updated the text and links since the service changed its name from Skydrive to Onedrive.)
How to get your presentation on Onedrive
- Go to onedrive.live.com and log in if necessary. Click click a folder (choose Public if you want to share the presentation on your website or blog), and then click Upload. In the File Upload dialog box, select your presentation and click Open. You’ll see an Upload box, showing you the progress of the upload. You’ll see a tile (box) with the name of your presentation.
- Once you have a OneDrive account, you can save a presentation there from within PowerPoint 2010 and 2013. In PowerPoint 2010, choose File> Save & Send> Save to Web. You might have to sign in. Then double-click the folder you want to use. In PowerPoint 2013, Onedrive is actually the default location, although you can, of course, save any presentation on your own computer. Here you see the process in 2010.
How to share your online presentation
You can share your presentation in 2 ways:
- Give people the URL so they can see the presentation online. To do this go to your OneDrive account and click the folder. Then click the presentation’s link. You’ll see the presentation open in your browser. Click the Share button. Then you can send an email that includes the link or you can choose Get a Link on the left. Then you’ll have a choice to get a link that allows viewing only or one that allows viewing and editing (for collaboration). Click this link to view a 3-slide presentation I put online for the purpose of testing animation and video in Skydrive. Tip: To share a file that’s too big to email, upload it to SkyDrive, and use the email feature to send someone the file’s URL. That person can then click the URL and choose File, Save As to download the file.
- Embed the presentation in a webpage or blog post. Right-click the presentation’s tile and choose Embed. Click the Generate button. You’ll see the Embed code, already selected. Then press Ctrl+C or right-click and choose Copy. Go to your webpage or blog post, display the HTML/Text view, and press Ctrl+V or right-click and choose Paste.
Here is an embedded PowerPoint presentation that includes an animated arrow and a video. Navigate through the 3 slides using the arrows at the bottom.
Hi Ellen –
Thanks for sharing this information and demonstrating how to take advantage of “The Cloud” for sharing PowerPoint presentations with others.
I started using Windows Live about 2 months ago to share the Excel Workbooks that I use in my video tutorials. It is easy to use. It is a great way to share valuable resources, and you can’t beat the price – “Free!”
Thanks to your article, I learned about the embedding feature. I am going to try this out on my website.
Thanks!
Danny Rocks
The Company Rocks
Danny,
Glad you found the post useful. Let me know how the embedding feature works for you.
Ellen
Thanks for the post. Timely. Question… is there a file size constraint for uploads in Sky Drive?
Thanks again.
Tom,
I don’t know. I asked a question on the forum about it and will let you know when I have an answer. I suppose you could try to upload a 25 GB file and see if it works!
Tom,
This is the answer that came back: The service offers 25 GB of free personal storage, with individual files limited to 100 MB.
Hi Ellen –
Thanks to your expert guidance, I have been able to embed an “interactive” Excel Workbook on my blog / website.
Until I received your tip, I had been content to “store and share” my Excel and PowerPoint documents on the Windows Office Live! SkyDrive. Now, I know how to make these documents more accessible!
Here is a link to a YouTube Video that I created that demonstrates each step in the process:
http://youtu.be/JpNo8uNyYz8?hd=1
Sincerely,
Danny Rocks
The Company Rocks
Danny,
That video rocks! It’s amazing how you take something you learn and run with it. I’m glad that I was able to help!
Ellen
Hi Ellen –
Thank you for your kind words. Now, I tried out embedding a PowerPoint Presentation on my website – again, many thanks for sharing your tip sheet. I would have struggled with this were it not for you pointing out that you need to “click the hyperlink on the title” to enable the Sharing window!
Here is the link to the PowerPoint Embed video on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/r3xjHSTdPlk?hd=1
Warm regards,
Danny Rocks
The Company Rocks
Danny,
Another great video. Your deep voice is great for your voiceovers! And thanks for reminding me that when you view the presentation at SkyDrive, it keeps the animation.
Ellen
Very helpful to understand how to embed your Video. for those of us not technically oriented, this is a must read. I will follow-up on the Windows Live utility.
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