Microsoft PowerPoint: Broadcast Your Presentation over the Internet

At UNL, we have an Adobe Connect server, which really helps us share our presentations remotely. I’ve used it and it works great, but I don’t always want to use this options for presentations over the phone and on the fly. If you have found yourself emailing a presentation to someone and then asking them to walk through it with you as you explained on the phone, you’ll like the Broadcast option.

Before you begin, you must have a Windows Live, Hotmail, MSN or Xbox Live email account. No, gmail won’t work. You must also have access to the Internet which is how the presentation will be broadcast.

1. With your presentation open in PowerPoint, go to the Slide Show ribbon, Start Slide Show (Play Slide Show on the Mac) group, and the click Broadcast Slide Show.
2. Click the Start Broadcast button (Connect... on the Mac). 
3. If you are not already logged in, you must log in with your Windows Live ID credentials.
4. PowerPoint will create URL for you to email or copy into a a messaging service to whomever you want to join the broadcast. Be aware that this is not a secure or closed connection. Anyone with the URL can access your broadcast. You should also recommend the audience disable their screen saver or power saving options as this will disrupt their viewing.
5. When your audience is ready, click the Start Slide Show button (Play Slide Show on the Mac).
   You are in full control of the presentation. When you advance the slide, your audience will stay on track with you.
6. After presenting, press Esc (Escape) on the keyboard to end Slide Show view. You must then press the End Broadcast button on the yellow bar under the ribbon.

Currently, only Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari for Mac is the supported version. I've used Chrome without incident, but it's not an official supported browser.

Some things to be aware of when broadcasting:

• All transitions will be shown as the Fade transition only.
• Audio or video is not transmitted with the presentation through the browser.
• Website hyperlinks will not work.
• You cannot make ink annotations on screen during the presentation.