How to embed Excel into PowerPoint

Written by Alison Boyer | Oct 16, 2023

I am looking for a way to automatically insert metrics, text, and charts from Excel into Powerpoint.

Reporting can get pretty tedious, right? Often I find myself copying charts and metrics into a presentation in order to share them with executives. This is a slow and often error-prone task.

Here's how to link Excel to PowerPoint with Slideform and save a ton of time:

The problem: We track metrics in Excel but present reports in PowerPoint

I have to present a Customer Success report to my Exec board each quarter. We track ARR, MRR, upsells and renewals in Excel and create charts and tables every month. I fill in the ppt with the same basic metrics from Excel each quarter. I need to present this data to the Execs

After a little research, it turns out there are a few different ways to get data from Excel into Powerpoint.

Option 1. Use mail merge with Word as an intermediate step (see Tutorial here)

This option could work, but it looks a bit complicated to set up and I don't know how to use Mail Merge.

Option 2. Learn to program VBA or use Python to create ppt files

Umm, I'm not so sure I'm ready to embark on that path just now.

Option 3. Use a 3rd party solution

There are a variety of extensions for PowerPoint that can pull in data (see PPTools for example). However, I want something that has good customer support and that allows my entire team to collaborate. Besides Excel & PowerPoint, I would like to be able to link other types of data, such as HubSpot and Gainsight to create Google Slides, PDFs, and other types of documents. For that, Slideform is a great all-purpose solution.

Slideform can automate reporting by filling in the KPIs, charts, and metrics in your presentation from almost any data source.

The Solution: Slideform

In Slideform, you link up an Excel file to a PowerPoint template and map each field in the presentation to a specific cell in Excel. Using lookups, you can pull in data for a specific date or client based on the value of another field. You can even pull in images, screenshots, and charts. You can always edit the PowerPoint file afterward to add key takeaways and insights.

Three ingredients for slide automation with Slideform

A presentation template - you need a repeatable presentation with placeholder fields that will be filled in
A data file - you need the charts, images & data to fill in the presentation (from Excel or any other supported data source)
Link the data to the presentation with Slideform

Here's an example of how Slideform links Excel to PowerPoint:

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