Embed and Link Objects in Presentations: Best Practices

Inserting Tables into Slides

In the Insert Object dialog box, click the Create From File option and click Browse to locate and choose the document or spreadsheet that contains the table. By default, the presentation software will insert the table. When you click OK, the entire document or spreadsheet is imported to your slide. Double-click the inserted text to remove extra text if the document contains more than the table. If you check the Link checkbox while inserting, after you update the table in the document or spreadsheet, then right click on the imported table in the presentation software, and select the option Update Link, the embedded table gets updated automatically. Drag and drop the table on the slide to position it.

Chart Design Principles

Convey one message per chart. Make the message the heading. Make the chart easy to read. Label the X and Y axis and label the lines, bars, or pie wedges. Make the most important text largest, the most important data lines or sections darkest. Make bars and columns wider than the spaces between them. Be accurate. Always start a numerical axis at zero. Compare only like variables. Eliminate all unnecessary details. Avoid grid lines, data points, boxes, etc. unless they relate to the message. Use a few (maximum four) colors per visual.

Limitations of Embedded Objects

1. The embedded objects cannot be printed.
2. The person opening your document must have the relevant software loaded on their computer to operate the embedded file.
3. If you embed an object, the size of your document increases significantly and this may cause problems in emailing the document as an attachment.

Limitations of Linked Objects

If you link an object, the person opening that document must have a direct connection to the original file location of the object.

Document Templates

Templates or document templates refer to a sample fill-in-the-blank document that can help in saving time. Usually templates are customized documents that may have sample content, themes, etc. For example, if you want to create a resume you can use a resume template and modify only the sections that require changes.

Template Resources

• office.microsoft.com/templates
• www.thepapermillstore.com
• openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/templates/
• www.docstoc.com

Embedding vs. Linking

Embedding an object makes it part of the document while linking an object does not include the object file into the document files. Readers trying to access the linked object must also have direct access to the separate file that forms that object. That may mean they have to have access to your hard drive in order to see the linked object.