How to Show Google Slides, PowerPoint and Dashboards on a TV

The fastest way to get useful content on a screen is to use something you have already made: a slide deck or a dashboard. This guide covers the dependable ways to do it and the problems you are likely to meet.

Google Slides

Google Slides is well suited to signage because a deck can play and loop by itself from a link.

Publish the deck

1. Open the deck and choose File → Share → Publish to web.
2. Choose how long each slide shows.
3. Tick the options to start the slideshow when the player loads and to restart after the last slide.
4. Publish and copy the link.

That link opens a full-screen, auto-advancing, looping presentation. Anyone with the link can see it, so do not publish anything confidential.

Put it on the screen

Add the published link to your signage software as a web item. In onday, that is Media → Add web content. Place it in a playlist and schedule it.

The useful part is what happens next: when someone edits the deck, the screen shows the new version after its next reload. Colleagues who never log in to the signage dashboard can keep a screen current by editing slides.

Tips

• Set the slide size to 16:9. For a portrait screen, use a custom size of 1080 × 1920 pixels.
• Use large type and one idea per slide.
• Avoid embedded video in the deck. Upload videos to your signage software and play them as separate items.

PowerPoint

There are three ways to show PowerPoint, and they suit different needs.

Export the slides as images. In PowerPoint choose File → Export and save as PNG or JPG. Upload the images and put them in a playlist. This is the most reliable method and works on every device. You lose animations.

Export as video. File → Export → Create a Video keeps animations and timings. Upload the MP4.

Use a web link. A deck stored in OneDrive or SharePoint can be shared or embedded with a link, which you add as a web item. This updates when the deck changes, but it depends on your organisation's sharing settings.

For most people, exporting images is the right answer.

Live dashboards

Sales figures, support queues and production numbers are among the most valuable things to put on an office screen. They are also the fiddliest, for two reasons: logins and embedding rules.

The login problem

A screen cannot type a password or approve a sign-in prompt. A dashboard that needs you to log in will show a login page on the TV.

Solutions, in order of preference:

1. Use the tool's public or TV link. Many dashboard tools offer a share link, a "publish to web" option or a TV mode that needs no login. Use it if the data may be shown openly in your office.
2. Use a link with an access token if the tool provides one for display purposes.
3. Export a scheduled image or report and show that, if live data is not essential.

Think about what the screen reveals. A dashboard visible to visitors in reception is public.

The embedding problem

Some sites refuse to be shown inside another page. They send a setting that blocks embedding, and the result is a blank or error screen.

onday handles this with snapshot mode. The page is opened on onday's server, captured as an image, and the image is refreshed automatically. The screen shows a current picture of the page. It is not interactive, which for a wall display does not matter.

Snapshot mode is also how web pages appear on Apple TV, which has no web browser component.

Making dashboards readable

• Build a version for the wall. A dashboard designed for a laptop is too dense for a TV across the room.
• Show four to six numbers, large.
• Use a dark theme in dim rooms.
• Label everything. A number without a title means nothing to a passer-by.

Mixing slides, dashboards and everything else

The point of signage software over a browser tab is the mix and the timing. A typical office playlist might be:

1. Company announcements (Google Slides) for 60 seconds
2. Sales dashboard for 30 seconds
3. A welcome image for today's visitor for 15 seconds
4. Support dashboard for 30 seconds

Add a schedule and the stand-up metrics show in the morning while the screen goes dark in the evening.

Why not leave a browser open on the TV?

You can, and many offices do. The weaknesses show up over time: the browser shows an update prompt, the session expires, the computer restarts and nobody notices for a week. Signage software pairs the screen once, reports whether it is online, and brings the content back after a restart.

Which device to use

Web content is the most demanding kind of signage content.

For heavy dashboards, a mini-PC is the strongest choice.

Try it

Create a free onday account, publish a Google Slides deck and add its link as a web item. It takes about five minutes to see your own slides looping on a TV. Read more about onday for offices.