First, ensure you have the necessary tools and environments set up. Install Python on your machine, as it will be used to interact with Excel and Kafka. You’ll also need a running instance of Kafka. Download and install Kafka and its dependencies (Zookeeper) if not already done.

Open a terminal or command prompt and install the necessary Python libraries. Use the following commands to install the libraries for handling Excel files and Kafka:
```bash
pip install pandas
pip install openpyxl
pip install kafka-python
```
`pandas` and `openpyxl` are used for reading Excel files, while `kafka-python` is a library to interact with Kafka.

Use Python to read data from your Excel file. Create a script (`read_excel.py`) with the following code to load the Excel data into a DataFrame:
```python
import pandas as pd

# Load the Excel file
df = pd.read_excel('your_excel_file.xlsx', engine='openpyxl')

# Convert DataFrame to a list of dictionaries for easier processing
data = df.to_dict(orient='records')
```

In your script, set up a Kafka producer to send messages. Add the following code to `read_excel.py`:
```python
from kafka import KafkaProducer
import json

# Initialize Kafka producer
producer = KafkaProducer(
bootstrap_servers='localhost:9092',
value_serializer=lambda v: json.dumps(v).encode('utf-8')
)
```

Loop through your data and send each row to a Kafka topic. Modify `read_excel.py` to include:
```python
# Define Kafka topic
topic_name = 'your_topic_name'

# Send each row of data to Kafka
for record in data:
producer.send(topic_name, record)

# Ensure all messages are sent before closing
producer.flush()
```

Execute your script to start sending data from the Excel file to Kafka. Use the following command:
```bash
python read_excel.py
```
Monitor your Kafka topic to ensure messages are being sent correctly. You can use Kafka's command-line tools to consume messages and verify their content.

Add error handling and logging to make your script robust. Update `read_excel.py` with try-except blocks:
```python
import logging

# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

try:
for record in data:
producer.send(topic_name, record)
producer.flush()
logging.info("Data sent successfully to Kafka.")
except Exception as e:
logging.error(f"An error occurred: {e}")
finally:
producer.close()
```
This ensures any issues are logged, and resources are properly released.

By following these steps, you can efficiently move data from an Excel file to Kafka using Python without relying on third-party connectors.