Looking for some great ideas for trivia night picture rounds? You've come to the right place. We've been hosting and creating trivia for a LONG time and have seen what works and what doesn't.
We include a professionally designed picture round and handouts with each trivia night package.
Here are some recent ones that we include with our packages:
Some people have been using FaceTime, Facebook Live and Zoom to stay in touch with co-workers, friends and relatives during this time. One thing that appears to be trending is trivia...Click Here For More
Each Quiz Night Kit includes:
Feud Time is different from a normal trivia night...anyone can play! Instead of "fact-based" questions and answers, we surveyed the nation with a series of questions. Teams compete by trying to guess the top answers!
It truly evens out the playing field, and anyone can win...so whether you have a team of 2 or 6, prepare to have a fun and exciting time!
We have MANY more available. Click here for details.
Welcome to the Quizrunners How to Host a Trivia Night Blog Series. This part of the series discusses a range of issues with respect to hosting, with a special emphasis on what traits to look for in a good trivia night host.
If you’re reading this, then you are either running trivia nights already, or you are about to embark on the journey. If you haven’t already chosen a host for your event, or are thinking of making a switch, then you are probably asking yourself these questions:
There are other questions you should consider as well such as:
We’ll touch on all these issues in this blog, but before deciding on a host, you should try attending some trivia events in your area, to get a feel for what it takes to be a good host. The most obvious sign that a host is doing a good job is if the crowd is having a good time. Good times equal beverage and food consumption which equals more money in your pocket. Plus, it keeps them coming back for more, which translates to a steady source of revenue.
Okay, enough about that, let’s get down to brass tacks. The first area we’ll explore is – what traits to look for in a good host?
We took the liberty of compiling a list of 16 traits that we believe are important in a good host. When making your decision, ask yourself this:
Is your host…
If your host has a few or more of these traits, then you are on the right track. If your host has an abundance of these characteristics, then you are definitely on the right track. If they have none of those traits, move on and don’t look back. As the old saying goes, “It hurts to let go, but sometimes it hurts more to hold on”.
When looking for a host, you may not have to look any further than your own backyard. Ask around, see if there are any employees, such as a bartender, hostess or server who might be interested in hosting trivia nights. Maybe you have a charming and witty waiter who loves attention, or a hostess with a keen interest in trivia and entertaining the masses. Or, you may even have a family member who fits the bill nicely, like your wise-cracking Uncle Larry. Ask around and find out who’s interested, and present the idea as a challenge. You may even want to give it a try yourself. You never know, maybe you’re the next Alex Trabek! If you can’t find a host in your own backyard, and your Uncle Larry is an unreliable recluse, don’t worry, there are other ways to find a host.
Hiring Through Ads, Social Media and Websites
There are a lot of people out there who want to host trivia nights; you just need to find them. No problem. In this modern age it is easy to get the word out with a few simple clicks of a button. You should consider using Craigslist or other similar online classified ad platforms. You may want to also utilize Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see if there are any takers in the social media arena. If you have a web site, post the add there. If you are old school, and still fighting the technological wave, feel free to use the classified ads in your local newspaper, or put up some posters in your establishment. Whatever method you use, you’ll be surprised at the positive response you get and the number of people who will show an interest.
Once You’ve Hired the Host
Once you think you’ve found a good person for the job, and you’ve negotiated the compensation (discussed later), you should let your new quizmaster present the quiz to you to see how they do. During the practice run, have your host use the same methods and devices that he/she will be using on the night of the quiz. For example, if you plan on using a PA system, then have your host do the practice run using the PA system. If the quiz is being presented in PowerPoint, use that format as well. Once your host has presented the quiz to you, ask yourself the following:
Try to clear up any potential issues before the quiz, and be sure to voice any concerns you may have to your host.
How Much Should I Pay my Host?
We get asked this question a lot. It varies, but in general, the pubs who subscribe to our weekly trivia quizzes pay their hosts in the area of $50, and sometimes they’ll kick in a free meal. You could pay less to an inexperienced host, and possibly more to a popular, experienced host. It’ll be worth paying extra money if your host is able to keep your bar filled with beer drinking, wing eating trivia players week after week. If you’re unsure what to pay, ask the host what she/he would like to be paid. You’ll be surprised at the modest response you get. A lot of people truly like to host trivia nights, and the money and free meal is just an added bonus.
Well, we hope these tidbits of information help you in your search for a kick-ass trivia night host. If you are ever in need of any other trivia night help, we have your back. Simply visit quizrunners.com - the ultimate trivia night hub.
Remember that line from the film Field of Dreams, where Kevin Costner is told, “If you build it, they will come”? Well, that iconic phrase applies to trivia nights as well - if you have trivia nights, they (paying customers) will come. The only caveat is those potential customers need to know about your trivia nights, and that is where this blog, and the tips within, will come in handy.
Trivia events have become extremely popular in recent years, and as a result, many bar owners are getting on board the trivia train. The reason is simple – it’s a way to draw customers to your establishment on what are normally slow nights such as Sunday to Thursday. Many bar and pub owners are finding that their trivia nights are becoming their most popular nights of the week, and thus, their biggest money-makers.
I was talking to a bar owner in Michigan recently who uses Quizrunners, and she mentioned she has her trivia nights at her location on Tuesdays. She said that Tuesday night is now her busiest night of the week, and in fact, she has had to re-arrange her bar to accommodate the influx of new customers. She is also considering hosting a second trivia night every week. Many of our customers are telling us the same thing and our quizzes, in many cases, are being presented to standing room only bars. This translates to extra revenue for bar owners which is always a great thing. The question is, how do you get there? The answer: Promotion and advertising.
When it comes to running a great trivia event, having a good promotion and advertising campaign is one of the keys to success. So, if you are about to host your very first trivia night or if you’re already running quiz nights and have some empty seats, you should focus some of your energy on getting the word out about your event. This blog post will take you through some of the steps you will need to take your trivia nights to the next level.
Social media is all the rage nowadays. Almost everyone from all walks of life, age ranges, and interests uses social media to access and share information. Trivia night information is no different as it provides an avenue for you to get all your information out there to all your potential participants. If you haven’t already embraced this relatively new phenomenon, then it’s time to get on board. The following are some relatively easy, and cost effective, ways to get the word out about your event.
Facebook - Assuming you have a Facebook business page, you should advertise there regularly. If you don’t already have one, it’s easy to set one up and get started. Whether you have 20 followers or 20,000, spend time consistently getting the trivia night information out there. If you have a video clip or pictures of your last trivia night, share them several times per week. You can even post some sample trivia questions to get people thinking that maybe they’d like to attend.
You can also run targeted Facebook advertising to people who are local to your establishment. This is a great way to also build up your facebook page wtih thousands of relevant "likes".
Twitter - If you have a Twitter account, you should adopt a similar approach and get your information out there, as frequently as possible. Tweeting sample trivia questions is a good approach to engaging customers, or potential customers.
A sample of a tweet might be “Trivia night at the Tree Trunk, Tuesdays at 7:00 pm. Be there or be square!” You can also add information about a food or drink special such as, “Trivia night on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm, Wings are half price!” You may consider putting your tweet in the form of a trivia question such as “What local bar has the best trivia night in town? Answer: The Tree Trunk – Tuesdays at 7:00 pm.” You can also engage the customers by asking actual trivia questions from last week’s quiz such as “Which cast member of the show Friends had Kojac actor Telly Savalas for a Godfather? Answer: Jennifer Aniston”. Then you can follow with a tweet about the time and location of your next trivia night. There are endless possibilities, and it’s free, so be sure to tweet your way to success!
E-mail list - If your website has an e-mail subscriber database, make sure you e-mail all the information to those customers so that everyone is aware of the trivia nights. Be sure to add all the information about your events such as the dates and times. You may want to consider using a program like Mail Chimp which provides you with information such as how many times your e-mail was opened, and what the response to the e-mail was. This will give you important information so that you can tweak your emails to increase the engagement and interest level of the people on your e-mail list.
Web Site – Assuming you have a website, be sure to add all the trivia information to your website. If you have an events calendar on your site, add the trivia nights to the calendar.
Putting up posters in your bar/pub or even out in the community is a good ole fashioned, and time-tested, way of spreading the word about your event. Design an eye-catching poster with all the information about your trivia event and post it at the trivia location, as well as anywhere else in town where there is high traffic. Quizrunners offers free customized promotional posters with each subscription. Here are some samples of our posters:
Talk about your trivia events as much as possible, and have your staff do the same. If you own a bar and you’ve got a mic on the stage, be sure to spread the word about your trivia nights whenever someone is up there announcing a singer or performance. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to spread news, so be sure to ask your current patrons to tell their friends, family, and co-workers about the event.
What are people reading in your local region? The newspaper? A popular local magazine? Put your trivia night ad in the most popular print and you’ll reach plenty of potential customers.
We live in an incredible age. There is a myriad of methods you can use to promote your event that weren’t even available in years past. The great thing is, most of them are free! If you want to fill up your bar on a Monday or a Wednesday, then why not have trivia nights? If you do decide to go with trivia nights, then you should harness the power of this new age, and thoroughly promote and advertise using the above methods. Once the word gets out, you’ll be amazed at how many people attend, and how much extra revenue you will have as a result. You may soon find that your biggest problem is that there aren’t enough seats. That is a good problem to have, right?
Thank you for reading this blog. As always, we are here for you if you ever need help with your trivia nights. Visit quizrunners.com for more information.
Welcome to part one of the Quizrunners, How to Host a Trivia Night series. This post will be focussing on the structure of your quiz and how to come up with great categories and questions.
Before you get started with creating your quiz, you should ask yourself - what kind of format will my participants enjoy? The Quizrunners format consists of 7 categories of 10 questions per category, plus a final question and a tie breaker question. Included in the 7 categories is a picture round and an audio round. We have been using this method for over 10 years and it’s been a very successful format to date.
However, you may find you want a longer or shorter quiz, depending on what your audience prefers. If you are running your quiz at a bar, you could always ask the prospective participants which format they’d prefer. Once you establish the format of your quiz, you are ready to start coming up with categories and questions.
Choosing categories is easy for some people, and difficult for others. But don’t be too concerned; there is an endless supply of categories out there, just waiting to be tapped. To come up with ideas, take a stroll on the internet, peruse an encyclopedia, look on your bookshelf, leaf through some old textbooks and consult with friends and relatives as to what categories they’d like to see.
If you are running your quiz at a pub, you might want to ask your participants what types of categories they enjoy. One thing to keep in mind is to try to keep the categories balanced so that you don’t have too many that are in the same genre. For example, if you decide on a category such as European rivers, then you may not want to have any other geography categories in your quiz.
Your quiz might contain a mixture of categories such as:
You could also include categories that are unique and interesting such as riddles, anagrams, quotes, fill in the blanks, word games etc. The possibilities are endless!
You should try to include a picture and/or audio round if possible. Participants love those categories and you can use this round in the middle of your quiz in conjunction with a short (15 minute) break.
Some examples of picture rounds are:
...and many more - the possibilities are endless.
Once you choose the category, use your internet connected computer to search for pictures. If you’re using Google, type in what you’re looking for, such as African Mammals, and click the images tab under the search bar. Once you find a picture you want to use, just copy it by right clicking the image, clicking copy image, and then pasting it into Word or PowerPoint by right clicking and selecting the last paste option. Then you can resize the image so they can all fit on one page. Try to maintain the image quality while doing this. Repeat those steps until you have all the pictures for your quiz located on one page.
There is a bit of computer knowledge required to do this effectively. Your picture round handout should look something like the following:
Audio round categories are very popular as well. Some examples of these include:
Again, there are endless possibilities. At Quizrunners, we take 10 short clips and add them to one audio file. We add pauses of a few seconds between each clip which gives the participants some time to think. After all the clips have played once, we then play a continuous stream of the clips which they’ll hear for the second time.
You can either burn the audio files to a CD or add the audio file to a YouTube channel. If you do use a YouTube channel, you just need to click the link to play your file. If using this option, make sure your device is connected to the internet. Creating an audio round is one of the more challenging aspects of creating a quality quiz. There are a variety of audio editing programs on the internet you can choose from. If the audio rounds are proving to be too challenging to put together, don’t worry, your quiz will be just fine without an audio round.
Once you decide on a balanced set of categories, it is time to come up with 10 questions from each category. When preparing your questions, always ensure the answers are accurate. The last thing you want is people telling you the answer is wrong during a quiz. This takes away from the flow of the event, and provides an unwanted distraction. That being said, we strongly recommend checking answers from multiple sources to ensure the accuracy of all questions in the quiz.
There are many online resources you can use when researching questions. However, be careful to avoid sites where you can’t be assured of accuracy. Here’s a list of some helpful online resources you can use for writing and cross-referencing purposes.
When writing your questions, try to keep them well written and entertaining. Don’t be too succinct with your questions, but don’t be too long-winded either.
For example, here is a question that is too short and simple:
Who wrote Roll Over Beethoven?
This is much too short and basic. If you have a lot of questions like this, it makes the quiz quite boring and simplistic.
Here is an example of a question that is too long and complicated:
Which singer, songwriter, musician, and pioneer of rock and roll, who served 4 months in jail in 1979 on tax evasion charges, wrote the songs Maybellene, Nadine and Roll Over Beethoven, and established his own nightclub, Berry’s Club Bandstand, in St. Louis, Missouri?
This question is way too long. By the time the customers hear the end of the question, they can forget the first part and it can cause customers to ask you to repeat the question. This can significantly increase the length of the quiz.
Here is that same question, perfectly written:
Which rock and roll pioneer wrote the 1956 classic, Roll Over Beethoven?
Be creative, add information (but not too much), and try to strike a balance between too short and too long.
Another important thing about writing trivia questions is to ensure there are multiple levels of difficulty in each category. There should be some questions that are easy, some that are medium level and some that are at the expert level of difficulty. Too many easy questions and the customers will get bored. Too many difficult questions and the customers will get frustrated. If you want them to come back for more, you need a perfect balance.
For example, in a science category, an easy question would be:
Which German-born physicist developed the theory of relativity?
The answer, of course, is Albert Einstein, and it’s likely that a large portion of your audience will know that answer. It’s good to have a couple of those in the mix so that even the most novice trivia players can answer some of the questions, and feel like they are contributing.
A medium level question might be:
On the Periodic Table of Elements, what element is represented by the letters “Br”?
Perhaps half your audience will know the answer, which is Bromine. This puts that question at the medium level of difficulty. Medium level questions should form the bulk of the category and you should have between 4 and 6 of them.
An example of a hard question might be:
What did Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discover in 1895?
If less than a quarter of your participants know the answer (x-rays), that question can be classified as a difficult level question. You may want to include two of those questions in each category to challenge the trivia buffs out there.
Over time, you will begin to understand which types of questions are easy, medium and difficult. As you begin to understand this, your quizzes will become more and more balanced and your audience will really benefit from that experience.
We like to have a final question for the night, that will enable teams that are a few points behind the winning team a chance to catch up by gambling a certain number of points on a single question.
We usually ask questions that have multiple answers such as “Who are the 4 presidents on Mount Rushmore?” or “Name 5 Quentin Tarantino films that Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in” or “What are the 4 most populous U.S. states?”. It's important to make it quite difficult so only a few teams will get it right.
The tiebreaker question is only used in the rare event of a tie. It should be a question that no one will know the answer to, such as - “As the crow flies, how many miles is it from Cleveland, Ohio to Paris, France?” or “How many eggs were used to make the world’s largest cupcake"? You get the idea.
Creating a quality quiz that is accurate, entertaining, challenging and complete with an audio and picture round will take at least 8 hours to put together, and may take longer if you’re just starting out. It can be a lot of fun, and very rewarding to create your own quiz from scratch, but as we all know, life can get busy, and time is often in short supply, and spending time on growing your event or business should be more important. If that is the case - don’t worry; we have you covered. You can always purchase a ready-made trivia night package from Quizrunners, which includes everything you’ll need to host a successful quiz night. With Quizrunners, you can always rest assured you are getting the highest quality trivia product…we guarantee it!
We hope you enjoyed this first part of our series on How to Host A Trivia Night. The next post is on how to keep score.
Trivia events have become increasingly popular in recent times. They appeal to people of all ages, ranges of interests and levels of knowledge. Because trivia events are normally played by teams, they encourage social interaction and discussion, while challenging the mind. Best of all, trivia events are a way for you to fill your bar/pub on what would normally be a quiet evening, and have the teams coming back for more!
If you are looking at hosting a trivia night remotely, please check out out latest blog post here "How to Remotely Host a Trivia Night Using ZOOM"
The following article mostly pertains to hosting a trivia night at a pub, or club, but it can also work with hosting quiz remotely with your computer over something like ZOOM, Google Hangouts, or Facebook Live. It's great for hosting remote family or co-workers.
The Quizrunner’s team has been running successful trivia events for over a decade now, and we are pleased to offer our wisdom, insight, and advice so that you can have similar success at your trivia events.
We have tips to make your event successful. You can “do it yourself” either in whole or in part, hire a professional, or use the quizzes available at www.quizrunners.com that we have carefully put together turn-key quizzes with maximum entertainment value in mind.
Whether you use our quizzes or not, we want your trivia event to be a huge success, and this blog post should help you get there.
Let’s get started!
If you have not already done so, you may find it useful to attend a local trivia night as a player: to get ideas, see what you and other players like, and make notes of areas where you might want to do things differently.
At the very least, you will need a room with enough tables and chairs for the expected participants, and a place for the host to read the questions. Try to minimize any distractions (for example from a television playing a sporting event, or from loud music). Teams prefer to sit at tables where their discussions cannot be overheard by competitors, so adequate space should be provided wherever possible. Tables should also be spaced in such a way as to enable people to get through the room safely.
It is a bonus if you have a PA and speaker system you can use so that everyone can hear all the questions. If not, you may consider purchasing one for the occasion or be prepared to speak loudly.
You may also want to provide visual aids, and these can vary from low technology (eg. a flip chart to keep up with scores) to more advanced technology such as the Quizrunners Automated Scoring System, which is available with any quiz purchase.
Having the right technology makes a difference. If you decide to go with a screen it is important that there be at least one television you can use during the trivia event. That way you can display the scores in real time (if using an automated scoring system), and all the participants will always know where they stand. You will also be able to present the quiz on PowerPoint, which many participants enjoy (each Quizrunners quiz is available in PowerPoint). If you are creating the questions yourself, we suggest you use a spreadsheet. If you are using a laptop computer, make sure the television has HDMI inputs you can access. You should also ensure that there is an HDMI cable available that can go from the TV to your laptop, and if one is not available, make sure you have a cable that is long enough.
There are many different ways you can go about promoting your trivia events. You can start by putting up some great posters (Check out the great customized posters we offer which are free with every subscription!). Another way is to use social media to get the word out about your event. Word of mouth also works, so be sure to tell family, friends, and co-workers about the event. You can also use newspapers and classified ads to spread the word.
The most important part of running a quiz is to prepare a series of great categories and questions. Our format includes 7 rounds in total, with a final question, and a tie-breaker question. So, our quiz usually looks something like this:
Choosing categories is easy for some people, and difficult for others. But don’t fret; there is an endless supply of categories out there, just waiting to be tapped. One thing to keep in mind is to try to keep the categories balanced so that you don’t have too many categories that are in the same genre. For example, if you decide on a category such as European rivers, then you may not want to have any other geography categories in that quiz. One quiz may contain categories such as movies (famous movie quotes perhaps), literature (19th century authors), history (WWII), geography (mountain ranges), sports (NFL legends), and politics (Vice Presidential running mates) etc. You could also include categories that are unique and interesting such as riddles, anagrams, quotes, fill in the blanks, periodic table word games etc.
You should also try to include a picture and/or audio round if possible. Participants tend to love these categories. Some examples of picture rounds are celebrity mug shots, cartoon dogs, childhood pictures of celebrities, city skylines etc. There are endless possibilities. Just cut and paste the pictures into a word document or PowerPoint and resize them so they can all fit on one page. Audio round categories are very popular as well. Some examples of these are 2017 hit songs, sports broadcasters, movie lines, sitcom theme songs etc. Again, there are endless possibilities. We usually take 10 short clips and add them to one audio file. We play a clip, pause it, then play it again. Then we play all the clips at once and the participants submit their answers. You can either burn the audio files onto a CD or add the audio file to a YouTube channel. If you do use a YouTube channel, you just need to click the link to play your file (make sure your device is connected to the internet if using this option).
Once you choose all of your categories, it is time to come up with 10 questions in each category. When preparing your questions, always ensure the answers are accurate. We recommend checking answers from multiple sources to ensure accuracy. Try to keep your questions well written and entertaining. Also, try to have questions that have multiple levels of difficulty in each category. So, there should be some questions that are easy, some that are medium level and some that are at the expert level of difficulty.
It can be fun creating your own questions, but also time consuming. Be prepared to spend at least 8 hours preparing your quiz, if done correctly. Another option would be to purchase a set of questions from a site that provides the questions and answers already prepared.
You should come up with a good final question. We usually ask questions that have multiple answers such as “Who are the 4 presidents on Mount Rushmore?” or “Name 5 Quentin Tarantino films that Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in” or “What are the 4 most populous states?” Participants should get a chance to look at the category and decide how many of their points they wish to wager (We usually allow up to a 20-point wager).
The tie breaker question is only used in the rare event of a tie. It should be a question that no one will know the answer to such as “As the crow flies, how many miles is it from Cleveland, Ohio to Paris, France?” or “how many eggs were used to make the world’s largest cupcake"? You get the idea.
If you are using a picture round format, then you should print out all the picture sheets so that each team will have one. It is always a good idea to print extras. You should prepare some answer sheets with each of the categories included.
So, you’ve prepared your categories and questions, printed out all of your handouts and promoted your event. Don’t be surprised if you get more people attending than you thought!
Connect your laptop/PC/device to the TV where you will be running the quiz. Although this piece is optional and some people run their trivia nights without any video or TV screen, we’ve found that having the quiz on PowerPoint is a great way for everyone to see the questions as you read them. Plus, as you update the scores, all the teams will know where they stand as the quiz progresses.
Depending on how your TV is set up and the capabilities of your PC/Laptop, you will probably need an HDMI cable that will connect your laptop to your TV. This is easily done with the HDMI cables shown below.
Once everyone is seated, and about 5 minutes before the quiz starts, it is a good time to hand out any answer sheets you have. As you are handing out the sheets to each team, you can ask them to start thinking about a team name. As you are handing them out, also let them know to put away their phones.
Display all the categories, or let everyone know what the categories will be. We usually run our trivia nights with one double point category. Once everyone has their answer sheets, you can ask each team what their team name is, and what category their double points round will be. Fill this information in on the automated scoring system if you have one.
Now is a good opportunity to review the rules with the group. Some rules we use are:
Maximum 6 people per team.
No outside help of any kind! Cell, text, Internet etc. I would especially appreciate that once everyone sees the categories, no Googling anything to do with the quiz, even on the break!
Although we appreciate spirited debate, our decision is final.
The game is composed of seven rounds of ten questions each. At the end of each round, you'll pass your answers to another table to mark.
There is a “Double score round”. Before the quiz begins, each team decides which category they will receive double points in. Categories are on the answer sheet.
At the end of the 7 rounds, there will be a “Final Trivia Round” where you can bet up to 20 points on a question...the category will be provided prior to wagering.
In the event of a tie, the tied teams shall be asked a tiebreaker question. The team with the correct (or closest to correct) answer will win the game. In the unlikely event that more than one team puts down the same winning answer, the round will go to the team that hands in their winning answer first to the quizmaster.
Although there are many different ways you can run the quiz, this is how we have been doing it for years, and you can follow it exactly, or pick and choose the pieces that will work with your venue.
After everyone is ready, start with category 1, question 1 (Usually General Knowledge). Read the question aloud twice, and then give the teams some time to figure out the answer. Also, display the question on the screen with your PowerPoint. You can usually tell when the teams are done by the increased chatter. Quiet chatter usually means they are discussing the question, and when things start to get louder, it usually means they are ready for the next question. Allow 1-2 minutes for each question but 1 minute is often more than enough time.
After each round (10 questions), each team will exchange answer sheets with another team, then you will read the answers aloud and display them on the screen if using PowerPoint.
Each question is worth 2 points (This gives you some leverage to allow partial points) so each round is worth a total of 20 points.
After marking is complete, the teams switch answer sheets back and each team reads their point totals for the round out loud (one-by-one).
You then enter those scores into the automated scoring system if you have one or add them up on a sheet and let everyone know the scores.
If you have a picture round included with your quiz, then the picture round handouts can be distributed at this time. We usually schedule a break for 15 minutes during this round. When it’s time for the picture round, pass out the picture round sheet to each table and let them know that there will be a 15-minute break and you will be going through the answers after the break is complete. You should also display the pictures on the big screen if you are using PowerPoint.
Once all 7 rounds are complete, there will be a final question.
At this point, you reveal the category of the final question. Each team then wagers up to 20 points on whether they think they can get the question correct or not. Give the teams 3-4 minutes to figure out how many points they want to wager. If the team answers the question correctly, they receive that many points. If they answer incorrectly, they are DEDUCTED that many points
Once all the wagering is complete, you ask the final question, and let the teams know that when they write the answers down, they need to bring the answer sheets up to you for final marking. At this point you would also disconnect the laptop from the TV, or at least hide the score sheet from the patrons.
Normally, this would be the end of the night, but in rare cases, there is a tie. In this case, you then go to the tie-breaker.
Only those 2 teams participate in the tie breaker. You then ask the tie-breaking question, give the teams 60 seconds to write the answer on a piece of paper and bring the answer up to you. The team with an answer closest to the actual answer is then declared the winner. Hand out the prizes if you have them.
Thank everyone for coming out and see them next week!
Q. When and how would you award partial points for an answer?
A. We generally recommend giving two points for a complete answer. You may have a two-part question such as “who won the best actor academy award in 2016 and for what film?” in which case you could give one point for each part of the answer. Another example is in a “name that year” category, where you may decide to give two full points for the exact year, and one point for being one year out.
Q. How can a trivia event be used as a fundraiser?
A. The logistics of raising funds can be challenging, but a well-organized quiz will bring people together to have fun and support a good cause. In order to raise money, you can charge a small entrance fee, sell food and refreshments, or do both. You could also sell raffle tickets and souvenir-type products which also help promote your charity (tee shirts, calendars, mugs...). You can offer incentives and prizes, which local businesses are often pleased to donate. Be sure to give credit to everyone who donates or helps out in any way.
Q. How can I promote my trivia events?
A. There are many different ways you can go about promoting your trivia events. You can start by putting up some great posters (customized posters with the location and times are available for free with every Quizrunners subscription!). Another way is to use social media to get the word out about your event. Word of mouth also works, so be sure to tell family, friends and co-workers about the event. You can also use newspapers and classified ads to spread the word.
Q. What kind of prizes could I offer the winners?
A. Many bars and pubs are happy to offer food and drink vouchers as prizes if you ask them. You can also offer gift cards, cash, bottles of fine wine, charity donations, concert tickets and whatever else you can dream up!
Q. Typically, how long does it take to run a trivia night?
A. Be prepared for the trivia event to run for at least 2 hours. If you don’t have that much time, you can always condense the event by eliminating a category.
Q. How Can I Make Trivia Night into a Weekly League Event?
A. Once you have hosted some successful quizzes, your participants may be looking for more frequent trivia challenges, and you should consider holding the events on a weekly basis, with or without starting a league. We offer a very popular weekly subscription service which is available at www.quizrunners.com/subscribe if you think you might be interested in such a service.
If you decide to go ahead with a weekly quiz, here are a few suggestions:
You can “do it yourself” either in whole or in part, hire a professional, or use the quizzes available at www.quizrunners.com that we have carefully put together turn-key quizzes with maximum entertainment value in mind.
If you've hosted some trivia nights and you and your participants enjoyed the experience, you may want to consider turning trivia nights into a weekly league. This is a great idea and has worked well for many establishments. People like to know that they have something to do - an event - each week. Your participants have a good time, and you make some extra money in the process. Here are some things to consider when organizing a weekly event:
Advertise. Start by creating a nice poster to advertise the event. Let people know that you’re starting a trivia night league that meets every week. Don’t forget to share it on social media, giving all the details. Consider advertising in your local newspaper as well.
Choose one evening a week. If you’re having the trivia nights in a pub or bar, try to pick what would normally be a slow day for the bar such as a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. If you’re not sure what evening to have the weekly event, ask your participants what day they'd prefer and put it to a vote.
Consider a small entrance fee. It’s not out of the question to charge a small entrance fee for teams. You don’t have to charge this fee, but most teams are willing to put out a few dollars to be included in the league. This will provide you with a steady revenue stream throughout the season, and will give you extra money for prizes and trophies.
Choose themes. You may want to choose themes for certain weeks to liven things up. For example, advertise that next week’s trivia night theme is 70’s night and invite the attendees to get their 70’s groove on. Play 70’s music and have fun with the theme. There are hundreds of themes to choose from!
Don’t forget about logistics. Rules are important, so don’t skimp on them. Come up with the rules for league night ahead of time and make them clear to everyone. For example, cell phones should be off. Figure out how many points will be awarded per question, how many people can be on one team, and what the prizes are for the winners.
Offer prizes and incentives. Prizes ought to be awarded to the highest scoring team or player. They don’t have to be extravagant. You can offer free drinks, food, gift certificates, and plenty of other cool things as prizes. Novelty prizes like bar glasses, t-shirts, and gift baskets make great prizes as well. One of the more coveted prizes in a league is the trophy. Have a great trophy made at the beginning of the season, and the team that wins that season gets their name etched in it to reflect their greatness. Over the years, the names on the trophy will grow, and so will the other teams desires to have their names also etched in it.
Have excellent trivia questions. One of the most important aspects of having a successful trivia night is having great trivia questions. The questions need to be easy enough that some in the crowd will know the answer, yet tough enough so that not everyone will know the answer.
Starting a trivia night league will take some time and effort, but it’s worth the time invested. Remember, advertising is what will bring in the crowds, so post your trivia night information on social media, hand out fliers, put up posters in your establishment and around town, and be sure everyone you know is getting the word out.
By the way, If you find you are spending too much of your valuable time coming up with unique categories and questions week after week, don't worry, Quizrunners has you covered. You can purchase individual quizzes, or sign up for the weekly subscription service which will give you a brand new, all original quiz each and every week.
Now, go ahead and start planning your trivia league!
When it comes to running any event successfully, advertising is going to either make or break you. Yes, promoting your event is the ticket that gets people in the door and quiz night is no exception. So, if you’re interested in hosting your first trivia night or if you’re already having quiz nights without a big showing of people, perhaps it’s time to invest some time into learning just how you can effectively promote your event.
As with any marketing campaign, it is essential that you know your target market. Who are you trying to reach? What is your age range? Are you going for the soccer moms or the young adults who like to come out to the pub and drink? You may have several audiences. It’s not like promoting a heavy metal band that will only appeal to a certain niche. Figure out your target market before you make any plans for promotion.
There may be plenty of people who have no idea they would even enjoy a quiz night. You need to get their attention, make them aware of the event, and let them know why they should attend. The things to point out are: It's fun, entertaining, challenging, it promotes team building, it's competitive and it's a great chance to socialize with like minded people. It's worth spending some money on an ad campaign that draw people to the event. Once they attend and have a great time, they will be wanting to come back for more.
Assuming you have a Facebook business page (and if you don’t, create one), you should advertise there regularly. Whether you have 5 followers or 2,000, spend time consistently getting the trivia night information out there. If you have pictures or a video clip of your last trivia night, share it several times per week on social media. You can even post some trivia questions to get people thinking that maybe they would enjoy themselves at the event.
Have an awesome poster made about your trivia night. You’ll need a poster that gets people's attention, and gives them all the information they'll need.
5. Talk it Up
Advertising takes words and oftentimes a lot of words. Be sure that you talk your trivia night up often and have your patrons do the same. If you own a bar and you’ve got a mic on the stage, be sure to spread the word about your trivia night every time someone is up there announcing a singer or performance. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to spread news, so be sure to tell your friends, family, and co-workers about the event.
6. Advertise in the Local Newspaper or Magazine
What are people reading in your local region? The newspaper? A popular local magazine? Put your trivia night ad in the most popular print and you’ll reach plenty of readers.
Running a great quiz night takes some time and energy, but it’s worth it in the long run. You get to host a pretty awesome night for folks and make some extra money too. Have fun with your quiz night adventure and keep these tips in mind to run a great quiz night. For more information on how to run a quiz night, or if you are ever in need of any trivia night packages, visit www.quizrunners.com
Being prepared for the event is a must for any organized activity, and hosting a trivia night is no different...it's not as simple as showing up and asking a bunch of questions.
Show up at least 1 hour before your event, so you have time in case something goes wrong. Some things to consider when preparing for your trivia night.
Keeping score when you are hosting a trivia night or pub quiz can be challenging, especially if there are 10 teams or more! If you score manually after each round, it may take 10-15 minutes for the players to hand in their score-sheets, and for you to mark each team's answers.
The players will get bored and not want to play again.
If you wait until the end of the quiz, then mark it all at once, it may take 30 minutes to mark, and the teams will not know where they stand in the overall competition. Players get bored easily and want to know where they are in relation to the rest of the teams so here is an effective way to remove the boredom, and have the teams know where they stand.
Our custom scoring sheet automatically totals up the scores, providing a clear picture for each team, and automatically highlights the top 3 teams. This way of scoring is very effective, and keeps the players satisfied throughout the game...
Please look out for part 4 in our "How to host a successful Trivia Night or Pub Quiz" newsletter series with "Be Prepared!"
As much fun and entertainment a trivia night or pub quiz can be, sometimes it can be controversial.
Here are some examples:
It's important at the beginning of the event to establish a set of rules for the event so that there is no "grey-area". Here are a few of the rules we recommend you establish.
The more information you provide in the beginning, the more professional it will look and it will actually make your job a LOT easier! Overall, establishing rules at the beginning of the quiz is key to a well-run, successful and fun event.
Please look out for part 3 in our "How to host a Quiz Night" blog post with "Efficient ways to score each round"
10. Have questions of varying difficulty. The best rule of thumb is for every 10 questions, have 3 easy, 3 difficult and 4 somewhere in between. Too many difficult or too many easy questions will result in the players getting bored, or discouraged. Check out this blog post for more details on creating great questions
9. Have clear and concise rules! Make sure all players know all the rules before the quiz starts. Clear rules will lead to a smooth quiz.
8. Take a short break halfway through the event. Your players will thank you for it.
7. Be entertaining! Try to throw in a joke or 2 throughout the event, or have fun with some of the questions.
6. Instead of marking the scores each round (This takes time!) have the teams do their own marking by passing the answer sheets around each round. It will save a LOT of time and it’s much less frustrating for the players.
5. Update the scoring each round. Use either a paper score sheet, or even better, something that can go up on the big screen (included in our packages). Learn about more great tips for scoring in this blog post
4. We all make mistakes. If you realize one of your answers is incorrect, admit to it and give all teams full points for that answer. Have google on standby to check while you are between questions if you have any doubt…
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare! It takes practice to make things run perfectly, but the more you are prepared, the better the experience will be for everyone.
2. When handing out answer sheets at the beginning of the quiz, be sure to provide extra scrap paper for the teams, along with a pen or pencil.
1. HAVE FUN! If you have fun, the players will have fun too and they will be more likely to come back for more!
