Things you need to know about running a successful pub quiz
Here’s a check list of things to remember before you actually start the pub quiz night.
1. Have you printed enough handout sheets? It’s impossible to say how many teams you will get at first but after a few weeks you will start to have a good idea. If you have 15 tables in the room then print 15 hand out sheets, I call them quiz sheets, they’re the ones that the teams write their names on and write their answers on.
2. Quiz picture round handout sheets. If you’ve got 15 teams then print 22 quiz picture rounds. If you have a quiz team of 4-6 players then they should be given 2 quiz picture rounds. It’s not nice for half the team to be looking at a quiz picture round upside down. You will also get quiz teams of 2 which means you don’t need to print double the amount of quiz picture rounds as there are quiz teams.
3. Do you have enough pens and do they all work? Might seem petty but the little things are important, I check my pens before I leave home, it only takes a minute. Attention to detail makes for a smooth professional pub quiz night.
4. Is the pub quiz night well advertised? It should be advertised outside on a chalk board at least a week before the quiz night and there should be well placed A4 posters inside too. A very good place to put the posters are in the toilets, probably the best place of all. Make sure you have the prizes on the posters too.
5. You need to lay down the rules very clearly at the start of the pub quiz.
Here is what I always say:
“Please do not shout the answers out” Also be aware that people may arrive after you have started the pub quiz and they won’t have heard the rules. It is vital that you tell all late arrivals that they must not shout the answers out. And I mean ALL people that arrive late even if it means you have to say it 10 times, trust me, it is worth the effort. People constantly shouting out the answers will destroy your pub quiz.
“Spelling doesn’t matter unless it’s a spelling question” This is supposed to be a fun quiz night and who cares if people can’t spell. As long as the answer looks right they get the point as far as I’m concerned.
“Only write down one answer to each quiz question, unless I ask for more. If you write down more than one answer then we will not know how to mark it and you will get no points.” People try to cheat this way, or they didn’t listen to you so they don’t deserve to win anyway, which they probably won’t.
“NO using your mobile phones to Google or Wiki the answers, anyway it would probably cost you more to do this than the prize is worth, also if anyone catches you cheating you lose 10 points.” Do look out for people cheating with their mobiles, I’ve seen it a lot lately, mainly by the teenagers.
“You can use the back of your quiz sheet all you want. To make notes of questions you may be stuck on or for any working out.” Sometimes I actually recommend they turn their quiz sheet over and write down part of a question I’m about to read out. For example “which word can go before fall, closet and works to make 3 new words?”
“We will have a short break after each quiz round so you can get a drink at the bar, go to the toilet or go outside for a cigarette, or all 3!” Absolutely vital this one. It’s good for business, after all the pub needs to sell beer and the smokers need to be kept happy too.
I hope you find this information helpful, look out for my next article coming soon.
Bye bye for now
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