Tuesday, October 20, 2009

How to Run a Great Quiz Night

By Mike Tants

What makes a good quiz? Difficult questions? Big prizes? Fierce competition? Loads of beer? Well, if you are planning on running a quiz night you should definitely aim for a few of these!

Setting the Questions

Questions do not need to be really hard in order for them to be good. Quiz participants certainly want to be challenged, and most definitely don't want to hear the same old questions time and again. Therefore a balance of difficulty needs to be met.

When I write a quiz I want about 25% of the questions to be answerable by most participants. I want another 25% to be tough enough that only a few can answer them correctly and the rest I aim for medium difficulty. The reason is because although you want to find a winner, you do not want to depress those who don't play regularly.

Prizes

Generally I find that people don't enter a quiz night to win the prize - they do it to be social, to be challenged and to have fun. They also do it to wrestle with the knowledge of the other participants! However, giving out the prize can be part of some mild entertainment by getting the winning team to bet their claimed prize for something even better!

Ask them to pick their prize from half a dozen envelopes, perhaps play a game of Play Your Cards Right - you're only limited by your imagination!

Quizmaster

The quizmaster needs to be confident speaking to large numbers of people, fair but firm, patient with the quizzers and good humoured. They should never allow themselves to be bullied into giving an extra point for an answer that is almost right. Their decision should always be final.

Do I need a load of beer?

Some alcohol can certainly add to the party atmosphere and relax everyone. Remember, they are here not to sit in an exam but to take part in a fun night out with friends and challenge themselves. The most important feature of the night is FUN FUN FUN!!

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