How to run a quiz

Here are just some thoughts about running quizzes, which you may find helpful in thinking about the structure and organisation of an event. My apologies if some of this is painfully obvious, but it is useful to think about styles and organisations.

Organisation

I expect that most quiz events are organised by participants being in teams. I've not done one for individuals and therefore I try, through my organisation to encourage teamwork. Some teams will know each other very well, but some people might be flung together, so it might be good to have a little warm up activity. I generally make up a little picture quiz, that early birds can do whilst waiting for the team to start. This helps to break the ice in a group and gives everyone a chance to contribute in a relaxed setting. I don't count this as a scoring part of a quiz, but it might be useful as a tie-breaker if necessary. With teams answering questions, I always try to include questions that provoke discussion, nostalgic children's TV is a good area to get people talking, topical questions can also do this. My main aim, is always to have a fun and enjoyable time.

Types of Questions

I have found that multiple choice questions are the most successful on the part of the quiz master. There are generally fewer challenges to the answer and they are generally give a more inclusive feel to a quiz. If its an area of knowledge that some people don't have a clue about, at least they have something upon which to base a guess. Another advantage is that marking can be quicker with a single letter to judge correct or not, rather than an answer that might be close. There are disadvantages to this, the first on behalf of the quiz setter is coming up with 3 or 4 plausible and challenging alternatives. I some times take more time thinking about the choices than I do about choosing the question. The trick is to not make it dead obvious (that is like Richard and Judy's phone questions) but to choose alternatives that hopefully will elicit an incorrect answer. For example, a question I've used before is what does DVD stand for? Digital Versatile Disc is the correct answer but possibly having Digital Video Disc as an option might appeal to those you are really guessing, but Deadly Vicious Dog will obviously no be right. Creating the right options can also help to foster a better group dynamic and help people get along and have a good time. There is opportunity in choices to add a little humour to the event. One set of choices that always gets a laugh (although it is generally delayed) for me has been, How is Dopey different to the other six dwarves in the Disney film? No beard, No glasses, No hat, No talent. Not side splittingly funny but a little joke here and there goes down well. The choices of answer might, as well as the question, stir memories and cause conversation. Despite the extra effort this is my favourite style of question.

Open questions, i.e. What is the capital of Australia? are harder to answer, because the answer comes from inside your head. There is less chance that a random guess will be correct. With multiple choice, everyone stands a 25% or so chance of being right, but with no options to choose from this drops. This means that you generally either know something or you don't. It makes for a slightly more challenging quiz but there are a number of disadvantages. First, there is opportunity for imprecise answers and this can cause difficulties. In the first series of The Office by Ricky Gervais, David Brent recounts that during a quiz he went home to get a book to prove that Mr Spock from Star Trek was not a Vulcan, he has half Vulcan, half human. Hopefully, the participants of the quiz might be more generous than that, but unclear answers can cause arguments and weaken the position of the quiz master. Open questions require a strong quiz master to make clear decisions where there is a close answer. There is always, how ever the questions are put, the opportunity for people to dominate the quiz, and I think this if more possible with open questions. Multiple choice, seem to be to be a little democratic, at least everyone can choose an answer, but with nothing to choose, only those who know, or think they know and really contribute. Writing open questions is far quicker and simpler than multiple choice, so if time is an issue in preparation, it is best to use these.

Tie-breakers. It is always useful to have a few tie-breaker questions up your sleeve to choose a winner if the scores at the end are level. Tie-breakers, could be another question and the first to answer, but without a fancy buzzer system, it is hard to tell who got in first, if people answer close together. A better tie-breaker is to ask a question that requires an estimate. E.g What is the capacity of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff? Who ever guesses the closest wins. How this is presented needs a little prior thought to make it completely fair. I could verbally ask Person A, who guesses 40,000. Person B has heard this guess and now only needs to decide if the stadium is bigger or smaller than 40,000. If B thinks it is bigger, he/she can answer 40,001, the advantage is always with the person answering second. A far fairer way is ask the contestants to write it down, so they cannot change on hearing another guess.

More to follow soon.