I am a big fan of quizzes. I love both taking part in them and running them. Many years ago as a teenager I loved a family game of trivial pursuits. Fast forward forty years and I attend a weekly Monday night pub quiz, occasionally hosting it myself. Here at Concept4 we do regular in house company quizzes and usually have a pre-Christmas quiz. Mohsin, Jenna and Andrew are all pretty knowledgeable and definitely our best quizzers. I am aware that many of our school website customers host school charity quiz nights. A quiz can be a fantastic charity event with everyone involved having fun whilst plenty of money is being raised. Given my love of quizzes and our connection with schools I thought it would be a great subject for our latest Concept4 blog. The aim is to share a few tips for the planning phase, dispense ideas to make the night itself super successful and reveal, for those hardy quizzers interested, my version of a fantastic quiz.  

Planning 

There are lots of things to consider in advance of the big night. Depending on the potential size of your quiz will you be using a microphone and PA system? Speaking loudly can work but it can be challenging in a large crowd. Is the quiz aimed at families or adults? Either way don’t make the quiz too hard (something I can be guilty of) and try to include a few easier questions in each round. Think about how much you will charge for each team to enter and how many are allowed in each team? I would suggest a maximum of six. The rules are important. You also need to decide how to deal with the thorny subject of mobile phones and then stick to it. Having a structure for the different rounds and a good general timing plan is also very important. Getting sponsorship in advance for each round of questions is one great way to raise additional funds.  A quiz is best when it strikes the right balance in terms of timing, boring when done too slow, even more frustrating when rushed. Plan to have someone there on the night monitoring this to keep you on track. When your structure and plans are confirmed focus can then turn to promoting your event to ensure a good turnout.  

On The Night 

Hopefully the majority of issues have been considered in advance. The quiz is ready and everyone is clear how the evening will progress. This can be re-iterated early on to avoid any disruption. I have a few thoughts and tips for on the night itself to help things run smoothly. Try to avoid any confusion or over complication with the scoring. For example every answer should be worth just one point and don’t be tempted into doing things like team joker rounds for double points. Do have plenty of breaks between rounds and maximise the opportunity to raise extra funds at this point, perhaps selling food or raffle tickets. When it comes to going through the answers I am a fan of opposing teams marking each other’s papers. Importantly though, when the marking is complete, let each team have their own papers back to check the marking and allow some time for queries. People are naturally competitive so it is worth a bit more time to avoid controversy. Later on, be ready with a workable tiebreaker. I like estimating something with a big range that ensures a clear cut winner. For example what is the current population of Brazil? 

The Perfect Quiz? 

My idea of the perfect quiz, if that exists, is a collection of the best stuff from some of the previous quizzes I have hosted. I am sure this is very subjective and in reality, this format for my great quiz could be unpopular with some participants. We all have different knowledge specialisms. That caveat aside, I have put together a very solid quiz that is all ready for you to deliver. It contains five rounds, featuring eight questions in each, plus a separate photos sheet to work through over the course of the night. The potential winning quiz team is likely to be, not only knowledgeable, but also to have a good mix of age profiles within it. It is a quiz for the young and old alike. It could be used for a school charity quiz night, your local pub quiz or simply for a fun, different night in with family and friends. Either way I will happily forward on what you need, hopefully for a great night. Email me at [email protected]. I will keep it fairly exclusive, sharing it with a limited number of requests.  

FYI Brazil has a current population of 212 million people. If you are organising a quiz anytime soon good luck with your event.