There are so many websites out on the internet that report to contain the ultimate pub quiz questions, available either for free or at a price, usually the latter. If you get this planning stage wrong, then the fun factor can very quickly turn into a bore factor.
The Quiz Format One very popular type of trivia quiz is the pub quiz (so-called due to the location of the event, in a bar or public house) - originally a British phenomenon dating back to the late 1980s. Pub quiz events still hold popularity, not only in Britain but around the world, often not even in public houses. In the pub environment, a pub Quizmaster must pay particular care that he or she has the right sort of questions and the right topics covered - failure to do so could result in the alienation of one or more of the quiz team members. So make sure that all topics of interest are covered. Decide how many questions will be asked and then plan the topics to be covered.
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Many Quizmasters present their quizzes in batches of ten questions, known as rounds. A good duration for a pub quiz would be four rounds of ten questions, presented over a duration of two hours; that's one round per half an hour. Obviously it takes a lot less time to present the questions but giving your quiz teams enough time to think about the answers is imperative.
Cover topics from history to geography, music to arts, sport to religion and you won't go far wrong. Try to add a few brain-scratchers in there, along with at least one question where no member of any team could possibly know the answer, such that an element of educated guesswork is required.
So in detail, the ideal pub quiz would run like this:
Hand each team a pen/pencil and an answer sheet - the sheet contains a space for a team name and ten numbered boxes for the teams to enter their answers. Also allow a space at the bottom of the sheet for scoring each round.
Spend five minutes presenting ten questions. Read the questions slowly and read them twice. Allow 30 seconds of each question, or longer if spelling is required.
Allow twenty minutes for the teams to answer their questions as well as a chance for them to contact the quizmaster if a question was not written down in time, or if spelling clarification is required.
Score each of the team's answer sheets and announce the answers to each question. If you wish you can also update the teams as to what they scored and in which position they rank overall.
Do your research There is nothing more embarrasing than announcing an answer that one or more team members know is wrong. Make sure that the teams understand that the Quizmaster's decision is final, should a dispute come about, but make sure that your answers are concrete solid, allow no scope for alternative answers to be given and equally correct. Wikipedia is a great source for trivia. Use the resource wisely and only use facts if they are backed-up with references proving the validity of the data. Pick a topic out of the air, go to the related Wikipedia.org page for that topic and read the article. Word your question in a way that makes the goal of the question understandable and entertaining. A great question that popped-up a few years back was: "Since June 1986, what has rotated in a clockwise direction at around 12 meters per second?" No quiz team member would know the answer to that question straight away but careful thinking and analysis would get a good thinker wondering what happened in June 1986. Of course, the football world cup in Mexico took place in June 1986 - known as the birthplace of the so-called "Mexican wave" - Laola. And there is your answer, the Mexican wave travels around football stadiums in a clockwise direction at a speed of around 12 meters per second.
Another tip is to search for online almanacs which list off facts and figures. For example, the CIA factbook is incredibly useful when writing geography questions as it lists many factors about every country in the world.
The Quiz Format One very popular type of trivia quiz is the pub quiz (so-called due to the location of the event, in a bar or public house) - originally a British phenomenon dating back to the late 1980s. Pub quiz events still hold popularity, not only in Britain but around the world, often not even in public houses. In the pub environment, a pub Quizmaster must pay particular care that he or she has the right sort of questions and the right topics covered - failure to do so could result in the alienation of one or more of the quiz team members. So make sure that all topics of interest are covered. Decide how many questions will be asked and then plan the topics to be covered.
Download Question of Geography UN Exam 2010
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Many Quizmasters present their quizzes in batches of ten questions, known as rounds. A good duration for a pub quiz would be four rounds of ten questions, presented over a duration of two hours; that's one round per half an hour. Obviously it takes a lot less time to present the questions but giving your quiz teams enough time to think about the answers is imperative.
Cover topics from history to geography, music to arts, sport to religion and you won't go far wrong. Try to add a few brain-scratchers in there, along with at least one question where no member of any team could possibly know the answer, such that an element of educated guesswork is required.
So in detail, the ideal pub quiz would run like this:
Hand each team a pen/pencil and an answer sheet - the sheet contains a space for a team name and ten numbered boxes for the teams to enter their answers. Also allow a space at the bottom of the sheet for scoring each round.
Spend five minutes presenting ten questions. Read the questions slowly and read them twice. Allow 30 seconds of each question, or longer if spelling is required.
Allow twenty minutes for the teams to answer their questions as well as a chance for them to contact the quizmaster if a question was not written down in time, or if spelling clarification is required.
Score each of the team's answer sheets and announce the answers to each question. If you wish you can also update the teams as to what they scored and in which position they rank overall.
Do your research There is nothing more embarrasing than announcing an answer that one or more team members know is wrong. Make sure that the teams understand that the Quizmaster's decision is final, should a dispute come about, but make sure that your answers are concrete solid, allow no scope for alternative answers to be given and equally correct. Wikipedia is a great source for trivia. Use the resource wisely and only use facts if they are backed-up with references proving the validity of the data. Pick a topic out of the air, go to the related Wikipedia.org page for that topic and read the article. Word your question in a way that makes the goal of the question understandable and entertaining. A great question that popped-up a few years back was: "Since June 1986, what has rotated in a clockwise direction at around 12 meters per second?" No quiz team member would know the answer to that question straight away but careful thinking and analysis would get a good thinker wondering what happened in June 1986. Of course, the football world cup in Mexico took place in June 1986 - known as the birthplace of the so-called "Mexican wave" - Laola. And there is your answer, the Mexican wave travels around football stadiums in a clockwise direction at a speed of around 12 meters per second.
Another tip is to search for online almanacs which list off facts and figures. For example, the CIA factbook is incredibly useful when writing geography questions as it lists many factors about every country in the world.
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