Making Trivia Questions Bulletproof
As a trivia theme party planner and team building event producer, I am responsible for researching and writing trivia questions which are appropriate for a wide variety of audiences: bankers, lawyers, teachers, IT professionals, nonprofits, government workers- you name it, it’s up to me to customize it. One aspect of my job, however, which remains constant from client to client – regardless of the audience – is ensuring that my questions are beyond reproach.
It’s a standard I hold myself to, which I call making trivia “bulletproof.” No matter how many or how few questions are asked during an event, no matter the audience, no matter the occasion, I make sure that each and every question asked is as bulletproof as can be. It means committing extra time and attention, but in the end it’s worth it.
What is “bulletproofing” a trivia question, and why is it important? Basically, I want to make sure, to the best of my ability, that the question is completely understandable to the audience in both clarity and intent, and that the correct answer can’t be disputed. I know that “perfect” trivia questions are theoretically impossible, even when the questions are highly scrutinized; how many times has Alex Trebek had to “ask the judges” about whether an answer is acceptable or not? However, there are steps which can be taken during the question writing phase which can at least minimize the chance that the question will be misunderstood, misinterpreted or have multiple answers which are “technically” correct.
For starters, double-check all the facts. The Internet is a godsend here, but I don’t rely solely on Wikipedia, as it may not contain the most accurate information- especially when asking about current events. Unless I feel absolutely, rock-solid confident in the answer, I won’t use the question.
For next steps, run the trivia by a trusted source in advance (obviously one who won’t be playing at the actual event). This second set of eyes will help catch mistakes, inaccuracies and anything which just isn’t clear, and is always helpful; when writing for corporate parties, there is typically a contact who will want to review all of the trivia in advance, which is a welcome method for ensuring that the trivia is not only appropriate for the group, but that it “feels” right, and the questions will be easily understood by their participants.
Another technique to use here is to make sure that all of the questions have only one clear, defined correct answer. While it’s fun asking questions which may be a bit subjective (ex: “What is the best 90s movie featuring a woodchipper scene?”) it’s much cleaner to ask questions where there is only one answer (ex: “What is the largest city in North Dakota?”). If your audience is a serious group of clients or competitive employees engaging in a corporate team building event, they won’t react kindly to questions with multiple possible answers; save those questions for very informal pub quiz nights.
What other suggestions do you have for making questions “bulletproof?”
Interesting points.
I’d add checking for alternative names for a certain answer. Some persons, cities and so on, have multiple names and these all should be known when correcting/grading the answers.
I’d also recommend to participate in pub quizzes regularly, in order to see how other quiz makers and audiences tackle the bulletproof issue.
Great points – the host should definitely be familiar with multiple names, colloquialisms etc. when grading, and accept answers that are right.
Also, great to attend other pub quiz nights- best way to learn is to get out of the “bubble” of hosting.
And what about handling timely/timeless questions? I’ve noticed that questions are often reused. And some answers can change over time, like:
‘What is the 6th largest city in the US by population?’
‘What’s the only US Billboard no 1 single by …?’
These questions should be more specific, like adding a year or changing ‘only’ to ‘first’, in order to keep these questions bulletproof for a long time.
Very good point re: timeliness of questions which are reused – love your suggestion for substituting “first” for “only” to mitigate any problems which can crop up here
Concur with the timeliness issue. I’ve been burned numerous times for not updating my questions.
I’ve also found that adding a year or some other time frame (ie century) to a question helps, as does putting “As of (current year)” at the front of the question.
Tying a question down to a specific year is a great way to make it “bulletproof, and help avoid confusion/multiple correct answers