The Biggest Challenge Quizmasters Face
Quizmasters in New York City, Albuquerque, London or Tokyo all face similar challenges: writing challenging trivia questions, producing fun and engaging events, partnering with appropriate venues, and dealing with all that comes with working with people. However, there exists above all else one large, looming obstacle which the brave men and women at the trivia host’s microphone must learn to deal with, one which threatens to sink sleepy neighborhood pub quizzes, large employee team building activities and huge brand awareness events alike. Fortunately, this albatross is entirely within the host’s control.
The devil of which I speak is of course the quizmaster’s own biases, beliefs and interests. When I first started out hosting trivia at the local Irish pub in my neighborhood, I did what anybody else would have done: asked the audience my personal stockpile of trivia questions that I carry around in my head. You know- the inside jokes about TV & movies you shared with college friends, music stuff you tease your younger brother about, all that. And those trivia questions went over well- for about 3 weeks, when I suddenly ran out.
Desperate for new material, I started researching/writing questions on my favorite trivia subjects, namely 80s pop culture and other nostalgia-type stuff you’d expect from a guy in his late 20s- after all, if these questions were interesting to me, than they’d be interesting to my audience as well! Those types of questions indeed went over well at the bar trivia night- for some. Others started complaining that the questions were “too old,” (ouch), were too TV/movie-centric, there weren’t any sports questions (I don’t like sports), and that I needed to branch out more.
Though I’d managed to put together a popular bar trivia night, I was still alienating a large group of would-be participants by asking questions about subjects which were cool to ME, but not necessarily cool to the audience. Time to put my ego in check, and realize that people are coming out to pub quiz to enjoy answering questions about subjects they like, not just what the host likes. This switch in thinking from host-interest to audience-interest questions swiftly broadened the appeal of that and other trivia nights I’ve hosted over the years, and is absolutely crucial to the development and production of customized trivia for private corporate events.
Are you a bar quizmaster or professional trivia event host who has faced this dilemma before? Have you attended trivia nights where it was all about the host’s interests, and not yours? What advice can you offer to how to deal with both?