Clean Up Your Act! 5 Ways Quizmasters can be More Professional

Before starting my own corporate event entertainment and employee team building trivia company, I spent 5 years cutting my teeth as a bar trivia host in New York City. As you can likely imagine, the level of expectation of a quizmaster from a room full of bar patrons who are out at the local well for a pub quiz night is far different from that of the business owner, HR director or brand manager who wants to provide a group of employees, loyal clients or prospects with first-rate entertainment.

From my unique perch on both the public and private sides of the live trivia fence, I can assure you that what we quizmasters typically do to entertain pub quiz crowds isn’t going to fly in a corporate setting. For people who host bar trivia and want to make the case for doing private events as well, here’s 5 ways to improve your shtick, to present yourself in a more professional manner:

1. Don’t Swear – This is a difficult one, even for guys like me who don’t like swearing. The reason it’s so hard is that when hosting bar trivia, well- you’re in a bar. People are there after work, they’re unwinding, loud, loose and blowing off steam. They swear at the quizmaster, they write swears on their answer sheets, they have swears in their team names. Resist the urge to respond in kind; doing so makes you appear crude and unrefined, and you don’t want to make the audience uncomfortable.

2. Temper Your Insults – Anyone who’s been to a trivia event knows that people heckle the host, and the host hits back. This give-and-take is part of the fun, and should be encouraged; however, be judicious here, and never go for the throat. After all, you’ve got a microphone, so you’ll always win in the end anyway.

3. Dress Nicer – When I first started out hosting events at the bars, I would wear funny T-shirts. This was great for laughs from bar patrons, but I realized that I wasn’t getting many invitations to host private events- why? Because I was the guy wearing funny T-shirts. Appearance is important; if you want to be perceived as a professional, dress like one.

4. Don’t Get Drunk – True when hosting public events and a given at private ones, this is not the time to drink excessively, even if at the invitation of attendees. You can certainly have a drink to whet your whistle, but never get sloppy drunk before, during or after the event- you will look like a colossal doofus, and that’s the only thing people will remember about you.

5. Thank Everybody – Even though you’re the host, share the spotlight and recognize everyone else who made the event possible: event organizers, venue,  bartenders, servers, interns, and anyone else you can think of. It goes a long way towards demonstrating your character, and lets people know you are a pro.

Are you a trivia event host or enthusiast? Have you ever seen something at one of these events which was particularly professional, or unprofessional? Please share your observations below!