I’ve been a professional quiz host and compiler for almost 20 years now. Recently, my corporate quiz night business overtook my other career as a DJ quite considerably. And to think that I only started down this road as a last-minute replacement at my pub residency! Since that momentous day, I guess I’ve probably hosted over 400 corporate quiz nights around London, the UK and Europe too.

So, speaking from the heart together with my vast experience, here’s a few pointers to help guarantee a really successful quiz night with your colleagues…

  • Book a private room at a venue where food and drink is easily available! Table service is a bonus too, especially as the teams will be seated for up to an hour at a time.
  • Ensure all the teams have a clear view of the quiz master (even if they’re not using visuals such as screens) – I’ve performed in some odd-shaped places and not addressing the teams face to face is quite difficult!
  • If you’re looking for a team-building evening with lots of social interaction amongst your colleagues, don’t book a speed quizzing event! They tend to be conducted using tablets or mobile phones, with multi-choice answers and a short time limit to submit your team answer…this pretty much gives no time for team discussion and invariably whoever’s nearest to the keypad presses first! You can’t revisit your answers either. My investment in this tech was a bit of a mistake, but luckily I got most of my money back!
  • When arranging the teams, try to keep to 4-8 team members as the ideal size. Many quizzes where some teams have 12 heads and others just five or six invariably leads to protests from the smaller teams!
  • Even though we’re part of this brave new gender neutral world, it’s still good to have an even mix of female/male team members, because despite what they say, I still get a chorus of female boos when I announce the Sport category and male groans when Rom-coms come up! And never underestimate the value of a much-older team member!
  • In my experience, the ideal duration time for a corporate quiz night is two hours. That is what I base every one of my events upon. Longer than two hours does tend to strain the attention span of the teams. It should be fast-moving, and delivered with wit and sincerity. And a nice break in the middle for comfort or food, etc.
  • Prizes…I’m always asked this question! If it’s just for a fun evening of getting staff together socially or after a seminar or conference, then wine and chocolates are always very gratefully received by the winners. It’s nice to add runners-up prizes too if you can. And why not throw in a prize for the team coming last? To surprise them, make it a decent one and not a collection of wooden spoons! I once hosted an event and the client gave the last-placed team a box of 48 Cadbury’s Creme Eggs…the winners later tried to negotiate a swap for their prize!
  • Last but definitely not least…only host the event yourself as quizmaster if you are prepared to research your questions thoroughly beforehand (you WILL be contradicted at some point during proceedings!), if you are quick-witted and imaginative, and most of all if you are keen and brave enough to face your colleagues! I have seen many amateur quiz masters, and whilst they have made  sterling efforts, there’s no substitute for the real thing!

I hope that I have given you a little insight into the world of arranging a very popular quiz night out!