The Trivia Night Checklist
4 min read⎙ Trivia night checklist
Trivia night checklist
This page prints clean — no nav, no color, laminate-friendly.
This is the print-and-laminate page. Everything below fits one sheet; the print button gives you a clean copy without the website around it. Run it top to bottom every week — the weeks you skip it are the weeks the mic is dead and the sheets are still at home.
The week before
- ☐ Six rounds written, 40/40/20 checked, answers verified (two sources for anything you would bet a round on)
- ☐ Audio round exported as one file; plays from your phone offline
- ☐ Picture/halftime sheet made and test-printed in black and white (it will be photocopied in black and white)
- ☐ Next week’s theme chosen — you announce it at close tonight
- ☐ Tiebreaker bank has 5+ unused estimation questions
Print and pack
- ☐ Answer sheets: teams × rounds + 25% spare (score sheet generator prints these)
- ☐ Host master sheet with answers inline, printed — not on your phone
- ☐ Running score tally sheet
- ☐ Pens: two per expected table, plus a pocket backup
- ☐ Clipboard, stapler, phone charger, water bottle
- ☐ Prizes confirmed with the bar — first, second, last
45 minutes before doors
- ☐ Mic test from the worst seat in the room, not from the stage
- ☐ Audio file plays through the PA (phone volume 100%, cable/bluetooth checked)
- ☐ Timer visible (bar TV cast or tablet on stand) — test the amber warning
- ☐ Tables have sheets, pens, and know the wifi is not for them (say it with love)
- ☐ Bar staff briefed: break timing, drink special, last call relative to final round
- ☐ Scoreboard from last week posted if you run a season
At the mic — opening 90 seconds
- ☐ Format: rounds, points, wager rules, joker if used
- ☐ Prizes: first, second, last — say all three
- ☐ Phone policy: one sentence, friendly, done
- ☐ Answer-sheet mechanics: team name on every sheet, every round
- ☐ Start round one within five minutes of the advertised time. Always.
At close
- ☐ Winners announced with names read properly (ask how to pronounce it BEFORE the mic)
- ☐ Next week’s theme announced twice
- ☐ Team count logged in your phone note
- ☐ Sheets collected and binned — answer sheets left on tables are next week’s questions leaked
- ☐ Thank the bar staff by name on the mic. They decide if your night feels welcome.
Running a night this week?
Print sheets with the score sheet generator, put the round timer on the bar TV.