Trivia Hosting: A How-to for Your Virtual Trivia Night

Trivia is a great game to pass the time with friends and family, especially when you are stuck indoors. Having hosted many trivia nights, I know what it takes to smoothly host a trivia night that everyone will enjoy.

The following is a how-to guide that will help you successfully host your first virtual trivia night in 6 steps. Make sure to follow the steps, and you will receive rave reviews for your efforts, and maybe even inspire someone else to host a trivia night you can join!

1. Choose your Trivia Game Details

First things first, lay out the details of your game so you can plan your night. Defining your game details will help you better organize your event. Depending on who is on your invite list, pick a theme that will suit your friends and family. Themes are great because they will help create an atmosphere you can tailor your game to. This will improve your game night tremendously.

a. Choose a Theme

Here is a list of themes I have curated over time. Feel free to pick one from the list or create your own.

Themes:

Animals & Wildlife
Cars
Countries & Geography
Food & Drink
Holidays
Languages & Literature
Math
Military
Money & Finance
Movies & TV
Music & Arts
Ocean
Planes
Political
Psychology
Religion
Science & Space
Sports
Videogames & Technology

b. Select Question Categories

Once you decide on your theme, pick your question categories. Question categories should match your theme so that people can get into the game and are ready to participate in topics that they can enjoy. Here is a list of question categories you can choose from for your theme:

c. Create your Trivia Rules

Once you have chosen your question categories, now is the time to lay out the rules of the game. This is important, even if it seems straight forward because it makes the game feel more official and runs smoothly; it allows players to know what to expect.

If you need some help, use this is as a guide to set your virtual trivia night rules. Fill in the brackets to accommodate the time, players, theme, and so forth.

Trivia Game Rules:

The trivia theme is [insert theme]. This is a trivia night where the topics of questions will include things like [insert question types and examples].

The trivia game is made up of [insert number of rounds] number of rounds, with [insert number of questions] questions per round. Each correct answer is worth [insert point value] points and each bonus question is worth [insert bonus point value].

Each member of the team attributes to the total score, meaning, if you have 3 people on your team and 2 get it right, you get [insert point values] points because you had 2 correct answers.

Each question can only have one correct answer. Once you submit your answer, you cannot change it.

Choose your answers to the questions within the time limit, if you pass the allotted time to answer, your score will not count, even if you answer correctly.

Answers will be tracked by the host [insert host name]. At the end of each round, the host will give the current score of each team.

The timer is used to mitigate any unfair advantages. Cheating will result in [insert penalty]. Do not shout out the answers, as this will have the question disqualified and points will not be awarded.

Correct answers and points will be announced at the end of each round by the host. After the last round, the host will tally up all team scores. If there is a tie, there will be a bonus round where [insert bonus rules such as “the first team to collectively outscore the other teams in a question is the winner”].

2. Create your Trivia Questions

Now that the rules are laid out, you can create your trivia questions. There are a number of ways to do this. Personally, I like to use trivia tools for last-minute trivia nights because it really streamlines the process and removes the need to create questions, set up rules, and so forth; the apps handle a lot of it for you.

For a trivia night that is truly your own, you should use a trivia maker and screen share through a video chatting tool; this will allow you to customize much more about the questions, visuals, and overall experience. A really easy way to create questions is by using the Random Trivia Generator. It will basically create an unlimited amount of questions for you, just keep scrolling.

If you think you would like to use a trivia tool, check out this post for trivia hosting tools; it will help you create your questions and decide how you want to play with your friends.

If you want something more out of the box ready and less effort to create your questions, check out this post for trivia video tools; it will help you choose a video chat service with Trivia built right in to use for your virtual trivia night.

You should choose your tools based on what you would like for your evening. I prefer Houseparty for a quick informal game to include video chat. For something with a little bit more customization, I use Sporcle Party for a nicely packaged game of trivia you can customize and then combine with Zoom for video chat.

3. Choose the Prize for the Winning Team

This is an optional part of creating a virtual trivia night, but one I recommend. As an incentive to play, you can include a prize for the winning team. This really makes the game a lot more competitive and fun for the participants. It will also increase your level of participation and enjoyment.

When it comes to choosing a prize, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Have fun and be creative with your prizes. You’d be surprised what makes people want to participate and come back. Try and keep the prize in line with your theme; this will increase participation and add a fun layer of excitement to the game.

As an example, since most of my friends prefer sports trivia, I will give out a sports trivia themed prize to the winner, like a trophy or a championship belt. As silly as this seems, people really enjoy these prizes and will even bring them to your virtual events as a type of bragging right. So be clever and have fun with your prizes, they will make a big difference in the event and future events.

4. Invite the Players

So you’ve ironed out all of the details of your game, made the rules, and created the questions; you are ready for your virtual trivia night. It is time to send out the invites.

When I send out my invites, I typically send a text to give a heads up that an email is coming with details for a trivia night. Include how to reply, date, time, rules, and details about the game. If you need some help, feel free to use the following text and email follow up samples to send along, just make sure you include your relevant virtual trivia night details, and ideally, send the email as a meeting invite with a note from your digital calendar of choice so you can track who accepts and declines, otherwise, use the replies to track your participants.

Text Example:

Hey everyone. I am hosting a virtual trivia night [insert time frame] and you are all invited! Please check for an email from me at [insert your sender email address] for details.

Email Example:

Hey Friends!

On [insert date/ time] I am hosting a [insert theme] virtual trivia night. During this event, we will be playing trivia in teams and answering questions about [insert trivia question categories]. The game will last approximately [insert duration]. There will be a [insert prize] prize for the winning team!

Please use this link to join the game: [insert join link].

Here are the rules to the game [insert your defined game rules].

Please respond to this email by [insert RSVP date] and let me know if you can join us! I will be creating teams prior to this event, so it is important that you let me know ASAP! If you do not respond, I will assume you will NOT be joining.

I really do hope to see everyone there!

[Your Name]

5. Track Replies and Create the Teams

Once everyone replies by your RSVP date, you can now choose your teams. Balance is key here so allocate team members based on their perceived ability in the virtual trivia night topic, meaning, if you are having a science trivia night, it is probably best to separate your Scientist, Physics Teacher, and Biology Professor friends into separate teams, otherwise, it will make the game extremely lopsided and people will not enjoy the game.

As the teams are now fairly split up, your last step is to create the team names. Ideally, you should let the team members choose the team name. Your friends will love this and you will too. The names you will get will likely be hilarious, so, once your teams are selected, send an email to each team individually to respond with their team name. Here is an email sample you can use:

Email Example for Team Names:

Hey Friends!

[Insert recipient names], you are on team [insert team number]. Before the event, please create your team name and get back to me by [insert team name RSVP date]. Remember this is a [insert trivia theme] trivia night, so ideally, create a team name in line with the theme.

Looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

[Insert Your Name]

6. Host and Play the Game

So you’re now ready to play trivia. The day and time of your game are here and everyone is joining your game. Once everyone has arrived, start the game. Make sure as the host, you keep the game moving along. Be mindful of the time to keep the pace of play fast. A trivia night that drags on past the end time will not be fun.

Most importantly, have fun. Even the host has to have fun or else the participants will notice. The more fun you are having as the host, the better host you will be, and the more fun your attendees will have.

At the end of the game, tally up the scores and make sure to announce the winners to send out the prizes. Try and send out the prizes as quickly as possible to the winning team of the game.

If you follow this step-by-step article, you are sure to have an amazing night of trivia with your friends. Happy playing!