Best Way to Host Trivia Online

May 5

The recent pandemic has changed the way we socialize and entertain. However, it has given rise to any number of virtual events, including online trivia. This is an easy, fun way to stay connected with friends, relatives, and co-workers. So, what is the best way to host trivia online?

Getting Started

The first step is to choose your video conference platform. You can use Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangout, or another platform. You will need a laptop, PC, or MAC and internet access for hosting. For trivia, a good balance of easy/medium/hard questions ensures that everyone has a chance to participate and enjoys the experience.

Next, you can invite friends, family, or co-workers. Your participants can play individually or in teams. Remember that larger numbers of teams/participants can become difficult to manage.

During the Trivia Game

The way you host your trivia game will depend slightly on which platform you choose, but there are some tips we find make the experience the best. First, putting players into teams leads to more engagement and usually makes events easier for the host. You can assign players into teams randomly and ask one person to be captain of each team. Be sure that your players have pen and paper for notes and go over the rules before beginning.

We recommend setting up your games so that any communication is done through the chat box and all players are on mute except for the host. This helps avoid contestants speaking over each other or hearing another team’s answer.

What about Cheating?

Since there is no 100% guaranteed way to prevent cheating during a game of trivia online so we chose a different approach. Contestants score their own answers and input those scores into a Score Sheet set up on Google Sheets.

Throughout the live stream, the host will ask a randomly selected question that requires players to answer via the private chat browser (so other players can’t see the answer). Players have a limited amount of time to answer. The first team to submit the correct answer within the allotted time wins the prize. These questions may be word jumbles or questions that are not multiple choice/true or false questions.

Prizes for Trivia Online

Another thing that we do differently is prizes. Instead of a first-place winner, the winning rank is chosen randomly before the game begins. It may be 3rd place one week and 5th the next. This is a great way to deter cheating and shake things up.