An ex'quiz'ite beginning...

Lessons for a better session!

Ok , so we have now a club that's up and running. It kept us amused every Tuesday evening away from monotonous classes. The very first session was one to remember. No projector, no formalities, no preparation, no staff presence… wonderful! Our priority was that it should be an entirely open forum. We had gained a clear understanding that posts(president, treasurer and the lot) were meaningless. No one takes charge or control entirely. Once someone's turn with the mike was over, someone else would just continue with other activities. O yeah I forgot to mention that as well. Quench was a platform not only to stack up some trivia alone, but push your Jamming , debate, Dumb Charade skills and anything else that would be of constructive purpose. Even movie, book and game reviews were added to the cart. It clicked instantly.

But most sessions wouldn't have been captivating enough if it wasn't for the visuals and audio. Now the following inference has been made by a majority of the people who have managed to keep the people awake through many rounds:

Try utilising Microsoft PowerPoint to its zenith.

A slick presentation really makes a difference especially when you intend to give an outlook that resembles a professional quizzing group. More people are exposed to how the questions are really posted in the tough circles. As a result, you'll notice that strong groups/teams are being groomed in the process. Including visuals and audio make the levels of attention peak. Connect questions are a must, just for the simple fact that reasoning skills are strengthened. With the right alignment of text to the slides and placing custom animations on the answers, the quiz is all ready! And as for the final touch, its upto the quizmaster to add effect with an impressive voiceover. Another person who actually completes the quizzing fraternity is the ever attentive scorer!(Ajith ,Quench sessions are indebted to you da!!:)) Make sure the right communication exists between the QM and scorer and you'll never have to look back twice on checking for errata.

Quick take: Upgrade to Office 2007. PowerPoint's got a default quiz template. Makes your work easier.

Phase 2:

So we got the technical aspects right after all. So did we make an impact prima facie? Impressive, yes. Did it reach out to all? No. There will always seem to exist spectators, who get frustrated with the level of toughness imposed on each question. There are two key things here:

• Are all of the audience making strange expressions(both eyebrows raised stiff , squinting like they have extreme myopia, hands on chin with that I'm-gonna-pass-it-on-dude look and so on..)for every question?
  
• Are you making a good strike rate with the aforementioned point?
  

  
  

If yes, then its time do a little research on the crowd itself. Start with trivial stuff and present toughies judiciously. So give the people their space and time to hit back with good replies.

Watch this space… menacing questions coming up soon!