PULTEVENT
Pub quiz host script: 8 parts of the running order, with lines
A pub in Galway, a wet Thursday in March, a new quizmaster standing by the fireplace with a sheet of A4 folded into eighths. He's been told the regulars are "a tough crowd." He unfolds the sheet, looks at it, folds it back up and says, into a microphone that isn't switched on, "Right. So. Hello." The barman leans over and flicks the switch. Second attempt, much better. By round three he isn't looking at the paper at all.
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The script is for the first ten minutes and the awkward moments. After that, a good quizmaster is mostly talking to the room. But those first ten minutes set the tone for the whole night, and the awkward moments (a dispute, a team caught on a search engine, a tie at the top) are where hosts without a script start rambling.
What follows is the running order and the lines I use for a two-hour pub quiz, written for a setup where the quiz runs from a laptop browser on PULTEVENT, questions appear on the pub's TVs, and teams answer from a phone after scanning a QR code. The team phones need internet. If you're running on paper, the lines work just the same; only the scoring changes.
8 parts of a pub quiz running order
1 Doors and sign-in
Welcome screen on the TVs with the quiz name and start time. Teams scan the QR code, enter a team name and are in.
How to run it. Walk the room with your own phone and help anyone stuck on the QR code.
Twenty minutes of sign-in means nobody is fumbling with a phone when question one starts.
2 The welcome
Thirty seconds. Your name, the pub, the prize, the start. "Evening, all. I'm Dan, this is quiz night at the Crane, first prize is the bar tab, last prize is my sympathy. Let's go."
How to run it. Learn this part by heart. It's the only part you should never read from paper.
The room decides in half a minute whether you know what you're doing.
3 Rules in a minute
"Six rounds, eight questions each. One phone per team answers. Phones are for answering, not searching. Spelling doesn't count if I can tell what you meant. My decision is final, but you can argue with me at the break."
How to run it. Put the same rules on a slide and leave it up while you speak.
Every dispute later in the night is settled by pointing back to this minute.
4 Round intros
One line per round: "Round two, geography. Nobody's allowed to say 'it's in Europe somewhere.'" Then straight into question one.
How to run it. Write one joke per round and only one. You're a quizmaster, not a stand-up.
A short intro signals a new round and resets attention after the scores.
5 The picture round handoff
Pictures go up on the TVs one by one while you pour a drink. "Picture round. Ten faces, all famous in someone's house. You've got until I finish this pint."
How to run it. Use photos of local faces too: the landlord as a child goes down very well.
It gives you a breather in the middle of the first half without the room going flat.
6 The interval
Scores on screen, a break screen with a countdown to round four, and a QR raffle for a small prize from the bar.
How to run it. Settle any disputes now, quietly, at the side of the bar.
The pub sells its drinks, the teams regroup, and nobody asks you when round four starts.
7 The final round
A board-style round with categories and points (Super Smarts), where teams choose what to play for and the bigger values can swing the table.
How to run it. Show the scoreboard just before this round. Teams in fourth place should feel they can still win.
A final round that can change the result keeps every table in the game to the end.
8 Results and sign-off
Standings from the bottom up, the podium with confetti on screen, a special award, then: "Same time next week. Bring a friend, bring a better team name."
How to run it. Mention next week's theme round. It's the cheapest marketing a pub quiz can do.
People decide to come back in the last two minutes of the night.
Timings for every block
Doors to last orders, planned to the minute and with a buffer.
Lines you can say out loud
Short, plain, easy to remember after two read-throughs.
Scripts for awkward moments
Cheating, disputes, ties and the team that turns up at round three.
Kept in the console
Open the script document on the laptop next to the questions.
The running order at a glance
Doors at 7:30, sign-in until 7:55. Welcome and rules at 8:00. Rounds one to three from 8:02 to about 8:50. Interval until 9:05. Rounds four and five until 9:40. Final round until 9:55. Results and sign-off by 10:00, which leaves the pub an hour of trade after the quiz.
Keep the running order in a script document in the console and adjust it on the night. If round two overruns, the interval shrinks by five minutes; the finish time doesn't move.
Lines for the awkward moments
A team caught searching: "Table six, I can see the glow from here. Minus two, and I'll forget it happened." Say it with a smile, once.
A team arriving at round three: "Welcome, you've missed two rounds and nothing important. Scan the code and you're in from here."
A dispute you're not sure about: "Good point. I'll check at the break." Then check.
The microphone dies: "Right, old-school. Can the back hear me?"
"No."
"Then come closer, it's warmer here anyway."
Talking between questions
The gaps are where a quizmaster earns the booking. Read the answer, add one short fact if it's genuinely interesting, and move on. Mention team names. Tease the leaders gently and encourage the stragglers. Two sentences between questions is plenty; five is a lecture.
Watch the room for the moment the chatter drops. That's when to read the next question.
Adapting it for a trivia night
In a bar in the US, the same structure works under a different name. It's a trivia night, the rounds may be called categories, the final often carries a wager, and the prize is more likely a gift card than a tab. The lines stay short, the rules still go on the screen, and the tiebreaker is still a number.
Screens, phones and signal
Most pubs already have TVs. Connect the laptop to the one everyone can see and put the stage on it. Teams answer from one phone each, and those phones need internet; pub Wi-Fi in the back room is often weaker than at the bar, so test it there. If the connection fails, the questions still show from the laptop and teams can write answers on paper until it's back.
The quiz builder takes your questions in English or any other language. The ready-made decks are mostly Russian for now, so a weekly English quiz is your own writing.
Run next week's quiz on it
Try the free 3-day demo, no card needed: load this running order, write round one, and test it on the pub TV before opening. The full version is a one-time license with no subscription; pricing is on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to turn this script into your own
- 1
Copy the running order into a script document and change the times to your pub's evening.
- 2
Rewrite the welcome in your own words and learn it by heart.
- 3
Put the rules on a slide and write one intro line for each round.
- 4
Build the rounds in the quiz builder, plus a final board round and a numeric tiebreaker.
- 5
Before opening, connect the laptop to the pub TV and test the QR code from the back room.
- 6
After the night, note which lines landed and cut the ones that didn't.
FAQ
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See also
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