First Half

Game. On. 

The clock has flipped to a round number that matches the one on the posters. It is time for you to wipe your sweaty palms on your slacks and grab that mic like you mean it. It's go time. It's game time.

It's time for the second of the Three Speeches. 

Hop on to that hot mic and say [at least the bold part of] the following:

SPEECH 2: Welcome + Rules

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to trivia with Trivia Mafia! My name is [TIMBERLY] and I'm thrilled by your life choices, which include being here tonight. I'm going to guide you through eight rounds of trivia in under two hours, complete with a break at half time. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll hurl.

We do have some rules for playing trivia with Trivia Mafia: 
Rule #1: Please do not shout out answers. Instead, whisper the answer (softly and sensuously) to your teammates and type it into your app. Hit the red "Submit" button. It will change from red to black. That's how you know you've done it correctly. You can swipe back and forth to look at previous questions. You can change your answers as many times as you like, but be sure to hit "submit" every time you change it, or it won't go through.
Rule #2: Teams should be eight people or fewer. We dock one point per bonus brain at the end of the game - that's the penalty for being popular. 
And Rule #3: Our Most Important Rule: Use Your Noodle, Not Your Google. We ask you to use the internet to submit your answers, but please don't use it to find them. The honor system will be strictly enforced. Just don't cheat. That's all we ask.

In addition to honor, we are playing for prizes tonight! We have a [TOP PRIZE] for our first place team. A [NEXT PRIZE] for our 2nd place team, and a [THIRD PRIZE] for [WHATEVER THIRD PRIZE IS FOR]. 
On to the questions! We start with Question One of Round One, because it's at the beginning... 

Notes on the Rules:

Shouting in a bar or taproom can sometimes be part of a fun atmosphere, but when it's trivia answers, it frequently comes from people who are not, in fact, playing. It's annoying. You can use the line, "I don't yell at you when you're at work, so please don't yell at me." You can talk to them directly off-mic. Or you say, if they know so much, why aren't they playing? You'll find more options for managing hecklers in the FAQ section, but it's always valuable to remind people to behave up front.

As to team size - in general, use your best judgement. We have set eight as the limit for regular trivia (and six players per team for theme trivia); for every person over the limit, the team is docked one point. The point comes off of the final score (after you lock Round 8). Some sites' owner/managers will encourage large teams, and some prefer smaller teams. Since the prize value is the same no matter how many players, you can follow the guidance of the staff at the site.

As soon as you notice a team is at or above the limit, make sure you say something to them directly about the rule and how it works. Sometimes big teams will split up into two teams; sometimes they'll just take the hit. But the docked point should not come as a surprise at the end of the game. 

You'll also want to be judicious about children - unless it's "Bluey" trivia, young humans who can get discount meals (i.e. 12 and under) probably shouldn't count against team totals. However, when a group of adults is pointing to the ninth person at the end and saying, "Oh, they're not really playing," you should still count that person (and dock a point) because of how it appears to other teams.

Remember: The appearance of fairness counts as much as the enforcement of your wise and level judgment.

Looking up answers: We ask people to use the internet to enter their answers, not to search them up! The game is much more fun when it's a conversation between teammates, and the results are more satisfying when they came from folks' own heads. Emphasize the value in being honest, and remind them that Googling is cheating, cheaters get indigestion, if you have to cheat to get a $20 gift card for beer you should examine your soul, etc etc. Go here for more thoughts on how to handle cheating.

Round 1

Round 1 is the first round that you will read on the mic. It is always General Knowledge, so you can dive right in to the first question after the Rules. Give about 1-ish minute between each question, and about 2 minutes between each round. Pro tip: if you start a new song after each question, in most cases the first chorus comes at about the 1:00 mark, so that can help you keep on time.

Read each question twice, revealing the question in the app after you read it the first time, and finish by saying "That was Question X of Round Y."
Slow down on your second read to really emphasize the thing they're supposed to identify, as in, "What style of trousers [PAUSE] were designed for sailors to use as emergency floatation devices, although Sonny and Cher probably weren’t wearing military-grade ones?" 

Round 4

Round 4 is always a ten-image round. (Every other round is five questions/songs/images.) It is automatically revealed in the app when you start the game.* During Round 1, be sure to point out that Round 4 is an Image Round, and teams have until the end of the first half to complete it! Even if it's already revealed in the app, you’ll still want to read the title and description. 

You can introduce Round 4 before the start of Round 1; or, you can introduce it by tying it to Question 4 and saying, 

Speaking of fours - click on that '4' at the top of your screen to go through Round 4! It's called [CLEVER THEME TITLE] - [CLEVER ROUND DESCRIPTION]. Make sure you identify all ten of them before the end of Round 3, which is also the end of the first half! And if you're not sure, just make a guess - a blank is always wrong.

Remind players throughout the first half to complete this round, and peek at their submissions to see if there are teams who have overlooked it (or only done one). You can say reminders at Question 4 of Rounds 2 and 3, or in between the rounds - whatever feels natural. 

*Unless you toggle off the automatic image reveal, then you will control when it is revealed during the game. 

Rounds 2 and 3

For subsequent rounds, read the name of the round and the full description  before reading the first question of that round. Repeat the description or theme before you read question three or four, just to nudge them, as in, "this is Question 3 in our Light Things round," or, "remember, every answer will include 'a-p-t' somewhere in it!"

• There may be an example; players can see the description in the app but not examples! That’s the only time they’re allowed to shout out answers, which can be fun.

Be sure to remind teams about completing Round 4 between questions. You can do it after every question 5, or before every question 4, whatever works for you - just as long as they get several reminders.

Thank the Staff

At least twice in every game, you should give a shout-out to the staff working that night. 
It can be a general "Let's take a minute to thank the great staff here tonight, woo!"
It can be a more pointed, "Please put down whatever is in your hands and put your hands together to thank the people working so hard to bring you the finest foods and beverages in all the land - Daphne behind the bar! Fred up front! Velma on the floor! Shaggy and Scooby in the back!"

Making a note of their names not only makes that thank you more personal, it also helps you build a relationship with them! They are also serving you (so you should bring some cashes to tip them), but they are also the closest thing you have to coworkers in the moment. Most of the time, they're good people, and good to have on your side. 

Table Touches

A "table touch" is when you put your fingers on to the hard, flat surface that is supported on legs and allows a person to rest their arm, drink, and phone. It is, more importantly, when you touch base with your teams. 

The goal is to talk to every team at least once per half. Starting by the middle of Round 2 and definitely by Round 3, you should stop by and ask, "How's it going? Do you need any clarifications, or other support?" Maybe they need help navigating the app.

Maybe they'll say, "Yeah, can you give us the answers?" and you'll laugh with them as if it is an original joke. Ha ha, oh man, so clever, these teams!

If they say everything is fine, great, that's good, you can leave them alone. OR — you could ask what brought them in that night. Ask if they'd recommend the beer they're drinking. Ask for the story on their team name. It should take less than a minute (after all, that's all the time you have between questions), but showing a little curiosity is great for building that community. And it pays off if you ever have to navigate a kerfuffle over question disputes, accusations of cheating, or other bull***t. 

:awooga: Lockdown warning! 

Once you get through the last question of Round 3, let them know that it’s the end of the first half! Give them about 2-3 minutes to finish submitting all their answers for the first FOUR rounds, and tell them you’ll be locking the rounds for grading:

You have three minutes, which on my clock means we’ll lock it up at 7:41. Once rounds are locked you can no longer submit or change your answers.

Take a lap to check to see if teams have any last requests for clarifications or wee little nudges. (It can be fun to offer hints like, "it's my mom's favorite author" or "it's a movie that did not star Lily Tomlin, sadly.") Then at that time you said you would, announce that you are locking the rounds, and actually lock the rounds.

Next: Intermission