An event quiz is one of the simplest ways to get the audience to pay attention to the content. It works because it gives people a reason to listen to a session, visit a booth or read the programme. But a badly designed quiz is tiring: questions that are too hard, untimed, with no feedback or repeated. These are the 6 steps to do it well.
1. Set the goal
A quiz can serve different purposes, and the goal changes everything:
- Retain content: questions about what was said in the sessions.
- Send people places: questions whose answer is at a booth, panel or poster.
- Get to know the audience: opinion questions with no right answer.
- Break the ice: light questions at the start of the event.
2. Pick the question type
- Multiple choice: the fastest to answer and to mark. Use 3 to 4 options.
- Written answer: good for specific terms (a name, a number). Should tolerate case and accent differences.
- Opinion: no right answer, used for data.
3. Write few, good questions
5 to 10 questions is enough. Each should have a single defensible answer, no trick questions. Examples for a conference: "Which of these solutions was presented in the morning session?" or "In what year was the organising association founded?".
4. Set the pass mark and attempts
Two settings make a difference. The minimum score (for example 60%) decides when the challenge counts as completed. The attempts decide whether attendees can retry. One or two attempts keep the quiz meaningful; unlimited attempts turn it into guessing. In Questa the limit is configurable per quiz and defaults to 2.
5. Tie the quiz to a reward
Without a consequence, the quiz is ignored. Award points that count towards the event leaderboard and, if it makes sense, a prize for the top scorers. In an event with several challenges (quiz, check-in, networking), the quiz becomes one piece of a journey rather than a stand-alone activity.
6. Measure and learn
After the event, look at which questions had the most wrong answers. It is an honest picture of what the audience did not understand and a great basis for the client report or the next edition. The completion rate also tells you whether the quiz was too hard or not visible enough.
Event quiz examples
To help you get started, here are three formats that work well and that you can adapt to your event:
- Content quiz (conferences): 5 multiple-choice questions about the day's sessions, open until the end of the last panel. Those who pass earn points.
- Booth hunt (trade shows): each question can only be answered after visiting an exhibitor, for example "Which product is company X presenting this year?". It sends people to the booths and gives exhibitors visibility.
- Kick-off quiz (corporate events): 3 light questions about the company or the team, at the start of the day, to break the ice and get everyone using the app right at the entrance.
In every case, keep the same principle: short questions, one clear answer and a reason for attendees to want to get it right. If the event lasts more than one day, you can launch a new quiz each day and add the points to the overall leaderboard, which gives people a reason to open the app in the morning.
Common event quiz mistakes
- Long questions or several ideas in one.
- A hidden quiz: nobody knows it exists. Announce it on stage and in the programme.
- No language for everyone: at an international event, offer questions in more than one language.
- A prize that is out of reach or that nobody wants.
How to do this in Questa
In Questa, the quiz is a challenge type: you create the questions (multiple choice or written answer, in PT, EN and ES), set the pass mark and number of attempts, and the challenge awards points when completed. Attendees answer in the app, and you see the event statistics afterwards. There is a free tier for up to 5 attendees so you can try it.
