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As someone who started quizzing seriously late in life, it's not surprising that I've had a lot of people ask me how to improve at quizzing. In my opinion, there is nothing approaching a universal answer.
As someone who started quizzing seriously late in life, it's not surprising that I've had a lot of people ask me how to improve at quizzing. In my opinion, there is nothing approaching a universal answer.
For instance: when I started quizzing, I never imagined I'd get as far as I have. I was just someone who was never good enough for a village cricket team, who wanted to be competitive at something, and also wanted to shake hands with stars of 'Fifteen To One'.
What's clear is that quizzing, such as it is now, is not just one thing; the world-wide web and non-terrestrial entertainment franchises has meant the "syllabus" is more vast than it has ever been.
So you need to work out what you want to be good at. And that is entirely your choice. The skills for 'University Challenge' are entirely different from the skills required for 'The Chase'. I know people who''d kick the shit out of both; but most have to choose one or the other.
The big question is: how hard do you want to work at knowing what you don't know?
There is no answer.
Your life plans — work, relationships, ambition, and sponginess of brain — are unique to you.
There is no answer.
Your life plans — work, relationships, ambition, and sponginess of brain — are unique to you.
And everybody's different at what they're interested in.
Take the USA's victory over England in the 1950 World Cup.
There are those who can recite the whole England team, without knowing that the scorer of the winning goal was murdered by the Tonton Macoute in the 1960s.
Take the USA's victory over England in the 1950 World Cup.
There are those who can recite the whole England team, without knowing that the scorer of the winning goal was murdered by the Tonton Macoute in the 1960s.
In my opinion, the only true way to find out what your tastes are is to do quizzes — whether online, over Zoom, in person, or in a pub. You'll soon be surrounded by facts you didn't know, and will get an idea of what you'd like to improve, and how much time to expend doing so.
At this point, you'll realise that everyone's brain is different; and that we all have our own ways of trying to remember what we've read.
I think, thirty years ago, people who were "good at quiz" were, broadly, fairly similar people. Playing Zoom matches face-to-face with quizzers all over the world in the last five months has only heightened the sense of how different we all are.
So if anyone asks, "How do I get better at quizzing?", the simplest answer is, "In your hand, you're holding a smartphone that contains every fact known to man. Stop tweeting me. Start hunting down those facts. That's it, there: the future is in your hands".
The world-wide web is the largest treasure-hunt known to man, and the great thing is you set the rules as to how involved you want to get.
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