Recently we were asked about half points by a customer. They’d noticed the result of a quiz where there was half a point between first and second. They never give half points; the answer is either correct for one point, or it’s not correct for no points.
This set us wondering, and we ran a few polls on Social Media. The results were fascinating with an almost even split between those who do give half points and those that don’t. In fact our Quizmasters are in three camps:
- The aforementioned who feel that an answer is either correct or it’s not, with no half measures.
- Those that give half a point if the answer is half right. For example, name the two Flowerpot Men – half a point for each, or if the answer is Antigua and Barbuda – half a point for Antigua.
- And those that give half a point to teams at the bottom end of the leader board, to encourage them, knowing that it won’t affect the result.
Having been to many, many quizzes between us, we don’t think that there is any hard and fast advice that we can give, apart from be consistent. As long as you have your approach, you should stick to it.
But do remember that you want all the teams to come back next time, even those that aren’t getting many questions right. So maybe some judiciously awarded half points might make them feel a bit happier about the quiz – something to think about perhaps.