Article
Additional Tips / Strategies
Some minor points that can help to make your games more engaging with your audience, and help improve your hosting skills.
Mobile phone use –
Whether players can use phones to look up songs they don’t know is entirely up to you as the host. When we run events, we openly allow it because finding out the songs names generally doesn’t increase your chances of winning, plus looking up songs (using Siri or Shazam for example), typically takes a small amount of time and anyone who recognises a song from memory will usually do this before a phone reveals the answer to others so they still have the advantage. Discussing unfamiliar songs with other players and looking up unrecognised music also means that players are more engaged in the game, so overall we recommend allowing it.
Volume control –
Whilst we make efforts to normalise the volume for all our music, as with listening to any music source some songs are louder or quieter than others and might require minor adjustments in volume control. When setting up for a Music Bingo event, it's recommended to have your device on roughly 50% volume and adjust your source volume to an average middle level (your venue should be able to assist you with this). By doing this, you can now adjust your device volume higher or lower as needed whilst running a game. Be sure to test volume levels at any new venue to become used to the volume control settings ideal for that venue.
Hosting engagement -
Be engaging with your audience whether on the microphone for larger events, or face to face at smaller events without one. A bubbly and lively host spreads that charisma to all of the players through their announcements without realising it. After all, I'm sure you can think of a time when you have been at some form of event and the person on the microphone was slow, dull and sounded like they were reading a passage from the dictionary. Be fun and lively to your audience to remind them that it's an event designed for fun!
If it helps, pretend that you are a game show host when making announcements. This is actually how we gained confidence in the beginning... Fake it until you make it!
Announcements between songs -
Before or after a track, you can provide information on what the song is in case players don’t recognise the song (a clue, or just saying the title), possibly not in between every song, but maybe every 2nd song.
At our live events, we make announcements before each of the first 2-3 songs to remind players of the conditions and make sure they are informed of everything, and after this we usally tell the audience what the last song played was, and also what the next song is at the same time and then don’t do an announcement after the next song, this way players hear the names of all songs, but don’t hear your voice between every song. In between tracks, also provide reminders on the bingo condition and any promotional announcements.
If you are handing out more than one prize per round, after the first place winner has called "BINGO", it's usually an indication that 2nd/3rd place winners won't be far behind. You could then decide that you don't give the names of any songs before they are played in case it is the winning song for 2nd/3rd place and this helps build suspense.
Managing tie-breakers -
In case you hadn't read some of our product information, our Music Bingo is intentionally designed after years of experimentation which makes it slightly different that other providers. One of the key differences is that most of our games for average sized audiences have a smaller amount of tracks in the playlist (usually 40-50). This is done on purpose for two primary reasons... Firstly, it means that games run quicker so more games can be run at a single event and players don't get bored playing the same game for too long. Secondly and more importantly, it means that bingo cards fill faster creating more excitement and tension for all players. The downside to this, is that ties are more common using this format, so it's a good idea to be ready for them.
Usually at our own events, we watch the audience carefully and whoever shouts "BINGO" and waves their card in the air first will be the winner and anyone following will be the runner up (they recognised the song first and so should be rewarded after all). Audience members can be reminded to do this to indicate a win throughout your regular announcements. If a bingo call is made at the same time however or you can't tell who shouted first, then a simple decider of your choice can be used such as 'rock, paper, scissors', 'coin toss' or similar. You can even inspect both cards and the one that has the most amount of tracks crossed off can be named the winner, just be sure to decide in advance how you will decide any ties.
Little things add up to BIG things –
With all of these small tips provided, any one of them could easily be seen as a 'minor thing' and not very important. This is potentially true, and many of them are very miniscule points somebody may think aren't worth considering or practicing.
We have been hosting and MCing entertainment events for over 20 years now and have learnt from experience that it's all the 'little things' combined in hosting, that make a BIG difference to the success of your event. By hosting events on a microphone, you are essentially taking on the role of an entertainer whilst hosting. Get comfortable with this and practice these little things to get better, find out what works for you and doesn't, constantly have a goal of improving your hosting skills, and regularly speak with your players to build a good rapport with them and get feedback. They will love you for it!
Practice makes perfect –
Before running your first event, practice a little on your own or host a game with some friends/family to make sure you understand how the game will run and how effective you will be in explaining the game to your players. Trying new experiences can also be stressful, and if your first attempt of hosting a game is slightly difficult, try again later and you will find that it quickly becomes more simple and comfortable the more you keep doing it and improving your skills.
Be yourself and have fun! –
The last simple bit of advice is just to relax, be fun and outgoing, and above all try to enjoy yourself! If running regular events, your audience will quickly come to recognise you and gain rapport with you if you have a fun personality and speak with them. If you are enjoying yourself then your audience will also start to enjoy themselves.
Whether players can use phones to look up songs they don’t know is entirely up to you as the host. When we run events, we openly allow it because finding out the songs names generally doesn’t increase your chances of winning, plus looking up songs (using Siri or Shazam for example), typically takes a small amount of time and anyone who recognises a song from memory will usually do this before a phone reveals the answer to others so they still have the advantage. Discussing unfamiliar songs with other players and looking up unrecognised music also means that players are more engaged in the game, so overall we recommend allowing it.
Volume control –
Whilst we make efforts to normalise the volume for all our music, as with listening to any music source some songs are louder or quieter than others and might require minor adjustments in volume control. When setting up for a Music Bingo event, it's recommended to have your device on roughly 50% volume and adjust your source volume to an average middle level (your venue should be able to assist you with this). By doing this, you can now adjust your device volume higher or lower as needed whilst running a game. Be sure to test volume levels at any new venue to become used to the volume control settings ideal for that venue.
Hosting engagement -
Be engaging with your audience whether on the microphone for larger events, or face to face at smaller events without one. A bubbly and lively host spreads that charisma to all of the players through their announcements without realising it. After all, I'm sure you can think of a time when you have been at some form of event and the person on the microphone was slow, dull and sounded like they were reading a passage from the dictionary. Be fun and lively to your audience to remind them that it's an event designed for fun!
If it helps, pretend that you are a game show host when making announcements. This is actually how we gained confidence in the beginning... Fake it until you make it!
Announcements between songs -
Before or after a track, you can provide information on what the song is in case players don’t recognise the song (a clue, or just saying the title), possibly not in between every song, but maybe every 2nd song.
At our live events, we make announcements before each of the first 2-3 songs to remind players of the conditions and make sure they are informed of everything, and after this we usally tell the audience what the last song played was, and also what the next song is at the same time and then don’t do an announcement after the next song, this way players hear the names of all songs, but don’t hear your voice between every song. In between tracks, also provide reminders on the bingo condition and any promotional announcements.
If you are handing out more than one prize per round, after the first place winner has called "BINGO", it's usually an indication that 2nd/3rd place winners won't be far behind. You could then decide that you don't give the names of any songs before they are played in case it is the winning song for 2nd/3rd place and this helps build suspense.
Managing tie-breakers -
In case you hadn't read some of our product information, our Music Bingo is intentionally designed after years of experimentation which makes it slightly different that other providers. One of the key differences is that most of our games for average sized audiences have a smaller amount of tracks in the playlist (usually 40-50). This is done on purpose for two primary reasons... Firstly, it means that games run quicker so more games can be run at a single event and players don't get bored playing the same game for too long. Secondly and more importantly, it means that bingo cards fill faster creating more excitement and tension for all players. The downside to this, is that ties are more common using this format, so it's a good idea to be ready for them.
Usually at our own events, we watch the audience carefully and whoever shouts "BINGO" and waves their card in the air first will be the winner and anyone following will be the runner up (they recognised the song first and so should be rewarded after all). Audience members can be reminded to do this to indicate a win throughout your regular announcements. If a bingo call is made at the same time however or you can't tell who shouted first, then a simple decider of your choice can be used such as 'rock, paper, scissors', 'coin toss' or similar. You can even inspect both cards and the one that has the most amount of tracks crossed off can be named the winner, just be sure to decide in advance how you will decide any ties.
Little things add up to BIG things –
With all of these small tips provided, any one of them could easily be seen as a 'minor thing' and not very important. This is potentially true, and many of them are very miniscule points somebody may think aren't worth considering or practicing.
We have been hosting and MCing entertainment events for over 20 years now and have learnt from experience that it's all the 'little things' combined in hosting, that make a BIG difference to the success of your event. By hosting events on a microphone, you are essentially taking on the role of an entertainer whilst hosting. Get comfortable with this and practice these little things to get better, find out what works for you and doesn't, constantly have a goal of improving your hosting skills, and regularly speak with your players to build a good rapport with them and get feedback. They will love you for it!
Practice makes perfect –
Before running your first event, practice a little on your own or host a game with some friends/family to make sure you understand how the game will run and how effective you will be in explaining the game to your players. Trying new experiences can also be stressful, and if your first attempt of hosting a game is slightly difficult, try again later and you will find that it quickly becomes more simple and comfortable the more you keep doing it and improving your skills.
Be yourself and have fun! –
The last simple bit of advice is just to relax, be fun and outgoing, and above all try to enjoy yourself! If running regular events, your audience will quickly come to recognise you and gain rapport with you if you have a fun personality and speak with them. If you are enjoying yourself then your audience will also start to enjoy themselves.
